WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.000 music 00:08.000 --> 00:14.000 music 00:14.000 --> 00:20.000 music 00:20.000 --> 00:24.000 music 00:24.000 --> 00:28.000 music 00:28.000 --> 00:31.440 Thank you, Jimmy, and wasn't the music good? 00:31.440 --> 00:34.360 Is the sound coming through all right? 00:34.360 --> 00:35.320 All right. 00:35.320 --> 00:38.320 Let's turn to Matthew 16, particularly, 00:38.320 --> 00:40.600 let's begin with verse 13. 00:40.600 --> 00:43.360 It oughta been a time of great events. 00:43.360 --> 00:45.000 There were some wondrous things, 00:45.000 --> 00:47.320 and some of those things included taking a dead man 00:47.320 --> 00:50.440 and lifting him to life, of healing the sick, 00:50.440 --> 00:53.440 the crippled, the wounded, the downtrodden, 00:53.440 --> 00:55.520 the suffering, the depressed were made whole, 00:55.520 --> 00:57.720 and they were gathered around the campfire. 00:57.840 --> 01:00.240 And Jesus is addressing his men 01:00.240 --> 01:03.480 because they were excited about these wondrous events, 01:03.480 --> 01:05.520 and it was just buzzing through the crowd. 01:05.520 --> 01:08.720 Can you imagine men all gossiping and chatty 01:08.720 --> 01:10.320 about the events of the day? 01:10.320 --> 01:13.280 It can happen, and it did with the disciples. 01:13.280 --> 01:18.280 Who do men say that I, the son of man, am, Jesus said? 01:19.520 --> 01:21.600 And of course, Peter always answers. 01:21.600 --> 01:23.200 That's what the sermon is about today. 01:23.200 --> 01:26.480 Peter, that man we can find something to admire about 01:26.480 --> 01:29.320 something to reject, but a man of action 01:29.320 --> 01:30.960 and a man who did great things, 01:30.960 --> 01:33.240 for Peter said these words. 01:33.240 --> 01:38.240 Why, some say that you are John the Baptist returned, 01:39.360 --> 01:42.880 or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or perhaps one of the sons 01:42.880 --> 01:44.520 of the prophets come home. 01:45.600 --> 01:49.560 But Jesus said, now, who do you say that I am? 01:49.560 --> 01:51.400 And that's what our faith comes out. 01:51.400 --> 01:53.920 Who is he to you? 01:54.040 --> 01:58.000 Not the other guy, but who is Jesus to you? 01:58.000 --> 01:58.840 Isn't that critical? 01:58.840 --> 02:00.400 That's the important thing. 02:00.400 --> 02:01.920 And he said, thou art the Christ, 02:01.920 --> 02:02.920 the son of the living God. 02:02.920 --> 02:05.320 Christ here, meaning Messiah, anointed one, 02:05.320 --> 02:08.240 king or prophet in our lives. 02:08.240 --> 02:10.080 The Lord of our lives. 02:10.080 --> 02:11.320 See, and that's important too. 02:11.320 --> 02:16.320 Jesus, just not sweet Jesus, but the Lord of my life. 02:17.520 --> 02:19.120 And Jesus said, blessed art there, 02:19.120 --> 02:21.680 Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood 02:21.680 --> 02:23.800 is not revealed to this and to thee. 02:23.800 --> 02:25.960 But my Father who is in heaven. 02:25.960 --> 02:28.280 And I say this unto thee, 02:29.480 --> 02:34.480 I will build my church upon this rock. 02:34.800 --> 02:37.760 I will build my church upon this rock. 02:37.760 --> 02:41.680 And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 02:41.680 --> 02:44.640 And whatever thou binds on this earth, 02:44.640 --> 02:46.000 I will bind in heaven. 02:46.000 --> 02:48.000 And what thou looses on this earth, 02:48.000 --> 02:50.340 I will loose in heaven. 02:50.340 --> 02:52.360 That's the most exciting thing in the world. 02:52.400 --> 02:54.160 It's called the good confession, I guess. 02:54.160 --> 02:55.480 And we ask everyone to do it. 02:55.480 --> 02:56.320 Why not? 02:56.320 --> 02:59.040 That's what Jesus was asked to do, wasn't it? 02:59.040 --> 03:01.120 And why should we be ashamed to say, yes, 03:01.120 --> 03:05.000 I confess that Jesus is the son of God. 03:05.000 --> 03:07.040 And that's not popular in the schools 03:07.040 --> 03:09.200 and the universities and the workplace 03:09.200 --> 03:10.860 and the markets of today. 03:10.860 --> 03:12.600 Not at all, is it? 03:12.600 --> 03:14.640 And I'm proud of that confession of faith 03:14.640 --> 03:17.840 which Peter made, but he was always confessing something. 03:17.840 --> 03:20.400 One time they went a fishin'. 03:21.400 --> 03:23.320 And Jesus said, well, lower your nets 03:23.320 --> 03:24.680 because they had had no luck at all. 03:24.680 --> 03:27.480 Probably they fished like fishermen in Wyoming, 03:27.480 --> 03:28.480 they always have good luck. 03:28.480 --> 03:30.080 Occasionally they do, don't they? 03:30.080 --> 03:32.360 Once in a while you catch a 22 pounder, 03:32.360 --> 03:34.160 but not very often, do you? 03:34.160 --> 03:37.040 You have to fish a lot of years to do such a thing. 03:37.040 --> 03:39.000 And in Luke 5.8 he says, 03:39.000 --> 03:44.000 depart from me, for I am a sinful man, oh Lord. 03:44.040 --> 03:45.600 The reason was he had doubted 03:45.600 --> 03:47.200 that Jesus could fill their nets. 03:47.200 --> 03:50.360 Can you imagine the creator of the universe 03:50.880 --> 03:55.040 not being able to fill a man's net, a fisherman's net? 03:55.040 --> 03:56.800 They had doubted and Peter says, 03:56.800 --> 03:59.480 I'm just inadequate, just depart from me. 03:59.480 --> 04:01.040 He was a little bit of full of baloney. 04:01.040 --> 04:03.560 I happen to think probably he was a bit of an Irishman, 04:03.560 --> 04:07.880 a big coarse rough-handed Irishman, but one nonetheless. 04:07.880 --> 04:12.000 In Matthew 14, verse 22, we know they had courage. 04:12.000 --> 04:14.200 There's a lot of people, you know, bad mouth, oh Peter, 04:14.200 --> 04:16.320 because he didn't have faith and the thunder 04:16.320 --> 04:18.320 and the lightning and the whistling wind 04:18.360 --> 04:20.360 and the glowering skies. 04:20.360 --> 04:22.880 And he saw Jesus walking up on the water 04:22.880 --> 04:25.200 and he was the first out of the boat. 04:25.200 --> 04:27.560 He said, thou bid me come, Lord, I will come. 04:27.560 --> 04:29.240 And Jesus says, one simple word, 04:29.240 --> 04:33.960 what a profound message it was, come. 04:33.960 --> 04:35.560 And that man gets out of the boat 04:35.560 --> 04:39.720 and walks across the water until his faith begins to sag. 04:39.720 --> 04:41.820 And all at once he begins to make bubbles 04:41.820 --> 04:45.280 around the vicinity of his nose. 04:45.280 --> 04:47.080 And Jesus has to chide him a bit. 04:47.080 --> 04:49.320 Oh, if thou had just kept your faith, 04:49.320 --> 04:51.440 if you'd just kept your faith, Peter. 04:51.440 --> 04:53.960 However, how many folks got out of the boat? 04:53.960 --> 04:55.000 Not very many. 04:55.000 --> 04:58.880 In Matthew 11, 28, we could ask the same about you. 04:58.880 --> 05:02.040 For Christ said, come unto me, all ye that labor 05:02.040 --> 05:04.860 and are heavy laden, and I will give you less. 05:04.860 --> 05:07.160 Come, that the invitation is so simple. 05:07.160 --> 05:11.240 Come unto me, that's all that Jesus ever asked us to do. 05:11.240 --> 05:13.600 And we get pretty low and we get pretty slow 05:13.600 --> 05:14.720 and we get pretty down. 05:14.720 --> 05:17.740 And sometimes our days appear to be all Mondays, don't they? 05:17.740 --> 05:19.960 Which is my bad day. 05:19.960 --> 05:22.040 Maybe your bad day is another one. 05:22.040 --> 05:24.040 But we tend to get low, don't we? 05:24.040 --> 05:25.840 And I think of that admonition 05:25.840 --> 05:30.840 which Peter himself gives in John 6, verse 69. 05:31.960 --> 05:36.960 Said this, thou alone hast the words of eternal life. 05:38.280 --> 05:41.920 And we believe and we are sure 05:41.920 --> 05:45.120 that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 05:45.120 --> 05:47.400 This is the man who's going to deny him in a little bit. 05:47.400 --> 05:50.920 He says, we're sure that you're the Lord of our life, 05:50.920 --> 05:52.960 that you're the Son of God, that you are the Messiah, 05:52.960 --> 05:57.440 you are the anointed one, you're everything to all of us. 05:57.440 --> 05:59.120 See, he was an old fisherman. 05:59.120 --> 06:01.480 He had a fisherman's heart, always a-hopin', 06:01.480 --> 06:05.160 sometimes getting kicked, sometimes getting put down, 06:05.160 --> 06:07.560 but always going on and on. 06:07.560 --> 06:10.120 In Matthew 16, and I think it would be worthwhile 06:10.160 --> 06:13.000 to go home this afternoon or sometime this week 06:13.000 --> 06:16.000 and read that chapter in Matthew 16. 06:16.000 --> 06:18.280 It has three P's in it. 06:18.280 --> 06:20.760 And it deals with something like this, the person. 06:20.760 --> 06:23.680 And the person, of course, is Christ, isn't it? 06:23.680 --> 06:25.280 It deals also with a purpose. 06:25.280 --> 06:26.640 What was the purpose? 06:26.640 --> 06:31.640 And the kingdom of hell will not prevail against my church. 06:32.080 --> 06:33.760 The purpose was the church. 06:33.760 --> 06:36.800 And the program was that he would die, 06:36.800 --> 06:39.840 he would be buried, and he would be resurrected again. 06:39.880 --> 06:42.760 This whole chapter basically spins around 06:42.760 --> 06:45.360 the consummate dream of all mankind, 06:45.360 --> 06:48.760 that we are not to die like dogs on the hillside, 06:48.760 --> 06:51.560 but we are to die and then be resurrected 06:51.560 --> 06:55.400 and to set at the right hand of God Almighty, our Father. 06:55.400 --> 06:58.280 We are not the children of the earth. 06:58.280 --> 07:01.800 We are children of a greater God, not a lesser God. 07:01.800 --> 07:05.360 And how important that is, a purpose, a person, 07:05.360 --> 07:07.320 and a program. 07:07.320 --> 07:08.800 What was the result? 07:08.840 --> 07:13.840 Well, in Matthew 16, verse 22, says this. 07:14.200 --> 07:19.200 Then Peter took Jesus and began to rebuke him, saying, 07:19.200 --> 07:23.520 Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. 07:23.520 --> 07:24.800 What did Jesus just say? 07:24.800 --> 07:27.780 Well, it behooves the Son of man that he must die, 07:27.780 --> 07:29.960 and he must be resurrected, 07:29.960 --> 07:32.560 and that he might become the Savior of mankind. 07:32.560 --> 07:35.040 And Peter didn't want that. 07:35.040 --> 07:37.080 He didn't want them to leave, even for a moment. 07:37.440 --> 07:39.400 This is not going to happen to you. 07:39.400 --> 07:43.240 And Jesus has to get thee behind me, Satan, 07:43.240 --> 07:45.800 for he had a program, he had a plan, 07:45.800 --> 07:48.040 he had a church concept. 07:48.040 --> 07:51.640 And how important that really is, get me behind it. 07:51.640 --> 07:53.720 You talk like men do. 07:53.720 --> 07:56.560 And men sometimes talk baloney, don't they? 07:56.560 --> 07:57.640 You notice that, ladies? 07:57.640 --> 07:59.080 Have you ever heard of that? 07:59.080 --> 08:00.880 Peter really did love Jesus. 08:00.880 --> 08:02.760 Perhaps that comes through, 08:02.760 --> 08:06.360 and maybe that's what saves him, ultimately, isn't it? 08:06.400 --> 08:08.920 Jesus knows, you'll deny me thrice. 08:08.920 --> 08:10.920 Thrice and I, three times in a night, 08:10.920 --> 08:14.440 he's going to deny the one he says he loves so much. 08:14.440 --> 08:17.720 And in Luke 22, verse 31 and 32, we see it. 08:17.720 --> 08:21.400 Simon, Simon called Peter. 08:21.400 --> 08:25.720 Simon, Satan hath desired to have you 08:25.720 --> 08:29.560 that he might sift you. 08:29.560 --> 08:33.840 Now, I don't know about you, sift you as we, 08:33.840 --> 08:37.440 have you ever felt like maybe Satan sifting you a little bit 08:37.440 --> 08:39.880 that he's reaching into your interior somewhere 08:39.880 --> 08:42.600 and straining out the chunky parts 08:42.600 --> 08:45.000 and somehow or another, putting you down 08:45.000 --> 08:47.680 and life seems to be a struggle 08:47.680 --> 08:50.960 and it seems like temptations are more than you can handle 08:50.960 --> 08:55.240 as if sifting, sifting, sifting, he'll find something 08:55.240 --> 08:57.640 which will destroy you and put you down. 08:57.640 --> 09:00.880 And you know, Satan's job is to defeat Christ. 09:00.880 --> 09:04.680 Satan's job is to defeat us in all the things we believe in. 09:04.680 --> 09:07.320 Satan's job is to make us forget 09:07.320 --> 09:09.240 the words of God and the commandments. 09:09.240 --> 09:10.760 This is what happens to America. 09:10.760 --> 09:12.240 We've taken the law out of the land, 09:12.240 --> 09:13.600 we've taken honor out of the land, 09:13.600 --> 09:15.960 the commandments of God out of the land. 09:15.960 --> 09:18.960 And so we will suffer and we will not 09:20.040 --> 09:22.560 tweak God's nose with impunity. 09:22.560 --> 09:26.720 We will suffer when we leave the commandments of God 09:26.720 --> 09:29.320 and we do not understand the word of God. 09:29.320 --> 09:31.440 We shall suffer surely for that. 09:31.440 --> 09:34.680 For he says, he may sift you as wheat, 09:34.680 --> 09:36.440 but I have prayed for these. 09:36.440 --> 09:37.640 See, there's the answer. 09:37.640 --> 09:39.480 Satan may be trying to hurt us 09:39.480 --> 09:41.480 and making us feel lonely. 09:41.480 --> 09:44.040 It makes us feel separate and disjointed 09:44.040 --> 09:46.320 and not at peace even with our loved ones 09:46.320 --> 09:48.520 or our family or our children. 09:48.520 --> 09:51.720 Even we're not at peace with our land anymore. 09:51.720 --> 09:55.960 And so I say this much, I have prayed for thee. 09:55.960 --> 09:58.240 We have one who prays for us. 09:58.280 --> 09:59.800 And listen to what it says here. 09:59.800 --> 10:02.200 That thy faith fail not 10:02.200 --> 10:04.800 and when the art converted again, 10:04.800 --> 10:07.120 strengthen therefore your brother. 10:07.120 --> 10:08.360 How did he strengthen? 10:08.360 --> 10:11.320 Well, he obviously was again converted, wasn't he? 10:11.320 --> 10:13.240 Because even though he denies Christ, 10:13.240 --> 10:15.120 who preaches on the first day 10:15.120 --> 10:18.320 and takes the brunt of the wrath of the Jews? 10:18.320 --> 10:21.320 Peter, who said, repent and be baptized 10:21.320 --> 10:23.080 every one of you for the remission. 10:23.080 --> 10:26.160 That, by the way, is not a hard word to understand. 10:26.200 --> 10:29.440 Remitted, paid for, canceled, forgiven. 10:29.440 --> 10:32.840 There is forgiveness of sins in baptism. 10:32.840 --> 10:36.160 I get tired of the intellectual argument sometimes. 10:36.160 --> 10:38.720 Hey, you better believe in the efficacy of baptism 10:38.720 --> 10:40.200 or you have nothing at all. 10:40.200 --> 10:44.480 It has to do with remitting our sins and being born again. 10:44.480 --> 10:47.680 Don't listen to the sophisticates of the world 10:47.680 --> 10:49.880 who are taking Jesus out of the life, 10:49.880 --> 10:51.960 taking baptism out of our life, 10:51.960 --> 10:53.760 taking suffering out of our life 10:53.760 --> 10:57.040 and the fellowship of Christ out of our life 10:57.040 --> 11:00.360 and making the church a kind of little play church business 11:00.360 --> 11:01.960 where things don't matter at all 11:01.960 --> 11:04.960 and everything matters in the kingdom of God. 11:04.960 --> 11:06.360 Words are everything. 11:06.360 --> 11:09.280 His name is the logos and he is the ultimate word 11:09.280 --> 11:13.240 and his commandments are what bring us eternal life. 11:13.240 --> 11:17.000 Oh, man, I like that idea, that faith. 11:17.000 --> 11:19.480 See, Jesus prayed for his faith. 11:19.480 --> 11:21.720 We have someone who stands in for us. 11:21.760 --> 11:24.920 When Peter was weak, Jesus prayed for his faith 11:24.920 --> 11:26.360 and that was important. 11:26.360 --> 11:28.720 And I think that's extremely important 11:28.720 --> 11:31.080 as we read about 1 John 2. 11:31.080 --> 11:34.120 And if any man sinned, we have an advocate 11:34.120 --> 11:38.200 with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. 11:38.200 --> 11:41.560 An advocate is a snooty lawyer, isn't it? 11:41.560 --> 11:43.800 That'd be like shooting your neighbor's dog 11:43.800 --> 11:45.880 and asking Jerry Spence to come in 11:45.880 --> 11:47.320 and take care of the problem. 11:47.320 --> 11:49.560 That's a little overkill, isn't it? 11:49.680 --> 11:51.960 Probably would be, wouldn't it? 11:51.960 --> 11:55.380 Or Jerry Spence, see, to take on a traffic tick violation. 11:55.380 --> 11:57.720 But isn't that exactly what God did? 11:57.720 --> 11:59.840 He takes the creator of the universe. 11:59.840 --> 12:03.280 He takes the Holy Son of God, the divine born 12:03.280 --> 12:06.040 of the first born, the first begotten. 12:06.040 --> 12:10.240 He takes the creator of the universe to attend to my sins 12:10.240 --> 12:12.920 and to strengthen and to encourage my faith 12:12.920 --> 12:14.440 and to build me up. 12:14.440 --> 12:16.760 See what an exciting thing the faith is 12:16.760 --> 12:18.680 and the household of God is? 12:18.680 --> 12:22.440 Why the church is of all things most to be desired 12:22.440 --> 12:25.400 and consummately must be pursued by all of us. 12:25.400 --> 12:29.160 When Jesus comes, it doesn't have to be in this house, 12:29.160 --> 12:32.480 but you better be in a place where God's commandments 12:32.480 --> 12:35.280 are being obeyed when he takes his sweetheart home, 12:35.280 --> 12:38.720 his bride, the church, or you may be left behind. 12:38.720 --> 12:40.960 He may rip you out of the grave 12:40.960 --> 12:44.360 and he may take you to stand before the judgment seat 12:44.360 --> 12:48.500 without a snooty lawyer, without an advocate, 12:48.500 --> 12:51.060 without one who by his sheer intellect 12:51.060 --> 12:54.380 and by his knowledge of the law may excuse sins 12:54.380 --> 12:55.820 or forgive sins. 12:55.820 --> 13:00.480 And I don't want to stand before the Son of God 13:00.480 --> 13:02.960 if he's not for me and defending me 13:02.960 --> 13:04.860 and defending the loved ones. 13:04.860 --> 13:07.220 Oh, how important that is. 13:07.220 --> 13:11.180 You know when that Pentecost came, there was a victory. 13:11.180 --> 13:13.340 This grand old man stood up and he preached 13:13.340 --> 13:15.420 the very first sermon ever he preached 13:15.420 --> 13:16.980 in the household of God. 13:16.980 --> 13:20.300 And how important it was because thousands 13:20.300 --> 13:23.140 in the next few days turned to the Lord Jesus Christ 13:23.140 --> 13:26.020 and the beginning of a momentous movement, 13:26.020 --> 13:29.420 a movement which is caused the life and the death 13:29.420 --> 13:31.580 of more people than any single thing 13:31.580 --> 13:35.060 on the face of the earth, the kingdom of God, the church. 13:35.060 --> 13:37.260 You need to understand that it's caused the life 13:37.260 --> 13:40.500 and the death of more people than any movement 13:40.500 --> 13:42.980 that has ever occurred on the face of the earth. 13:42.980 --> 13:46.200 And millions have perished. 13:46.240 --> 13:50.040 Millions have perished outside the church too. 13:50.040 --> 13:51.120 How did he fail? 13:51.120 --> 13:54.000 And I've often wondered, I could just see six very quick ways 13:54.000 --> 13:56.840 and you don't have to worry about this being too lengthy. 13:56.840 --> 13:58.120 I don't want this to be negative, 13:58.120 --> 14:02.040 but what happened to Peter that he was so up and downish? 14:02.040 --> 14:03.560 Why was he so flighty? 14:03.560 --> 14:06.160 Well, man, he was as flighty as a $7 bill, 14:06.160 --> 14:09.120 but he still belonged to God. 14:09.120 --> 14:13.680 And listen, pride, I won't deny thee, 14:13.680 --> 14:15.520 I will die for thee. 14:15.520 --> 14:18.600 He says in his pride, did he deny? 14:18.600 --> 14:20.560 Indeed, he did. 14:20.560 --> 14:22.120 You know what? 14:22.120 --> 14:24.400 Has this pride ever bugged you too? 14:24.400 --> 14:27.120 Wasn't this Peter's problem alone, was it? 14:27.120 --> 14:28.600 Peter had a problem, that's for sure, 14:28.600 --> 14:33.040 but have you ever had it hard to say, forgive me? 14:33.040 --> 14:35.800 I didn't mean to say that or forgive me. 14:35.800 --> 14:39.000 I love you and I didn't mean to do that. 14:39.000 --> 14:39.840 Forgive me. 14:39.840 --> 14:41.760 Here's that 10 bucks I owed you. 14:41.760 --> 14:43.320 Forgive me. 14:43.320 --> 14:46.080 That comes to us so hard, doesn't it? 14:46.080 --> 14:50.240 Well, we're like Peter, he was a mere human being. 14:50.240 --> 14:52.640 You know, it's hard to let a heart ache go. 14:52.640 --> 14:57.520 Sometimes we like to wallow in our misery. 14:57.520 --> 15:01.560 Sometimes we just don't like to get out in the free wind 15:01.560 --> 15:05.120 and look to a new sunrise of being born again 15:05.120 --> 15:10.120 of the rebirth of Phoenix dead rising from the ashes. 15:10.400 --> 15:13.920 And that's what Christianity is supposed to be all about, 15:13.920 --> 15:16.280 how we like to go back and in our pride, 15:16.280 --> 15:21.080 maintain that hatred that we've had for years and years. 15:21.080 --> 15:23.760 You know, Peter was also often prayerless 15:23.760 --> 15:26.040 and you know why he slept a lot. 15:26.040 --> 15:30.200 This big old tough fisherman was the kind of guy 15:30.200 --> 15:32.200 that seemed to be sleeping all the time. 15:32.200 --> 15:33.880 There was something critical going on. 15:33.880 --> 15:35.920 Sounds like the church, doesn't it? 15:35.920 --> 15:40.440 Peter, James and John, Matthew 26, we hear this. 15:40.440 --> 15:45.440 What could you have not watched with me? 15:45.480 --> 15:46.320 What was Jesus doing? 15:46.320 --> 15:47.560 He was praying. 15:47.560 --> 15:52.560 Could you not have watched with me one hour? 15:53.320 --> 15:55.320 Couldn't you even have done it? 15:55.320 --> 15:56.160 What was Peter doing? 15:56.160 --> 15:57.400 He was making Z's. 15:58.680 --> 16:03.320 When a critical moment in all of history was coming to pass, 16:03.320 --> 16:05.960 the son of man was about to be betrayed 16:05.960 --> 16:09.720 and he needed his partners with him, his prayer partners 16:09.720 --> 16:13.840 and they were making Z's and he slept in jail in Acts 12 16:13.840 --> 16:17.040 when this great angel rips open the door 16:17.040 --> 16:19.560 and sets them free, he was making Z's. 16:19.560 --> 16:21.400 I'd want to have been awake and watching 16:21.400 --> 16:24.240 what God was doing in my life, wouldn't you? 16:24.240 --> 16:25.940 And he was making Z's. 16:25.940 --> 16:28.680 They slept on the mount of transfiguration. 16:28.680 --> 16:32.400 His disciples, his loved ones were sound asleep 16:32.400 --> 16:36.480 when they could have seen this vision of the great past 16:36.480 --> 16:39.160 and the glory of the shining Jesus there 16:39.160 --> 16:40.400 on the transfiguration. 16:40.400 --> 16:42.600 His face did shine as the sun 16:42.600 --> 16:44.840 and they missed out on so much of that. 16:44.840 --> 16:46.800 See, he was making Z's. 16:46.800 --> 16:48.920 There's lots of Simon Peters in the church 16:48.920 --> 16:51.160 so we can't get too holy, holy about that 16:51.160 --> 16:53.520 or too goody, goody, two shoes about that. 16:53.520 --> 16:57.680 Someone says why the church is simply a land 16:57.680 --> 17:01.600 of missed opportunities and we have a great opportunity 17:01.640 --> 17:03.040 in this veil of tears. 17:03.040 --> 17:04.640 Let us capitalize on it. 17:04.640 --> 17:05.920 Paul said it another way. 17:05.920 --> 17:09.080 He said, awake thou that sleepeth 17:09.080 --> 17:14.080 and rise from the dead for Christ shall shine upon thee. 17:14.280 --> 17:16.520 How many missed opportunities 17:16.520 --> 17:20.960 and how many somnambulant Z's can we make 17:20.960 --> 17:24.640 while great events go on and on about us 17:24.640 --> 17:28.800 and we are rain deck chairs on the backside of the Titanic. 17:28.800 --> 17:31.000 That's essentially what the church is involved in 17:31.120 --> 17:34.400 and praise God that most of this church's income 17:34.400 --> 17:35.560 goes to somebody else 17:35.560 --> 17:38.360 and we're not just arranging deck chairs 17:38.360 --> 17:41.080 on a ship that's soon to sink. 17:41.080 --> 17:43.280 We're doing more than that 17:43.280 --> 17:45.640 and this is why I'm part of the church 17:45.640 --> 17:48.320 and I believe that we don't have to have Simon Peters 17:48.320 --> 17:50.440 in the church in that sense anymore 17:50.440 --> 17:53.320 but we can be the victorious Simon Peter. 17:53.320 --> 17:54.640 You know, when he said, 17:54.640 --> 17:59.400 and thou art a rock and upon this rock, 17:59.400 --> 18:00.240 I build my church. 18:00.240 --> 18:02.760 Now one great facet of God's kingdom says 18:02.760 --> 18:07.120 that Peter is the one who was the first apostle. 18:07.120 --> 18:09.040 He was the first pope. 18:09.040 --> 18:11.040 That is what they would say 18:11.040 --> 18:12.520 is what the church is built on. 18:12.520 --> 18:14.160 We don't really believe that. 18:14.160 --> 18:16.600 We believe is what it really says in the Greek. 18:16.600 --> 18:18.440 Thou art just a little pebble. 18:19.320 --> 18:22.900 But upon the monolithic rock, not Petros, 18:22.900 --> 18:24.600 but Petros just in the Greek. 18:24.600 --> 18:25.840 That's why God chose the Greek. 18:25.840 --> 18:27.200 It's so simple minded. 18:27.200 --> 18:29.440 He's a little pebble that Peter was 18:29.440 --> 18:30.680 but we want to build a church 18:30.680 --> 18:34.840 on a monolithic, great, ram part of the Rocky Mountains 18:34.840 --> 18:37.120 born down into the heart of the earth. 18:37.120 --> 18:41.200 The very foundations of the church is Christ himself. 18:41.200 --> 18:42.360 What is the foundation of the church 18:42.360 --> 18:45.000 is not a mere man who was so up and down 18:45.000 --> 18:49.400 but it was Christ, the son of God. 18:49.400 --> 18:51.920 Thou art the Christ, the son of a living God. 18:51.920 --> 18:54.040 That's what the church is built on. 18:54.040 --> 18:56.440 I wouldn't want you to build a church on me. 18:56.440 --> 18:59.560 I failed in a lot of things. 18:59.560 --> 19:01.200 Peter failed in a lot of things. 19:01.200 --> 19:04.080 We're just pebbles and I'm a much smaller. 19:04.080 --> 19:07.840 I'm a grain of sand compared to this tiny rock of Peter. 19:07.840 --> 19:10.240 But I tell you what, Peter's a very small rock 19:10.240 --> 19:15.240 compared to Christ, the son of God, 19:15.240 --> 19:18.960 the very foundation of our faith 19:18.960 --> 19:20.920 and of our hope of eternal life. 19:20.920 --> 19:22.200 You know what? 19:22.200 --> 19:23.840 He also failed in this sense. 19:23.880 --> 19:26.640 He often tended to do things in the flesh. 19:26.640 --> 19:28.040 Do you know the last miracle 19:28.040 --> 19:29.840 that it takes place before the cross? 19:29.840 --> 19:31.880 Can anybody remember? 19:31.880 --> 19:34.000 Had to do with a sharp-edged sword. 19:34.000 --> 19:36.720 And a guy stood up, was gonna grab hold of Jesus 19:36.720 --> 19:38.320 to throw him in the hoose gall 19:38.320 --> 19:40.000 and Peter just stepped in, man. 19:40.000 --> 19:42.960 That was his friend, that was his savior. 19:42.960 --> 19:44.200 And you're not gonna grab him 19:44.200 --> 19:46.560 and he cut off Malchus's ear, do you remember that? 19:46.560 --> 19:49.480 He tried to save Jesus through the flesh, 19:49.480 --> 19:51.000 through the works of the flesh. 19:51.000 --> 19:53.820 And it wasn't, you know, that wasn't going to be interrupted. 19:53.820 --> 19:55.860 It wasn't part of the consummation of the ages. 19:55.860 --> 19:58.180 It wasn't to be that way. 19:58.180 --> 20:00.160 Jesus was to die, see. 20:01.140 --> 20:03.540 And he cuts off Malchus's ear. 20:03.540 --> 20:06.220 You know, we're still cutting off people's ears. 20:06.220 --> 20:07.980 We do that a lot, don't we? 20:07.980 --> 20:11.020 And it leaves a scar and we can't win people, we hurt. 20:11.020 --> 20:13.220 We need to love them and not cut off their ears, 20:13.220 --> 20:15.180 so to speak, not cripple them. 20:15.180 --> 20:17.140 Hey, the other day I saw a great vulture. 20:17.140 --> 20:19.460 I got within 15 feet of him. 20:19.460 --> 20:21.180 Matter of fact, I began to worry about it. 20:21.180 --> 20:23.220 You know, kids, can anyone, you kids, 20:23.220 --> 20:24.940 all the most the kids are downstairs. 20:24.940 --> 20:27.320 How big of ears does a vulture have? 20:29.220 --> 20:31.700 How big of ears does a vulture have? 20:33.340 --> 20:34.180 Not very big at all. 20:34.180 --> 20:37.340 You know, if you're listening for something to die, 20:37.340 --> 20:38.900 you don't need ears. 20:38.900 --> 20:40.980 You need a good eye, don't you? 20:40.980 --> 20:43.940 And that old vulture can soar up there 5,000 feet high 20:43.940 --> 20:45.060 and see every dead thing, 20:45.060 --> 20:47.140 but he isn't listening for anything. 20:47.140 --> 20:50.300 He's looking, looking for something dead. 20:50.300 --> 20:52.940 See, we don't want to be that way in the church either. 20:52.940 --> 20:55.460 We need to have ears that hear, 20:55.460 --> 20:57.140 and thus will come our salvation. 20:57.140 --> 20:58.380 Do you know what? 20:58.380 --> 21:01.620 Peter also followed from afar off. 21:01.620 --> 21:03.300 You don't want a buddy like that. 21:03.300 --> 21:07.020 If you're walking in South Chicago late at night, 21:07.020 --> 21:09.900 you want a buddy that walks real close to you, don't you? 21:09.900 --> 21:11.460 I think you would. 21:11.460 --> 21:13.740 And Peter followed afar off, 21:13.740 --> 21:16.500 and he was often too busy and he was often non-loving. 21:16.500 --> 21:17.340 And you know what? 21:17.340 --> 21:19.860 Philippians 3-10 said that I may know him, 21:20.860 --> 21:22.740 the power of his resurrection 21:22.740 --> 21:25.860 and the fellowship of his suffering. 21:25.860 --> 21:28.620 There's no way that you can be close to Jesus 21:28.620 --> 21:31.980 in his suffering and be a mile off. 21:31.980 --> 21:34.140 Peter was always on the outside looking in 21:34.140 --> 21:35.740 on these critical events. 21:35.740 --> 21:37.460 He was always taking a snooze. 21:37.460 --> 21:40.780 He wasn't really quite close and quite empathy 21:40.780 --> 21:43.380 with Jesus, his Lord. 21:43.380 --> 21:45.580 Do you remember that he comforted himself 21:45.580 --> 21:47.660 at his enemies' fires? 21:47.780 --> 21:49.900 And he was warming his hand as a cool of the night 21:49.900 --> 21:52.100 while Jesus was in the middle of the trial. 21:52.100 --> 21:53.420 Remember that? 21:53.420 --> 21:55.180 And that's kind of frightening, isn't it? 21:55.180 --> 21:58.540 That scares me because it's so easy to warm your hands 21:58.540 --> 22:00.460 at the enemies' fires. 22:00.460 --> 22:02.180 You know, it's so easy to get involved 22:02.180 --> 22:04.180 in the intellectual discussions of life 22:04.180 --> 22:06.260 if you're a college teacher, see? 22:06.260 --> 22:09.020 It's so easy to get involved with the things of nature. 22:09.020 --> 22:11.380 If you like the outdoors and the mountains become 22:11.380 --> 22:13.980 a distraction until you instead of seeing God, 22:13.980 --> 22:15.940 you see that the outdoors is fun. 22:16.340 --> 22:19.860 So you warm your hands at the enemies' fires, see? 22:19.860 --> 22:23.020 And that's often the case with God's people. 22:23.020 --> 22:25.500 We've become distracted by the things of this world. 22:25.500 --> 22:26.700 Jesus said, love not the world, 22:26.700 --> 22:28.700 neither the things that are in it. 22:28.700 --> 22:30.740 And how easy it is to do. 22:30.740 --> 22:32.860 And he even cursed, remember that little girl? 22:32.860 --> 22:33.860 Aren't you one of these? 22:33.860 --> 22:34.980 And follow after that? 22:34.980 --> 22:36.460 Aren't you not a disciple of his? 22:36.460 --> 22:37.620 I am not. 22:37.620 --> 22:41.580 And curses, it's going a long way in it. 22:41.580 --> 22:44.580 Probably most of us wouldn't curse when we denied Jesus. 22:45.940 --> 22:47.580 Is that much improvement? 22:47.580 --> 22:49.780 Possibly not. 22:49.780 --> 22:51.380 Would the world ever attract you? 22:51.380 --> 22:54.380 Well, it's attracted me, and it's probably attracted you too. 22:54.380 --> 22:56.820 And lastly, he denies his savior, 22:56.820 --> 22:59.780 and we've talked about it in Luke 22, 61, and two, 22:59.780 --> 23:03.460 and the Lord turned, and he looked upon Peter, 23:03.460 --> 23:06.420 and then listened to the problem that that develops. 23:06.420 --> 23:09.100 And he went out, this is speaking of Peter, 23:09.100 --> 23:12.420 and he wept bitterly. 23:12.420 --> 23:14.660 I just try to think in my mind, 23:14.820 --> 23:17.660 what would Jesus' face look like 23:17.660 --> 23:19.500 that would take this old, hard, rough man 23:19.500 --> 23:22.460 and just make him cry, his own conscious, 23:22.460 --> 23:24.900 the glory of the dying one, 23:24.900 --> 23:28.380 the majesty of that pure one dying for sinful men 23:28.380 --> 23:31.700 like himself who had just lately denied him. 23:31.700 --> 23:33.300 You know what? 23:33.300 --> 23:35.300 The church's children are such a blessing. 23:35.300 --> 23:37.260 I'm so proud of our youth group. 23:37.260 --> 23:39.420 I'm so proud of all you that work so hard 23:39.420 --> 23:42.020 down there in the dungeon and all over this place. 23:42.020 --> 23:44.460 Even now, there's 70 people downstairs 23:44.460 --> 23:45.900 and there's people down there in the dungeon 23:45.900 --> 23:47.660 teaching little kids. 23:47.660 --> 23:49.180 And that's what they ought to be doing. 23:49.180 --> 23:52.180 We didn't come here just to talk and visit, 23:52.180 --> 23:53.740 but they're serving the children. 23:53.740 --> 23:55.260 And listen, this is one of our children. 23:55.260 --> 23:58.500 This, you all know Dave Parish's brother is Stephen. 23:58.500 --> 24:00.460 We don't hear much about Stephen, do we? 24:00.460 --> 24:03.020 Just one of the kids in the youth group. 24:03.020 --> 24:05.060 He went back to California part of his life, 24:05.060 --> 24:08.180 and he knew what hellish place California can be 24:08.180 --> 24:10.380 for non-Christian people. 24:10.380 --> 24:12.300 He ended up setting him and it worried him, 24:12.300 --> 24:14.420 and he did, he backslid a while, 24:14.420 --> 24:15.900 but then he came to his senses 24:15.900 --> 24:20.780 and he recently wrote this letter, March 31st, says this. 24:20.780 --> 24:23.660 By the way, his mama killed herself, 24:23.660 --> 24:25.340 waited until the children were all in, 24:25.340 --> 24:27.500 shot herself, blew her brains out, 24:27.500 --> 24:29.340 and all six children had to come 24:29.340 --> 24:31.180 and clean up mama's mess. 24:31.180 --> 24:33.700 That's motherhood, but I want you to know 24:33.700 --> 24:35.780 that you can't blame everything on your mother, 24:35.780 --> 24:39.180 and here's a couple of kids, here's four or five kids 24:39.180 --> 24:41.980 who went on to become great in the kingdom of God, 24:41.980 --> 24:43.980 basically because not of their parents, 24:44.060 --> 24:45.220 but because of the church. 24:45.220 --> 24:48.020 Thank God for the church. 24:48.020 --> 24:50.340 If you think you can raise kids without the church, 24:50.340 --> 24:55.020 you deceive yourselves, and God cannot be mocked. 24:55.020 --> 24:56.860 You must have the church if you're going 24:56.860 --> 24:58.820 to raise godly children. 24:58.820 --> 25:00.980 Here's what the little guy said. 25:00.980 --> 25:04.140 He's starting a new church in Helena, Montana. 25:04.140 --> 25:07.420 He's working in a children's home, isn't that neat? 25:07.420 --> 25:08.780 Working in children's home. 25:08.780 --> 25:10.340 He's a missionary. 25:10.340 --> 25:13.860 I can remember clearly the summer of 1976 25:13.900 --> 25:15.700 as I went forward through the aisle 25:15.700 --> 25:17.660 of the Paradise Valley Christian Church 25:17.660 --> 25:19.220 to the front of the auditorium. 25:19.220 --> 25:21.820 When I reached the stage, my body was shaking 25:21.820 --> 25:23.820 and it was rattled with emotions. 25:23.820 --> 25:26.340 I was overwhelmed with conviction and guilt 25:26.340 --> 25:28.300 over the course my life had taken 25:28.300 --> 25:30.460 throughout the previous 10 years. 25:30.460 --> 25:33.540 As I stood up front, I shared concerns for my future 25:33.540 --> 25:36.500 and I asked for prayers, knowing and understanding 25:36.500 --> 25:39.360 that I did not have the courage or the responsibility 25:39.360 --> 25:42.180 or the willpower to withstand the elements 25:42.180 --> 25:44.140 that I would encounter upon my return 25:44.140 --> 25:46.220 to California the next day. 25:46.220 --> 25:49.220 I met my future wife to be on that very day 25:49.220 --> 25:51.700 when the young adults went out for pizza 25:51.700 --> 25:53.100 at the local Pizza Hut. 25:53.100 --> 25:54.460 Well, they weren't all young adults. 25:54.460 --> 25:55.440 I was there. 25:55.440 --> 25:59.140 I am a proud to share that after 17 wonderful years 25:59.140 --> 26:02.380 of marriage, I remain faithful. 26:02.380 --> 26:03.980 And you know, that's exciting. 26:03.980 --> 26:06.820 And oh, bless you, working with the youth group. 26:06.820 --> 26:11.020 There's more Steve's and David's coming on the way 26:11.060 --> 26:12.660 and that's what the victory is. 26:12.660 --> 26:14.340 He's made a mistake. 26:14.340 --> 26:15.460 I've made a mistake. 26:15.460 --> 26:16.860 You've made a mistake. 26:16.860 --> 26:21.860 But God will take the hindmost and present us whole 26:22.260 --> 26:25.760 and perfect before the throne of God. 26:25.760 --> 26:30.760 Jesus, our chief advocate, did Jesus abandon Peter? 26:31.540 --> 26:32.760 He did not. 26:32.760 --> 26:33.780 And I've heard so often, you know, 26:33.780 --> 26:35.740 God has a plan for you and that he does 26:35.740 --> 26:39.020 and he wants the very best for you and that he does. 26:39.020 --> 26:41.900 But he wants you to obey his will. 26:41.900 --> 26:44.180 He wants you to be convicted. 26:44.180 --> 26:46.100 And if you're messing around and doing things 26:46.100 --> 26:49.260 you ought not to do, it's time to stop it 26:49.260 --> 26:51.420 because you are in jeopardy. 26:51.420 --> 26:54.620 Because the word of God is what we shall be judged 26:54.620 --> 26:56.740 but the heaven and earth will pass away. 26:56.740 --> 26:59.140 But my words will never pass away. 26:59.140 --> 27:01.700 And that's what we stand before the judgment seat 27:01.700 --> 27:02.900 is that great advocate says, 27:02.900 --> 27:04.980 Father, this one belongs to you. 27:04.980 --> 27:08.380 Here they stand in your name. 27:08.380 --> 27:11.780 And they have been born again of the water and of the spirit. 27:11.780 --> 27:14.660 Well, Luke 24, we know he didn't abandon him 27:14.660 --> 27:16.300 for we speak of the resurrection. 27:16.300 --> 27:19.100 And here it says, the Lord is risen indeed 27:19.100 --> 27:23.100 and he hath appeared also unto Simon. 27:23.100 --> 27:25.020 So you know, he didn't forget Simon. 27:25.020 --> 27:27.020 He didn't leave him out. 27:27.020 --> 27:30.380 You know, it seems like Jesus always seeks the weak ones 27:30.380 --> 27:31.700 and the funny ones, but they're the ones 27:31.700 --> 27:34.220 that often respond the best, don't they? 27:34.220 --> 27:36.340 The most significant, the little wiggly boys 27:36.340 --> 27:38.100 that become great missionaries. 27:38.140 --> 27:40.340 The funny little girls, you don't even know anything about them 27:40.340 --> 27:41.980 and whoops, all at once, 27:41.980 --> 27:44.460 they're a great princess in the house of God, 27:44.460 --> 27:45.940 just like that. 27:45.940 --> 27:48.220 Because God didn't leave the little ones out. 27:48.220 --> 27:52.060 And when he said come, they came and Peter never quit 27:52.060 --> 27:54.820 as we sing our hymn of invitation. 27:54.820 --> 27:57.260 Maybe you need to say, hey, I'm a deacon, 27:57.260 --> 27:59.020 I haven't done any deaconings since, 27:59.020 --> 28:01.740 well, if I hadn't been to a work party in a year, 28:02.780 --> 28:06.460 I'm a woman in the house of God 28:06.460 --> 28:09.620 and I haven't said hello to a friendly person 28:09.620 --> 28:10.980 in the church yet. 28:12.300 --> 28:14.860 I'm just a kid and I can't even testify 28:14.860 --> 28:17.260 before my schoolmates that Jesus loves me 28:17.260 --> 28:19.580 and that I love the Lord too. 28:19.580 --> 28:22.380 I'm a deacon and I haven't done what I ought to do. 28:22.380 --> 28:24.460 I'm an elder and I haven't done what I ought to do 28:24.460 --> 28:26.140 and I'm a believer and I haven't believed 28:26.140 --> 28:28.020 in the things I ought to believe in. 28:28.020 --> 28:30.460 As we sing that hymn of invitation, 28:30.460 --> 28:32.420 what a wonderful opportunity. 28:32.420 --> 28:35.500 Would you stand as we sing that opportunity? 28:37.420 --> 28:44.300 I just hope to hear the tears come clear 28:44.300 --> 28:49.420 from thine own children in the haze 28:49.420 --> 28:51.900 and to help guide them to others. 28:51.900 --> 28:56.540 Founding this world inoco碎 28:57.780 --> 29:02.900 trying to access it. 29:02.900 --> 29:14.900 Time after time is over, dear Lord, and the end may be again. 29:14.900 --> 29:21.900 Receive the grace of God and the Lord. 29:21.900 --> 29:26.900 Glory to God, dear Lord. 29:26.900 --> 29:28.900 Before we sing that last verse, there's a lot of problems. 29:28.900 --> 29:30.900 What is this business of being born again? 29:30.900 --> 29:33.900 If you want to actually see what the Bible says about conversion, 29:33.900 --> 29:38.900 there are seven testimonies in the Book of Acts of people who were saved. 29:38.900 --> 29:40.900 Don't worry about the thief on the cross. 29:40.900 --> 29:44.900 You worry about what they did when the actual church was in the beginning. 29:44.900 --> 29:46.900 You see, that was in the old days. 29:46.900 --> 29:49.900 The death of the testator brings on the will. 29:49.900 --> 29:52.900 And there's no will until that one dies. 29:52.900 --> 29:55.900 It was the recipient of the testament. 29:55.900 --> 29:59.900 And so here are seven actual examples of being born again. 29:59.900 --> 30:01.900 And what it is to be born of the Kingdom of God. 30:01.900 --> 30:03.900 It's the most important question in your life. 30:03.900 --> 30:05.900 I need to be born again. 30:05.900 --> 30:08.900 And if you're not, and if you're playing with this idea of the church, 30:08.900 --> 30:12.900 be careful towards everything. 30:12.900 --> 30:15.900 It is either life or it is death. 30:15.900 --> 30:17.900 It can't be anywhere in between. 30:17.900 --> 30:18.900 It must be one or the other. 30:18.900 --> 30:19.900 We sing that last verse. 30:19.900 --> 30:21.900 Would you come, please?