You know, there's something about Peter in the
Word of God that I appreciate so much. Maybe
it's because he's so human. Maybe it's because
he had some of the same weaknesses that we all
have. I always get a little leery of folk who
talk about their great spiritual strength and
they are so sick. Cure in themselves, feeling
that it is impossible for them to display any
weakness whatsoever. They have reached such spiritual
pinnacles that, well, it would be impossible
for them to yield to temptation. Frankly, I've
never gotten to that place yet. One thing I'm
dead sure, as long as I'm in this old body of
flesh and being a part of humanity and... Oh!
I know that I am susceptible to temptations.
I know that the enemy of my soul still is in...
the world, and I can only overcome through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. Well, for a very few minutes,
we're going to have a little heart -to -heart
talk about Peter. And we're going to talk about
something that means more to me personally than
I'll be able to express as we... Talk about the
life of Peter and his relationship to Jesus.
Before meeting Jesus, this disciple was known
as Simon. He was the son of a successful fisherman
named Jonah. That was probably one of the reasons
that Peter was such a good fisherman, and he
was. His father was a fisherman before him, and
he knew all the tricks of the fisherman's business.
His brother Andrew, a follower of John the Baptist,
had been present when the evangelist had baptized
Jesus, and when he had said, Behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
And Andrew hurried to tell Simon of the event.
And he said to Simon, We found the Messiah. The
Messiah is here. We have found the Messiah at
last, he declared excitedly. And then he took
Simon Peter to see Jesus. And Jesus immediately
upon seeing him recognized him. gave him the
surname by which he was ever afterward to be
known, Peter. Peter. But remember something.
Before the resurrection and the ascension, there
is little doubt that Peter still thought of the
Messiah as the political figure foretold by the
Jewish people. I know there were contradictions
in his makeup, as there are in that of all men.
But this is one thing that all agreed upon, and
that was the fact that complete Renunciation
of the world was not easy for Peter. It was mighty
hard for Peter to give up the world. Complete
renunciation of the world. was the hardest thing
that Peter had to do. He was more or less a politician.
He would have made a good politician were he
living today. And when Jesus said, it's easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God, Peter was a little dismayed. He didn't
like that kind of talk. Peter's challenge was,
in fact, the challenge that has faced all men
in all ages, including our own. He had the same
weaknesses. He had some of the same strengths.
But that strength did not come forth until he
was filled with the Holy Ghost, until he was
baptized with the Holy Spirit. His strength came
forth only in the power of his God. Up until
that time, it seemed that Peter only showed his
weaknesses. In self -confidence, he cried one
day, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee both into
prison and to death. And then he turned right
around and denied that he ever knew the Lord.
But in the strength of the Holy Ghost, in the
strength and the power of his God, in the strength
of Jesus Christ, the great Messiah. He defied
the Roman emperors and, according to tradition,
was crucified head downward by Nero in Rome.
Let's listen to Peter before that great spiritual
strength came to him. He'd been making some mighty
str... Strong and bold and extreme boasts about
his love and his devotion to the Lord. I always
get a little afraid of folk who's so loud when
it comes to their consecration. They make such
great boasts. What they're going to do. Oh, I'll
die for my Lord. I'll tell you the Lord will
depend on me and he'll know I'll be standing
there. And if everybody else fails him, he still
has me. And it isn't long before they run out
of gas. Peter was kind of like that. Let me show
you a portion of the word of God when he was
standing in the sufficiency. of his own flesh.
It's recorded, the 22nd chapter of Luke. And
he said unto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with
thee both into prison and to death. What was
he saying? Lord, you can depend on me if... If
John fails you, if Luke fails you, if everybody
else fails you, I want you to know you can rely
on me. And he started out by making these strong
and bold and extreme boasts by saying, I'm ready
to go with the... both into prison. Had he only
stopped there. But you know, he's going to carry
it a little further than that. You know, if you
were there, you would have felt like saying,
now, Peter, don't carry this too far. After all,
you know, let's just stop with the prison bit.
But no, he didn't stop there. Not Peter. He didn't
do anything halfway. Never. Peter, just stop
with the prison bit. No, he was going to care
to go further. And to death. And I don't think
that he whispered those words either. He was
loud. He wanted everybody around to hear it,
you know. You know what Jesus said. very quietly
without raising his voice i tell thee peter the
cock shall not crow this day before that thou
shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me in that
moment I would like to have known the emotions
that Peter suffered. I do not believe that he
answered back. But in himself he's saying he
doesn't know what he's talking about. He doesn't
know what he's talking about. But bless you,
go with me. There it is in the word of God. What
happened? And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and
so did another disciple, and that disciple was
known unto the high priest. And they went in
with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
But Peter stood at the door without, then went
out at that other disciple, which was known unto
the high priest. and spake unto her that kept
the door, and brought in Peter. Then saith the
damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not
thou also one of this man's disciples? Watch
the answer. The man who just a few hours before
had said, Lord, you can depend on me. I'll not
only go to prison, but I promise you, I'm ready
to die for you. And he's standing now before
a little girl, just a young damsel. And when
she said to him, Art thou not also one of this
man's disciples? He saith, I am not. I am not.
Human nature is the same. Just the same today
as it was then. And I am wondering if... There
are those today who once declared their love
for the master. Sure, through blinding tears,
perhaps with uplifted hands, and you looked up
and you said to him, I surrender all. Take me,
body, soul, and spirit, though the whole world
forsakes thee. Depend on me. But, beloved, the
waters got deep. Somehow the stars were no longer
in the sky. The sun began to cease its shining.
Sorrow came. What are you saying today? I know
him not. I know him not. But I want you to see
something. I want you to see something that means
more to me than I am able to express with just
a human vocabulary. And I only pray that in this
moment the Holy Spirit in a divine language,
in his own way, will open your understanding
to something that can change your whole life.
It has mine. It's in that wonderful portion of
the Word of God, the 22nd chapter of Luke, The
second verse is the master himself who is speaking.
I have prayed for thee. To whom is he speaking?
To Peter. The one to whom the young damsel said,
You're one of them, aren't you? You're his disciple,
aren't you? And he turned and said, I am not.
And yet Jesus, in all tenderness, if you want
to know what Jesus is really like, if you want
to know what the compassion, And the love of
Jesus is really like, if you want to know what
his personality is really like, hear him as he
says to Peter, I have prayed for thee that thy
faith fail not. I'll never forget, never. The
hour when the Holy Spirit made that portion of
the word real to my heart. I wept like a baby.
I began turning back the pages of my own life.
I wondered how often Since that time, the little
Methodist church in Concordia, Missouri, when
I sat that Sunday morning and I had that wonderful
experience, that new birth experience, that which
we call conversion. And I've never doubted my
conversion. I've never doubted my new birth experience
for one split second from that moment until this
very hour. To this very day, my conversion is
as real as when it happened to me when I was
a 14 year old girl. My call to preach the gospel
was as real and as definite as my conversion.
It's something I've got to do. It's something
I have to do. I can't explain it. It would make
no difference to me if the whole world and all
the powers of Satan would confront me and would
tell me that I had no right, no scriptural right
to preach. It wouldn't faze me one iota. My call
was that definite. I wonder. How many times during
the passing years, how many, many times, Jesus
has prayed for me that my faith would fail not.
I go back to that time, 16 years of age, Twin
Falls, Idaho. I had nothing. I remember that
bedroom, those old blue painted walls, that old
blue bed spread on that broken -down brass bed,
that worn -out carpet I remembered as though
it was yesterday. I knew nothing except that
I'd been born again. That's all that I knew.
I couldn't preach anything else because I didn't
know anything else. wanted me to preach because
I couldn't preach. I'd had no experience, nothing,
nothing but the new birth experience and a call
from God. I can remember walking the floor, clenching
my fists until the blood almost came from the
nails that went into my flesh, and I looked up
through blinding tears and said, Oh, God, I'll
be obedient to you. preach it. I'll preach it.
I'll preach it. I'll preach it. I'm wondering
if maybe even then Jesus was praying that my
faith would fail not. I'm wondering. I'm wondering.
I'm wondering when, perhaps when I came to that
dead -end street one Saturday late afternoon
at four o 'clock. I can go to the very spot.
I can go to that same dead -end street. I know
the very hour, the very moment, a crisis in my
life. One of the greatest crises that I've ever
faced in my whole life. I'm wondering if maybe...
In that very hour, I'm sure, I'm dead sure, that
that Saturday afternoon, Jesus was praying for
me that my faith would fail not. If I only knew
how many times It's been a long, long way from
Concordia, Missouri to this very hour as I sit
before you and talk. It's been a long, long way.
It hasn't been an easy way or an easy road. But
every day and every hour of every day and every
moment, of every hour i have had one who has
been praying for me that one is in position of
great high priest seated at the right hand of
god the father the same one who prayed for peter
that thy faith fail not is the one who has also
prayed that my faith shall not fail and he's
going to take me home. My faith perfected. And
one day I shall stand in his presence because
he prayed for me.