PETER.

The first glimpse that we catch of Peter is when Andrew brought him to

the Savior. That is John’s account. That is when he became a disciple;

but he did not leave every thing then and follow Christ. He waited until

he got another call.

I think we all can learn a lesson right here--that it is not every one

who is called to be a disciple of Jesus that is called to leave his

occupation and become His follower entirely. I believe there are many

self-made preachers--man-made preachers--and this is the reason why so

many fail. No man who was called by God has ever failed, or has ever

broken down in the ministry; but when a man runs before he is sent, I

believe he will fail.

Now, we are called to be His disciples--all called to follow Him--but

we are not all called on to give up our occupations and devote all our

time to the ministry. I have men come to me constantly who say they have

been raised up, and want to give up their business and their worldly

occupation and go into the work of the Lord entirely; but I never advise

a man to go into the ministry. I think I never advised a man to give up

his occupation, and to go out into the vineyard of the Lord and go to

work. It is too high a calling, it seems to me, for men to be influencing

one another to go into it. If a man will only wait until God calls

him--be sure that God sends him--then success will crown his efforts.

Now, we find, in the fifth chapter of Luke, and also in the fourth

chapter of Matthew, where Peter got his calling. He was out with his

partners and others, fishing, when Jesus came along and told them to cast

their net, or to launch out into the deep and cast their net into the sea.

“But,” says Peter, “we have toiled all night and caught nothing.”

“Nevertheless,” commanded Jesus, “let down your nets.”

At the word of God they did so, and were successful, and when they got

ashore they found Jesus had called them to be His disciples. Just open

your Bible at the fifth chapter of Luke:

“And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the

word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships

standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were

washing their nets.

“And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him

that he would thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down, and

taught the people out of the ship.

“Now, when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon: ‘Launch out into the

deep, and let down your nets for a draught.’

“And Simon, answering, said unto Him: ‘Master, we have toiled all the

night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless, at Thy word I will let down

the net.’

“And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes,

and their net broke.

“And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship,

that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the

ships, so that they began to sink.

“When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying: ‘Depart

from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’

“For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the

fishes which they had taken.

“And so, also, were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were

partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon: ‘Fear not. Henceforth

thou shalt catch men.’

“And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and

followed Him.”

You see, it says Christ just said to them: “Follow me, and I will make

you fishers of men.” And no one was more successful in the world, in

catching men, than Peter. And if you will just follow the Lord and

believe in Him, He will make you fishers of men. Now, some may wonder why

it was that God did not call them when they had their nets empty. Why did

the Lord just give them a draught of fish and then tell them to leave it?

Now, it seems to me that He did so because He wanted them to leave

something. There are a good many of us willing to be disciples of the

Lord if it does not cost any thing. If they can just swing their bag

across their back with the fish in it and follow Jesus, then they are

willing to follow Him, and to be His disciples. So Jesus wanted them to

give up something. They might have said:

“We have been fishing a great while in the lake, business is pretty poor,

and we might as well give up the business and go into this.”

But no! The Lord did not call them until after they attained success.

Now, after they scored a business success, He put the test to these men

whether they were willing to give up their nets and follow Him.

Sometime after that, Peter says: “We have left every thing to follow

Thee.” What did Peter leave? Why, a few old broken nets! And it is just

so now. People leave a few old broken nets, and then say to the Lord: “We

have left every thing to follow Thee.”

The next glimpse we catch of Peter is when he takes on the character

of a doubter. You will find, if you read it over, that it is our own

experience right over again. Peter got to doubting.

In the fourteenth chapter of Matthew, beginning at the twenty-second

verse, you will find these words:

“And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and

to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.

“And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain

apart to pray; and when the evening was come He was there alone.

“But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves; for the

wind was contrary.

“And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on

the sea.

“And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled,

saying: ‘It is a spirit.’ And they cried out for fear.

“But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying: ‘Be of good cheer; it is

I; be not afraid.’

“And Peter answered Him and said: ‘Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto

Thee on the water.’

“And He said: ‘Come.’ And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he

walked on the water to go to Jesus.”

Now, that took faith. The idea of his just letting go the boat, and

stepping down into the water! Why, that required faith. And there are a

great many men today willing to become Christians if they can only just

see how they are going to walk. They want to walk by sight. They do not

want to walk by faith. It took faith for Peter to let go of the boat and

take the first step on the water, but the Lord had bid him to do it, and

he just did it; but after he began to sink he began to doubt, and called

on the Lord to save him.

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to

sink, he cried, saying: ‘Lord, save me.’”

See! He began to sink when he took his eyes off his Master. Peter did not

trust in Him. He did not have perfect faith.

Now, the Lord says in Isaiah, twenty-sixth chapter and third verse:

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee,

because he trusteth in Thee.”

Peter did not have perfect faith, because his mind was not stayed on

Christ; he did not trust in Him. If Peter had trusted in the Lord he

would not have sunk. The ship was in the midst of the sea; the wind was

blowing quite a gale, and the waves were rolling high, and Peter began to

tremble and doubt, and down he went. And a good many Christians follow

his example. When it gets dark, when the wind begins to blow, and when

the water rolls high about them, they begin to doubt--and down they go.

Some one says if Peter had as long a preamble to his prayer as most

people, he would have been forty feet under water before he got through

praying for what he wanted. Now, just read a little farther:

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said

unto him: ‘O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?’”

But I want to pass rapidly over this portion of the Word of God, and get

at something which, perhaps, may be of more help to us than any thing

here. In the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, twenty-fourth verse, we find

that Peter was willing to confess Christ as the Son of the living God.

Many men want to be disciples of Christ, but they are not willing to

confess Him.

“Then said Jesus unto His disciples: ‘If any man will come after Me, let

him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

To go home and tell your friends that you want to be a disciple of the

Lord Jesus Christ requires much moral courage. But it required more then

than it does now, for the Jews said any man who should confess Christ

should be cast out of the synagogue.

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi, He asked His

disciples, saying: ‘Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?’

“And they said: ‘Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias;

and others, Jeremias or one of the prophets.’

“He saith unto them: ‘But whom say ye that I am?’”

And Peter--he generally spoke first--speaks out and says:

“‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’

“And Jesus answered and said unto him: ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona;

for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which

is in Heaven.’”

See! Jesus blessed Peter right there, and I have yet to find the first

man and the first woman who are willing to confess Christ who will not

say that God has blessed their souls after they have confessed Him.

Now, let me call your attention to another scene in the life of Peter.

He got to be a sort of a--well, I may say a sort of “high church” man.

He belonged to the “high church.” He was a sort of Ritualist. He had got

this idea that Christ was the same as any other saint; that He was to be

put on a level with some of the rest of the saints. He did not make any

distinction.

In the ninth chapter of Luke we find that Jesus took His disciples and

went up into a mountain to pray. We begin at the twenty-eighth verse:

“And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, He took Peter

and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.

“And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His

raiment was white and glistering.

“And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias.

“Who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should

accomplish at Jerusalem.

“But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; and when

they were awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him.

“And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, Peter said unto

Jesus: ‘Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three

tabernacles--one for Thee and one for Moses and one for Elias’--not

knowing what he said.”

Peter wanted to put Jesus on a level with Moses and Elias. To be sure,

Moses was a mighty man. He went into the mountain and took the law from

the Lord God of Heaven, and Elias was a representative of the prophets

and a mighty man; but when Peter wanted to put them on a level with the

God-man--with Jesus--what took place? Why, there came a cloud which

over-shadowed them. God caught them right away. God would not have them

placing Moses and Elias on a level with His Son. He is above the angels

of Heaven; and we find over here, in the last chapter of the Bible,

and in almost the last verse in it, that John was guilty of the same

thing--of worshiping angels. It says over here, in the twenty-second

chapter and eighth verse of Revelations:

“And I, John, saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and

seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed

me these things.

“Then saith he unto me: ‘See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow servant,

and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of

this book. Worship God.’”

Now, if Jesus was not the God-man--if He was not God in the flesh--then

you and I are guilty of idolatry; we are breaking the first command:

“Thou shalt have no other God before Me.”

But when Jesus came down here, He said: “Come unto Me, all ye that are

weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And He never rebuked

any one for worshiping Him. But John fell down and worshiped that angel,

and the angel refused to let him; and when Peter wanted to put Elias and

Moses on a level with Christ, God the Father spoke and said: “This is my

beloved Son. Hear ye Him.”

No matter about Elias now. No matter about Moses now. Hear Jesus. He is

the one that God wants all of us here to worship.

Now, some one says we can not know, down here, whether we are safe or

not. Well, we have an assurance right here:

“Then Simon Peter answered Him: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the

words of eternal life.

“‘And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the

living God.’”

I will now call your attention to Peters faults. If you will just turn

over here into the twenty-second chapter of Luke, you will find there a

fault. Begin at the thirty-third verse of the twenty-second chapter of

Luke, and you will find the following:

“And he said unto him: ‘Lord, I am ready to go with Thee, both into

prison and to death.’

“And He said: ‘I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow, this day,

before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me.’

“And He said unto them: ‘When I sent you without purse and scrip and

shoes, lacked ye any thing?’ And they said: ‘Nothing.’”

Now, here we find Peter’s fault of self-confidence. That was really his

besetting sin, and when the Lord told him that the cock should not crow

twice before he had denied Him thrice, he ought to have believed the

words of Christ and cried for help; but no, he was very self-confident.

“Why,” says he, “if the rest of the disciples deny You, I will not deny

You.”

Peter not only declared he would not deny Jesus, but he even tried to

make the other disciples worse by comparison. If you meet a man full of

conceit and self-confidence, you may look for that man’s downfall.

Men who have stood the highest, in Scripture, have often fallen on their

strongest point.

Moses was noted for his humility. Right there he fell. He got angry

instead of being humble, and fell through lack of humility.

Elijah was noted for his boldness. Right there he fell. Why, he stood on

Mount Carmel and defied the whole nation. He stood there alone. He seemed

to be the boldest man in the whole nation. But after a while he got

word that Jezebel was going to take his life, and then he lost all his

boldness and got scared at the threat of a woman.

There was Samson, who was noted for his strength. He lost his hair,

wherein his strength consisted, but he recovered it. They cut off his

hair, but they did not remove the roots, and it grew out again.

Abraham was noted for his faith. But he got into Egypt, and denied his

wife.

There was only one time, I am told, that Edinburgh Castle was ever taken

by the enemy, and that was done by climbing on the back rocks. The rocks

were so steep the besieged did not believe the enemy could get in that

way, but that was just where they got in.

I used to think when I had been a Christian ten or twelve years I should

be so strong that there would be no danger of my ever being tempted, but

I find that I was blind. I have more temptations now than I ever had

before, and it takes twenty times as much grace to keep me now as at

first. Let every man take heed, lest he fall. We can not tell how quickly

we may fall if we are not kept by the grace of God.

Peter had to learn this lesson before he went out to preach to others.

He was kept by the grace of God, if he could not keep himself. Well, I

have got right here two faults of the apostle. When the Lord told him he

should deny Him thrice, he ought to have trembled and cried: “Lord, keep

me from denying Thee!” But, no! He said: “Lord, I am not going to deny

You, if the rest do.” Just see where he stands. He stands on a slippery

place, and it will not be long before he will be down. Self-confidence

leads many men to their fall.

We must keep very humble and keep our eyes on the Master, and see that

we do not go to sleep. If we do get asleep, then it won’t be long before

we deny Him. And so we find that when Christ was down in the garden,

sweating great drops of blood, He knew He was hastening to death on the

cross.

Peter went to sleep. And when Jesus came back He said: “Why sleep ye?

Rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” Peter had been with the

Lord three years, but he had to sleep.

The next that happens, for that second step down, we find that Peter

fights in the flesh. When they came to arrest Christ, Peter took out his

sword and cut off the servant’s ear. That servant was the only person who

had suffered through the followers of Christ up to that time. Peter cut

the ear off, but it did not stay off long, for it got back in just about

five minutes.

Jesus cried out: “Peter, put up your sword. If I wanted to defend Myself,

I could call seventy thousand angels down; I could call legions of angels

down; I could defend Myself if I wanted to.” But, no; He did not do that.

He had to rebuke Peter, to put a thorn in his flesh.

The next thing Peter did was to follow Jesus afar off; that is the next

step. When a man gets away from the Savior, then it won’t be long before

he follows Him afar off. You know Peter said, at first, he would keep

close to Him. “I will stand by You; I am willing to die with You,” he had

said. But now Peter changed his mind, and he followed Jesus afar off.

Well, the next thing, we find that Peter is in bad company. That is

another step down. He had got, by this time, down pretty low.

A young lady comes in, looks at Peter, and says: “This man is one of His

disciples.”

“No, I am not; no, not I,” says Peter.

The maid cries out at him in perfect amazement--for perhaps she had heard

him preach some time--and she says: “You _are_ one of His disciples.”

“Oh, no; no, not I.”

He did not know Jesus, who was right there inside, where he could see

him; and yet this man, who was so bold, did not know Him.

Another man comes to Peter and says: “You are one of His disciples.”

“No, Sir--not I. I don’t know Him--no Sir.” You see, he had got a good

ways off.

The man says: “You are.”

“No; I am not.”

About an hour after Peter has denied Him, another man came around and

said: “You are one of His disciples.”

“No; I am not.”

“Oh, but you are. Your speech betrays you.”

Peter had been with the Master three years, and he talked a different

language from those men; and you who have been with God two or three

years know that you talk better than you did before.

This man said: “You are one of those.” And Peter began to curse and

swear, and said he never knew Him.

How did the Lord call him back? Although Satan had been at work on him

for hours and hours, yet the Lord did call him back. The Lord asked him:

“Peter, is it true that you have forgotten Me so soon? Do you remember,

when we walked together by the sea, how I saved you? Do you remember the

time I called you again? Do you remember the wonderful sermon that I

preached on the mount? Is it true, Peter, that you do not know me?”

He might have said these things to Peter, but He did not. He just gave

him one look--and what a look that was! It was a look of love, a look of

tenderness, a look of pity, a look of peace.

He flashed upon Peter.

Peter remembered what he had done to the Lord. Then the cock crew,

and Peter went out and wept bitterly. No one on Earth knows how Peter

suffered in those hours that Christ was laid in the tomb. What hours they

must have been to him! I can imagine that he did not eat any thing; that

he did not sleep; that he spent those hours praying that the Lord might

be given back to him.

At last Sunday morning comes--that blessed morning--and the first thing

Peter hears is that Christ has risen. And He sent word to Peter--one of

the most touching things He did. Just let me read from the sixteenth

chapter of Mark and the seventh verse:

“But go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you

into Galilee; there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you.”

Oh, how tender! I don’t know but if He had said “Go back and tell My

disciples,” Peter would have said: “I am no disciple; I have forfeited

my right as such.” But Jesus said: “Tell My disciples and Peter.” Tell

Peter; put his name in; don’t leave him out.

We are told that Christ had an interview with Peter, and they met alone.

No one ever told us what took place, but I can imagine how Peter felt.

Like the woman that we read about in the seventh chapter of Matthew, He

restored him to salvation and then sent him out to preach.

But when the twelve were at meat together the Lord turned to Peter and

asked: “Lovest thou Me more than these?”

How those words must have cut down into Peter’s heart! Jesus wanted to

see whether his conceit had been taken out. That was hard, you know. He

could not get any thing out of Peter. Peter did not say a word. Again the

Lord asked: “Peter, lovest thou Me more than these?”

He was a broken and empty vessel, and must be filled.

Then Jesus gave Peter his commission: “Go, feed my sheep; preach the

Gospel to all the world.”

This is a sweet thought, that after Peter had denied the Lord, He took

him back and used him!