David Raynor: Growing like Peter
How many people here enjoy reading biographies?
Some. Not many. Yeah. I've just read a John Winburn biography, Remarkable Man of God. And before any of you say you'd like to borrow it, Harry has already bagged it. He's not here today, but I've got it ready for him when he wants it. I recently read one of Chris Hoy, the cyclist, and the next on my list that I got from the charity shop is Mo Farah.
I get most of my books from the charity shop, although not the John, but I paid for that one. Well, I paid for the other ones in the show. You know what I mean?
And he said I was a man of integrity. As I read the Gospels. We don't get much biography about the 12 that Jesus called a following. Guys like Nathaniel and you hear about him the odd time he stood under a tree and Jesus noticed him. Big deal. And Thomas gets the label doubting, which is very unfair, because he was quite a brave man.
He was the one who said, if he's going to Jerusalem to die, we're going with him. He did question the resurrection. That's true. But he put that right anyway. The one outstanding character, I believe you'll agree with me. Of those 12 that we know more about than anybody else is Simon, Peter and I feel God has stuff to say to us about Simon.
Peter, principally because he was such an ordinary man. I don't get any impression that originally he was. He certainly wasn't sophisticated, not overtly spiritual. And there were times when he spoke when he would have been better keeping his mouth shut. In other words, he's cut from the same kind of cloth as millions of men and women across the world, ordinary folk like you and like me.
A down to earth, straightforward sort of bloke. I like that word bloke. It's got an earthy quality about it. He has a reality. And to me, Peter is a bloke, a straightforward bloke. Some people are very keen on this guy Adrian Plus. And I was always a bit doubtful about him, but somebody gave me a book for a birthday present some years ago and I never actually read it.
I looked into it until very recently. But this is a quote from Adrian. Plus understanding the ordinariness of biblical characters can help to develop a constructive relationship with Scripture for years, presumably influenced by feature films in which Charlton Heston or Victor mature gazed at the horizon, accompanied by a full orchestra. My vague notion was that people like Moses and Peter were a American and be 15 feet tall and sea incapable of speaking any sentences that didn't drip with cosmic significance.
What rubbish. God has always dealt with frail human beings because there isn't any other sort about. I like that. So, Simon, peace is the man I want us to look at to see how God chose him. Jesus picked him, how God trained him, how God used this ordinary, down to earth bloke. Despite his faults and failings. Maybe because of his faults and failings.
And he's the kind of person I hope you can identify with. I certainly can. And that gives us all hope of being useful in the program of the King of Kings. Amen. Every single one of us. No hiding away. You're all included. Praise God. If you have your Bible, and I hope you have, please turn with me to Luke Chapter five.
We're going to look at three episodes this morning, and then next week, the elders have very kindly allowed me a second stab, and we'll find out some more about Peter. But Luke, Chapter five, beginning at the first verse I'm reading in the New Living Translation One day, as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Great crowd pressed in on him to listen to the Word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the fisherman had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats. Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.
That was sensible thinking, wasn't it? Keep a distance between himself and the crowds. But also sound carries better over water, isn't it? And he knew what he was doing. When he'd finished speaking, he said to Simon, Now go out where it's deeper and let down your nets and you will catch many fish. Master Simon replied, We worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing.
But if you say so, we'll try again. And this time the nets were so full they began to tear. A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, Oh, Lord, please leave me.
I'm too much of a sinner to be around you. For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon. Don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be fishing for people. And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed.
Jesus.
SIMON Peter had known the fishing industry for years. It's been his life. He had experience. He had expertise. So it's not surprising. The first response when Jesus says, Take your boat out, let down your nets. My guess is that Peter's first response was, This guy's crazy. We tried all night. Nighttime is the best time. Daytime sunshine. The fish can see the boat.
The fish can see the nets. They just scarper. Not a chance. So why on earth would he want to try and catch fish in broad daylight? It went completely against his experience and his know how. But these words are important. If you say so, I will. But if you say so, I will. And his words lead into action.
He doesn't just say the words. He obeys. And a vertical follows. Surprise, surprise. And that leads to response number two, which is rather surprising. At first glance, on his knees in front of Jesus, in front of his partners, in front of the crowd, who are still probably there on the seashore. Oh, Lord, please leave me. I'm too much of a sinner to be around you.
It's a bit like Jeff mentioned last week, Isaiah's vision in the temple. Remember vision of God's holiness, the splendor and the glory of God. By contrast, Isaiah feeling, Oh, I am a sinful man, and God dealt with that. But this is Peter, the message version says I'm a sinner and can't handle this Holiness. There was something just so special and so different about Jesus, and Peter was aware of it and aware of his own sinful nature.
Jesus says, Don't be afraid. From now on, you'll be fishing for people. And then we got the third response from Peter. As soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. They left everything and followed Jesus. It wasn't that Jesus found fault with the fishing business that Simon Peter had. I'm sure he was a man of integrity.
And he just went about it and presumably did pretty well as it. But Jesus had something better in store, and that's why he required. SIMON Peter, just to drop everything. Bear in mind, we know that Peter was married because God meant that the Bible mentions one of God's wonderful inventions a mother in law who was ill on one occasion, and Jesus healed her.
So he was leaving behind not just a business, but a family as well. My question is, do we identify more readily with Peter or with the crowd watching Peter from the show? You see what's happening. Jesus is talking to these men on the boat. You see these men look at each other, perhaps shrug their shoulders, and eventually they take the boat further out the across their nets.
And then there's all the shouting and the flurry of activity as the nets are breaking and the boats are sinking because there's so much fish in the boats. And then you see Simon Peter kneeling down in front of this strange person. But then he's up. And as soon as they get to shore off, they go together. Peter? James.
John. Jesus. Wow. Must have been something to have been in the crowd that day, wasn't it? To see all this going on. And I believe there are many Christians around these days who would identify with that crowd in the sense that they know that God is on the move. They hear and see evidence of that. They hear people's testimonies.
Miraculous provision, healing, whatever it may be. Maybe they're a bit jealous. Or maybe, by contrast, they're feeling well. I'm rather glad the spotlight hasn't been turned on me because I'd rather stay in my comfortable, predictable little life. But Jesus doesn't want anyone to miss out. He doesn't account for bystanders. There's no mention of bystanders in the Kingdom of God.
We're all required to be active participants. And the crux of the story for me is that moment when Peter, against his knowledge, his experience, his expertise, says, Oh, if you say so, I will. Once he taken that first step of obedience and seen the miracle that happened as a result, then the next time Jesus commanded him, it was so much easier.
So it's the first time that's crucially important. It's not that God doesn't give us second chances, but why wait for a second chance when you can grasp the first role?
The next one we're going to look at is in Matthew 14. If you'd like to turn to that with me, Matthew 14 and verse 22, just to put it in context, the heading in my Bible says Jesus feeds 5000. Well, that's rubbish. It says 5000 men not counting the women and the children. So let's be real and let's talk about 15, 20,000 people, something like that.
So that's just happened. 15 to 20000 people fed with five loaves and two fish and verse 22 of Matthew 14. Immediately after this, Jesus made his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he sent the people home. Afterwards, he went up in the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.
Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble, far away from land, for a strong wind had arisen and they were fighting heavy waves about 3:00 in the morning. Jesus came to them walking on the water, but it had to be 3:00 in the morning, didn't it? Don't you hate 3:00 in the morning? Whoever invented 3:00 in the morning that did shooting?
No, actually, that's not true, because sometimes sometimes I've had a word from God, a very clear word of God at 3:00 in the morning when I didn't expect to be awake. Anyway, about 3:00 in the morning, Jesus came to them walking on the water. When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror thinking he was a ghost. But Jesus spoke to them at once.
It's all right, He said. I'm here. Don't be afraid. And Peter called to him, Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you by walking on water. All right. Come. Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. I know it's not quite the end of the story, but that's where I'm pausing for now.
So what? What the situation this is the guys are in trouble out on the lake, the fighting, the heavy waves. Three in the morning, Jesus comes walking on the water.
No problem for him. But they're terrified that grown men, they're used to this lake. And it's vagaries of storms and adverse conditions. And they are screaming, it says, at the sight of Jesus walking on the water because they thought it was a ghost. Now, what ever prompted Peter then to say, if it's really you, tell me to come to you by walking on the water?
Would you have done that? Of course you would. Neither would I. It's crazy. But he did it. I don't know whether it was anything in his mind at that moment, whether his mind was switched off. Maybe he had a supernatural gift of faith. I genuinely believe that's possible, because I think that's probably what Jesus recognized. This face here.
It may be only like a mustard seed, but I'm going to use it and build on it. So Jesus says, Yes, come on, do it. And I just want to pause there and say, There are times when our minds can get in the way of what God wants to do. Some of you heard me say that in the past, when I first heard speaking in tongues, my mind went into overdrive.
You know, is that an Oriental language? Is it an African dialect? I hadn't a clue. I was trying to work it all out. My mind was getting in the way, and consequently I wasn't released in tongues until sometime later. So the mind can be a stumbling block. I've learned now to, to some extent, to listen to the spirit.
But again, sometimes I receive a prompting from the Holy Spirit and immediately my mind comes in and starts asking questions and trying to rationalize and thinking of pitfalls and problems and potential hazards and the the impact of what the spirit is trying to say can be dissipated by my mind getting in the way. John, Whenever I mentioned I read his biography, he once said that God often offends the mind to get to the heart.
And I think that's true to balance that. Let me also say that the mind can have a positive part to play in facilitating what the spirit brings to us. If we hear a word from God, we sense a nudge from the Holy Spirit and we say yes to it. The mind can then come in and help to facilitate what the Spirit is saying.
What we've received and accepted from God. Plenty of examples in Scripture. Nehemiah comes to mind. He's in exile, away from Jerusalem. He hears the news that Jerusalem's in ruins and he sends his God saying, You're the man to go back and rebuild. And he accepts not. And his mind then comes in and thinks, Now what do I need?
Well, I need permission from the king here, first of all, for me to go. And I also need letters from the king to get supplies of what I'll need when I get to Jerusalem and more letters from the king for the governors of the provinces that I'm going to go through to get to Jerusalem. So his mind was helpful there.
First, the spirit says yes, and then the mind could come in and help. But was Peter here? The crucial thing is that Peter asked Jesus. He said, Lord, if it's you, let me come to you. Walking on the water, Jesus said, Yes, this down to earth, ordinary bloke wasn't just a spectator of the miraculous. He could have sat with the other guys in the boat, said, Wow, that's fantastic.
Look at Jesus walking on the water in that brilliant. But he wasn't prepared just to be a spectator. He wanted to be a participant in the supernatural. And he stepped into a new dimension in God. Now I know as he stepped over the side, he walked for a few steps. We don't know how many. And then his mind did take over, and he looked at the waves and he saw the potential for drowning.
And he started to sink and he cried out to Jesus. And Jesus saved him. But put that to one side and give them credit for actually getting out of the boat and walking on water. However, then he steps it was. Now, again, I ask you, in your faith, imagination, are you with Peter or are you with the other guys in the boat?
Uh hmm. Yes. Would we have done the same? I was going to say, with the other guys in the comfort zone. But it wasn't a comfort zone, was it? It was a stormy sea, and the boat was in danger of capsizing. But the relevant question for us is this. If Jesus asks me to go beyond everything I have thus far experienced with which I am familiar.
Am I prepared to do it like that? That's the only way that we will grow if we sense the call of God. May be something very small, but it goes against everything we know. Everything we've experienced thus far. God says, I want you to do it. Do we do it? So that's twice Peter's been tested. Go fishing in broad daylight when you've caught nothing through the night.
If you say so, I will. Yes. You can step out of the boat. You can walk on water. If you say so. I will. Example number three Act. Chapter ten. Okay. So far. Are you with me? So far? Good. Next, Chapter ten. Fascinating encounter, where the man called Cornelius a Roman centurion and therefore a Gentile, a non-Jew who has a vision, sees an angel in the vision, and the angel says, Send to Joppa on the coast for a man called Simon Peter Cornelius wasn't a believer, but he was sympathetic.
He certainly believed in God at this point. We'll pick it up from verse nine of Acts Chapter ten. Cornelius has responded to this vision, and he sent three of his men to Joppa to find Peter. The next day, as Cornelius, his messengers were nearing the city, Peter went up to the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry.
But while lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners in the sheet where all sorts of animals, reptiles and birds. Then a voice said to him, Get up, Peter, kill and eat them. Never, Lord. Peter declared. Those are two words that should never come together, by the way.
Never. And Lord, if he's your Lord, you can't say never. Anyway, he did. I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws. The voice spoke again. If God says something is acceptable, don't say it isn't. The same vision was repeated three times. So evidently Peter was a bit more reluctant this time. To do what God was saying to him.
But eventually the sheet was pulled up again to have a verse 17. Peter was very perplexed. What could the vision mean? Just then, the man sent by Cornelius found the house and stood outside at the gate. They asked if this was the place where Simon Peter was staying. Meanwhile, as Peter was puzzling over the vision, the Holy Spirit said to him, Three men have come looking for you.
Go down and go with them. Without hesitation. All is well, for I have sent them. And Peter responds. He obeys that call. He goes with the men to Caesarea, where Cornelius is. Cornelius welcomes him into the house. He actually bows down in front of him. And Peter says, Oh, don't do that. Stand up. I'm only a human being.
Verse 28, Peter told them, You know, it's against the Jewish laws for me to come into a Gentile home like this. But God has shown me that I should never think of anyone as impure. So I came as soon as I was sent for. Now tell me why you sent for me. Cornelius tells him about the vision he's had and invites Peter, in essence, to preach the gospel.
So they assembled company. Verse 34. Then Peter replied, I see very clearly that God doesn't show partiality. And then He goes into describing the life and the Ministry of Jesus, the crucifixion, the resurrection. And verse 43, he is the one all the prophets testified about saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.
Even as Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who had heard the message. The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles to. It's a long story. We've just given. Attitude highlights, if you if you like. So two men each having a vision.
Cornelius the the Gentile and Peter separate vision, which tells him to go against the long held tradition of Jewish law. Take his pick to read what were regarded as unclean animals. And the message is that the old Jewish laws are now irrelevant. They're out of date. They're obsolete. God's kingdom is for everybody, Jews and non-Jews alike. Peter's first response we commented on It is never Lord, I have never in all my life eaten anything forbidden by our Jewish laws.
So again, all his understanding, all his knowledge from boyhood onwards was to follow the ancient laws and the tradition. But he does come to the point eventually of saying any facts. But if you say so, I will. So he goes to the house of the Gentile, which the Jewish law would forbid. He preaches Jesus and even while he's speaking, the spirit comes on these non-Jewish people.
So it's a watershed moment, again that Peter's directly involved in. We've seen him respond to the initial call to follow Jesus, to become a fisher of men, to leave everything behind. We've seen him respond to the call of Jesus to step into the supernatural by stepping out of the boat on the lake. And now we see him respond to the call to take the gospel beyond the familiar enclaves of the Jewish people so that all nations everywhere can experience God's kingdom through.
So Peter was the man for the moment again. It's another stage in his development, in his growth, this ordinary, down to earth bloke. Jesus leads gospel gossipers. To quote my friend Geoffrey from last week. That's why he called Peter to go and catch people. Jesus needs those who are willing to move in the supernatural. That's why he invited Peter to walk on the water.
Jesus needs people who will set aside the traditions that prejudices whatever you want to call them if necessary, and to embark into new territory. The process of honing and refining Peter's character did not happen overnight, and it certainly wasn't all plain sailing down to earth. Ordinary bloke sometimes got things badly wrong and will think more about that next week.
But for now, I just want to focus on those words which were so crucial in Peter's life. If you say so, I will, because that needs to be a motto for us, folks. Some years ago, a strong, clear, prophetic word came to the elders of this church today, which would be like parent eagles. You don't just feed and care for the fledglings in the nest, but they must also push the growing eaglets out of the nest so that the baby eagles can spread their wings and learn to fly.
Learn to soar on the thermals, learn to hunt and seek prey, which is what they were created to do. That was in the intention of making eagles. If the baby eagles stay in the nest, all that happens is that they get fat.
Now, our elders have been faithful to that word. They have encouraged us. They have urged us. They have cajoled us every one of us, to get out of the nest, to go beyond our perceived limitations, our past experience, so that we can make an impact for the kingdom. We can share our testimony maybe with a work colleague, maybe with a neighbor.
We can move in spiritual gifts. We can attempt things which we may never have done before and which go against our understanding, our experience and our traditions. God wants to shakers out of any danger of complacency or any self-imposed limitation. This is me, God. I'm grateful for what I've had. I'm grateful for what I've got. But thus far no further.
Are we saying, in effect, Never, Lord, I never have done all this and I never will? Or are we going to be willing to say? If you say so, I will. Do you want to be bystanders, spectators, or do you want to be fully committed participants? Let me finish by giving you a possible scenario. This coming week, which might involve you, you might be in your connect group and people are sharing what God is saying, what God is doing, how things are in your life.
And you sense the Spirit saying, Come on, speak up, be honest. And you say, Well, I'll be honest with you folks. I've had a really tough week. Things haven't gone my way at all. But on Tuesday morning, God gave me a word that some very nice ayah talks about going through the waters and the waters not overwhelming you.
It talks about going through the fire and you're not being burnt to a fragile. And I just claimed that and I've clung on to that through the week. And the tough stuff has continued. But God has proved himself to be faithful. I just want to share that with you folks. And what happens. You've blessed six, eight, ten. How many people are in your your connect group, but you've also started spreading your wings?
I'm beginning to learn what it might be like to fly scenario to next Sunday morning. You sense the spirit saying you need to go and testify at the front to all these people. Your immediate response? Never God. I hate being the center of attention. I hate standing in front of a microphone and speaking into it. And I hate the thought of making a mess of my testimony.
And the spirit says, Go and do it. And you come to the front and you check it out with Jeff and Justice. Yes. That's just what we need. And you stagger up to the microphone and you say, I just want to be honest with you folks, I've had a really tough week. Things have been really hard in my life.
But Tuesday morning, God gave me a word. Somewhere nice air. And it talks about going through waters, not being overwhelmed. It talks about going through fire, not being burned. And I want you to know, I just claimed that and clung on to it through the week. And yes, the tough times have continued, but God has proved himself to be good and faithful.
And I'm so grateful. What happens there? 100 people. God bless and you spread your wings a bit further. Scenario number three, you're picking up the washing on the line and your neighbor calls over, says, Hello there, how are you? And the spirit says, Don't say I'm fine. Tell us the truth. So you say, Well, interesting. You asked me because actually I've been having quite a tough week.
Various things have been going against me. But I'm a Christian. I read my Bible and I read this in the Bible the other day. It talks about going through the waters and not being overwhelmed. It talks about going through the fire not being burned. And that I really claim that and believe that God could help me through the tough times.
And, you know, God really has been so good to me through the week. The outcome of that is you've built a bridge into your neighbor's life, which could well lead into further opportunities. It may even be that the neighbor at some point goes through tough times because surprise, surprise, everybody does. And they will say, Oh, so-and-so next door, they might be able to help.
Yeah. And the other thing that's happened is your wings have spread even further and you're ready to soar on the thermals of the Holy Spirit. That's how we grow, folks. Simple as that. That's how we grow. So right now it's five plus 12. It's time to stop. But I have a couple of I hope these are words of knowledge.
Words that God has given me. If there's somebody here who suffers from blurred vision, I believe God wants to deal with that situation. So anybody suffers from blurred vision. I'm not talking about when you've had too much whiskey.
Yes. I'd like to pray for you and the other one. Does anybody have an irritating skin rash? Yes. I'd like to pray for you as well. I think the musicians are coming up again. All their dive. Well, no, because you mentioned it before the meeting. Thank you. And they won't play. They won't play and sing too loudly so that I can hear what people are saying as I'm praying for.
Before they start, I just want to pray for all of us. Father, we're encouraged and we're challenged by what we read about Peter. We thank you that he was such a down to earth, ordinary bloke. And we're just so impressed by what you did through his life in his life. And my prayer, Lord, is that each one of us will be challenged, will be encouraged to believe that as you were for him.
So you can be for us. And we will say, as he said, because if you say so, I will. And I pray, Lord, there will be opportunities this coming week for any of us, for all of us to be sensitive to your leading to your guiding, to your prompting to your church, and to obey, whether it's something very, very small or something considerably bigger.
We want to be your people, Lord. We want to be participate participants in your kingdom activity, not spectators. So help us. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.
