Let's continue our studies in the book of Luke. Would you go to the sixth chapter again, please? Luke chapter 6. I've entitled this portion of Luke, Choosing the Twelve Apostles. Luke chapter 6. Let's look at the beginning in verse 12. Now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose 12, whom he also named apostles. Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot, Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor. At the risk of dating this message, most of us are following the news concerning President-elect Donald Trump's choosing qualified people to fill important offices and cabinet posts for his administration that will soon take office on January 20th. Vice President-elect Pence, who is a true believer, is helping spearhead this whole process, using his expertise as the former governor of Indiana, where he was very, very successful, as well as his experience in the Congress. Their desire is to choose the most qualified and to be successful throughout the term of this upcoming administration. Most of them are chosen must be confirmed by the US Senate. In our text before us this morning, we find our Lord Jesus Christ doing something similar. Choosing men from his many disciples to hold the most important office that any human being would ever hold, at least this side of eternity, the office of one of his great apostles. And as you read the names of those he's chosen to be apostles, it becomes obvious they were not common men. They were common men. They were not big names. They were not among the mighty. They were very common, ordinary men called upon to do extraordinary things. Some were fishermen. One was a despised tax collector. The one was a former zealot, that means he used to fight against the Roman government. One became a trader and sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver. And as he considered the vicar, it is certain that if those men had to be confirmed by the US Senate, none of them would pass the test. But Jesus spent all night in prayer before he chose these men. And when he came down from the mountain, those he chose had already been confirmed by heaven. The names of those chosen are found in the text. Now this morning I want to focus on just one name. The first one that we see in the text, Simon Peter. There's an abundance of information in the man Peter and the various aspects of his life in the Word of God. But with many of the others, there are almost no information about them except what you find in the text. Even though Andrew was Peter's brother, we're going to find there's very little said about Andrew. I know no information about Bartholomew or Simon the Zealot, but we'll deal with that as we go through this list. Let's look first of all at the names of those that Jesus chose to be apostles. Look at the first part of verse 14. Simon, whom he also named Peter. Andrew, Peter's brother, brought him to Jesus. What we have to do is read other portions of the Gospels back into this so we get a clear picture of the whole situation. Peter was originally named Simon. Jesus is the one who changed his name. All the way back in John 1 verse 40, verse 42, one of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, we found the Messiah. And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, he said, you are Simon, the son of Jonah, so you shall be called Cephas, or Peter, which is translated as stone. That was Peter's first encounter with the Lord Jesus. As we saw earlier in chapter 5, Peter was a lowly fisherman at the Sea of Galilee, where he had his second encounter with Jesus. Drop back to chapter 5, please. Here's his second encounter with Jesus. We didn't realize that, and if you didn't have the Gospel of John, you would think that this was the first encounter, but Andrew had brought Peter to Jesus earlier. But this appears to be the second encounter he had with Jesus. Now look at verse one. So it was as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God that he stood by the lake of Gennesaret. and saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to pour out a little from the land, and he sat down and he taught the multitude. When they had stopped speaking, he said to Simon, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and said, Master, we've charred all night and caught nothing, everything, but nevertheless at your word we'll let down the necks. And we had done this, they caught a great number of fish. And their net was breaking, so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. Excuse me. This is when Peter begins to realize his own sinfulness. Look at verse eight. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet saying, depart from me, I'm a sinful man, oh Lord. But Jesus called Peter to be one of his disciples in spite of what Peter thought of himself. Look at verse 9. For he and all who were with him were astonished to catch a fish which he had taken. So also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, do not be afraid, from now on you will catch fish. So when they had brought their boats to the land, they forsook all and followed him. But Jesus called Peter to be one of his disciples. A disciple means a follower. Every believer, a true believer, is a disciple in the act of a follower of Christ. But later on when he's called to be an apostle, this is a particular office, this is a particular ministry. An apostle is one who's sent by the Lord. There are certain things that have to be true to become an apostle. You see that in the first couple chapters of Acts when they had to choose an apostle to fulfill Judas' role. The biblical definition of apostle and those called apostles in the New Testament has to have either been with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry or having seen the risen Christ as Paul did on the road to Damascus. Those are at least two of the facts that had to be true before you could be an apostle. You had to have some involvement with Jesus as he was on the earth, and you had to be a witness of his resurrection. The Apostle Peter may have been the most outspoken of the twelve apostles in Jesus' ministry. He certainly became one of the boldness witnesses. His beginnings were certainly in a humble origin. From the start, he seems to have been the spokesman for all the other apostles, the one who stood up out from the group. And if you go through the Gospels and look at the list of the apostles, you'll always find that Peter's name always comes first. There are several incidents in the Gospels that tell us about Peter the man, what he was like as a person. The first is his assertion that Jesus was the Messiah. Jump back to Mark 16. By necessity, we're going to have to jump around in Scripture so that we get this picture of Peter. Look at Mark 16. Mark 16. Excuse me, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Matthew 16. I thought that didn't look right. Matthew 16. Look at verse 13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And he said to them, who do you say that I am? And notice Peter jumps right in. Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now I want you to notice how Jesus responded to this. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. It is We're not certain how God revealed that to Peter, probably through the life of Jesus and witnessing him fulfilling many of the Old Testament prophecies. But regardless of how Peter came to this profound truth, it reveals that only when one is enlightened by divine illumination, Can anyone come to truly believe the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ? We need to hold on to that when we witness to people. Then you find you sometimes get frustrated. You're trying to point to the scriptures and show people who Jesus Christ is. And it's plain, especially if you're dealing with somebody like a Jehovah Witness. And they just won't accept it. Well, unless God opens their eyes, they will never understand who Jesus Christ is. 1 Corinthians 12, 3, no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. This is one of the reasons why I encourage those that maybe I get a chance to witness to and know that they're willing to read the Bible, and I recommend they read to the Gospel of John. for this specific reason, John 20, 30, 31. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. In other words, at least you'll be able to get the truth about Jesus, and then the hope is that the Spirit of God will open the eyes of that person, and they will truly believe and accept and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. But when Jesus spoke of going to Jerusalem where he would be crucified and will raise again, Peter takes him aside and declares, I'm not going to let this happen. Look at the text, verse 21. From that time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes that he might be killed and raised the third day. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. He just got done declaring that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. As the Son of the living God, he declares what's going to happen to him when he goes up to Jerusalem. Peter, in his boldness, takes him inside. He says, I'm sorry, Lord, but I'm not going to let that happen to you. I'm going to be here for you. And God, the Lord really rebukes him for that. Look at verse 23. He turns and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are mindful of the things of God. You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. When many of the Lord's disciples turned away and walked with Jesus no longer, Jesus asked Peter, will you go away too? Go over to John 6. This text is very precious to me and I've shared with you why this is so. John chapter 6 and verse 60. Therefore, many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, this is a hard saying. Who can understand it? When Jesus knew it himself that his disciples complained about this, he said to them, does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe in Him and who would betray Him. And He said, therefore I say to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father. And that's a hard thing. I dealt with People who don't hold to our position on certain theology. And they deny that statement made by Jesus. You can't come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draw you. And notice what happens, verse 66. From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. They could not handle that doctrine. that unless God opens the eyes and calls you, you can't come to me, you will not come to me. Then Jesus said to the twelve, do you also want to go away? And I love this answer by Simon Peter. But Simon Peter answered and said, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And I said to you before, I don't want to go over it again, but I'm going to. There was a time when I was so downpressed after the last situation with the other church. We were living in Florida, and I was pulling guard duty at one of these big, expensive things, gated communities. I mean, where people had 10, 20, $50,000, million-dollar homes that they used a couple days, a couple weeks out of the month and then traveled all over. Multi-billionaires, multi-millionaires. And as I'm standing there, I don't know where these thoughts come from. Probably the slings and arrows of the devil. It's like the devil saying, see how I take care of my people? Look at you. God waited till the very month and year you would have retired from the state police with a great big pension. And now he casts you out. like a piece of garbage. You're standing here on guard duty making six dollars an hour and you have no future, you have no ministry, you've lost everything. And it was like I was ready to cast it all aside. Cast it all away. It's not real. It's not true. Christianity is a joke. Salvation is a joke. God is a joke. Jesus is a joke. And I always wondered how the Lord would use my sinful life when I was in the Air Force, when I really walked away from the Lord. How could he ever use that for my good? And then I was reminded of this text. All right, I'm going to turn around and walk no longer with Jesus. But where am I going to go? I've tried the way of the world, and boy, that is a dead-end street. I got in so much trouble going down that road. Where will I go? Then I remember what Peter said, where should we go, Lord? You alone have the words of eternal life. And that just blessed my soul. The Spirit of God just brought that to my memory, and it just encouraged my heart. And I said, Lord, I know Jan's back in the condo going through the same struggle. Help her. And when I went home that night, God brought her the same text of Scripture to her, and it helped her. So praise God for the words of Peter. That out of the 12, Peter and James and John were seen to be singled out by the Lord for special favor. In Matthew 17, 1, now after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, his brother, and led them up on the mountain. That's the Mount of Transfiguration. The other apostles, they left down below. And another place, it says, he pitted no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. And Jesus was in the garden. All the apostles were with him. But then Jesus took Peter and James with him. set them aside specially, began to be in trouble and deeply distressed. And when he came back and found them asleep, all of them were asleep, he singles out Peter in Mark 14, 37, then he came and found them weeping and said to Peter, Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch with me one hour? Now jumping ahead of time, we come to that period that Peter denied even knowing Jesus, let alone being one of his apostles. Jesus warned Peter about this, yet he refused to believe that he would ever deny the Lord Jesus Christ. Go back to Luke 22, please. Luke 22. Verse 31. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, and Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. But he said to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Then he said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know me. We see the bravado of Peter when they came to arrest Jesus. Peter takes out his sword and begins to try to take their heads off. Chapter 22, verse 47, And while he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and grew near to Jesus and kissed him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, are you portraying the Son of Man with a kiss? When those around him saw what was going to happen, they said to him, Lord, shall we strike with a sword? And one of them struck the servant and the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, permit even this. And he touched his ear and healed him. John tells us who that was, John 18, 10. Then Simon Peter, having his sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his ear. And in verse 11, so Jesus said to Peter, put away your sword, shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? Now with this show of courage, you would think that Peter would never deny the Lord. He was ready to take on that whole mob who came out to arrest Jesus. It wasn't the lynch mob with the swords and clubs that Satan used to get to Peter to deny Christ. That would have been too blatant and obvious. It was the subtle, unexpected insinuations of relatively harmless people who stayed up all night to observe the goings on. Satan does not come after us as that which is blatant and obvious. He doesn't usually try and destroy us with the occult and the macabre. He is far more subtle and clever than that. He comes after us in ways that are unexpected. Now with this show of courage, you would think that Peter would never deny the Lord. He was ready to take on that whole mob who came to arrest Jesus. But the Lord allowed Satan to have a foothold in Peter's life that he does not normally have. And the words of the Lord were fulfilled. Peter ends up denying that he even knew who Jesus was. Look at verse 54. Having arrested him, they led him away and brought him to the high priest's house. But Peter followed at a distance. Now when they kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him, as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, this man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, woman, I do not know him. And after a little while, another saw him and said, you are also of him. Then Peter said, man, I am not. Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, Surely this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. But Peter said, Man, I do not what you are saying. Immediately when he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. Matthew gives us better insight into the whole thing when Matthew 26, 74 And he began to curse and swear, saying, I do not know him. And that's in the present tense, means he cursed and swore over and over and over again. And in the midst of all this cursing and cries out, I do not know the man. The rooster crowed. Jesus looked at him, and he went out and wept bitterly. Look at verse 60, but Peter said, man, I do not know what you are saying. Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord then turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word that the Lord had said before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. So Peter went out and wept bitterly. I can't imagine the incredible guilt and anguish Peter must have had to endure when he saw the Lord arrested, and battered, and beaten, and nailed to the cross. This is the man I said I'd never deny, and I'd go to jail, I'd die for him. when he saw him hanging on the cross in untold agony. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for him during those three days when our Lord was in the tomb. How he must have flagellated himself, how he must have verbally abused himself, mentally condemned himself during that time, probably thinking that it was hopelessly lost and headed for perdition like Judas. But Peter eventually met the resurrected Lord. Peter's denial did not destroy Jesus' trust in Him. On the morning of the resurrection, Peter was one of the first men Jesus appeared to. He appeared to the women who came to the tomb first. And then he tells the women, tell my apostles that me be up at Galilee and I'll see them again. So Peter goes back decides to go back fishing. Go now to John 21. John 21. Verse 1. This is after the resurrection now. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And this is the way he showed himself. Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathanael of Canaan and Galilee, the sons of David, and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. Remember, he gave all that up to follow Christ. And it may be that he felt so downcast, I might as well go back to what I was doing. And the others said, we're going with you. They went out and immediately got in the boat, and that night caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples did not know it was Jesus. And Jesus said to them, children, have you any food? They answered him, no. Then he said, cast your net on the other side of the boat. You'll find some. So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. There that disciple whom Jesus loved, John, said to Peter, it is the Lord. Now when Simon Peber heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had removed it, and plunged into the sea. But the other disciples came in a little by boat, for they were not far from land. about 200 cubits, dragging that with them. As soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire and coals, and there was fish on it. Jesus said, bring some of the fish which you just caught. Simon Peter went up and dragged a net full of fish, 153 in all together, or so many, the net was not broken. Then he says, come and eat breakfast. Yet none of the disciples dared ask him who he was, knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then took and looked bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. This is now the third time Jesus showed himself to the apostles after he was raised from the dead. Then Jesus began to ask Peter some questions. Notice the first question asked and applied, verse 15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? Peter, you once claimed that you loved me so strong that you were willing to go to prison and die if necessary, probably implying that your love for me was stronger than these other apostles. Peter, is that really the case? Do you love me more than these other men? Peter does not attempt to make the claim, but merely states that he truly loves the Lord. He said, yes, Lord, you know I love you. Having answered the Lord, makes application of Peter. Peter, do demonstrate your love for me, what I command. He said to him, feed my lambs. And the word feed is the present imperative. Feed and continue to feed my lambs. The second question is asked and answered and applied. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He says, yes, Lord, you know I love you. He said, tend my sheep. And the third question asked and answered. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? Lord, he says, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Peter, if you love me, you will fulfill the commission that I'm going to give you. Feed my sheep, take care of my people by preaching and teaching to them the word of God. Tend my sheep, take care of my people as a shepherd cares and guards his sheep. Peter, you love me and that will be revealed by obeying what I've called you to do. At this point in the ongoing dialogue, Jesus interjects a very unusual sovereign prophecy concerning Peter. Look at verse 18. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you, and he will carry you wherever you wish. Peter fulfilled the commission by tending for the sheep. And it was very costly. Peter, it's going to cost you brutal and a painful loss of your life. But regardless of the cost, follow me. Go where I want you to go. Do what I want you to do. Say what I want you to say. Then we see the sanctified bravado of Peter. We saw the carnal survives. Look at Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Back in chapter 1, Jesus spent 40 days speaking to them about the kingdom of God. They asked him, is this Will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? He says, it's not for you to know the day or the seasons. You stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes upon you. So they stay in Jerusalem. Verse 1, when the day of Pentecost had fully come, in chapter 2, they were all accorded, and suddenly there came a great sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues of fire, and one said of them, and they all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in tongues. Now look at chapter 14, verse 14, I'm sorry. When people begin to mock them and say, no, they're all drunk. Peter says, no, they're not. Now Peter standing up with the eleven raised his voice and said, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words, for these are not drunk as you suppose. It is only the third hour, but this is what is spoken by Joel the prophet. So he goes over that. And after quoting from Joel the prophet, look at verse 22. Now this is the same man who was so fearful that he denied Jesus three times. Notice now how he not only preaches but is very pointed in his application. Men of Israel, hear these words, verse 22. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God do through him in your midst as you yourself. Him being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by lawless hands have crucified and put to death, whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by them. Verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what should we do? And he says, Peter, repent and let everyone be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. For the remissions of sin, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 40, in many other words, he testified and said, be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received the word were baptized. That day, about 3,000 souls were added to them. gave an invitation. Three thousand people were saved at that time. Peter was one of the boldest of all the apostles. After this, he willingly suffered persecution. He was imprisoned. He was beaten. He even rejoiced in the fact that he's worthy to suffer a disgrace for the Lord Jesus. Peter emerged as a leader of the early church. He served as an advocate for the apostles when they were taken before the Jewish religious court in Jerusalem in Acts 4. He was a judge of a very contentious matter in Acts chapter 5. All in all, he dominated the small but grown community of believers in the first 15 years after Jesus' death. He went to Lydia and He healed and paralyzed Anais, and at Joppa He cured Dorcas in the name of Jesus. But how did it end with Him? Well, unanimous tradition. Scripture doesn't tell us. Unanimous tradition tells us that Peter was crucified as the Lord predicted. But according to Eusebius, the early church father, Before Peter was crucified, he was forced to watch the crucifixion of his own beloved wife. He had to stand at the foot of her cross till she died. Subius writes that Peter stood at the foot of his wife's cross and kept repeating to her, remember the Lord, remember the Lord, remember the Lord. After she died, it is said that he pleaded to be crucified upside down because he wasn't worthy to die as his Lord had died. And again, according to tradition, he was crucified upside down because he would not deny his faith. Peter's life could be summed up in the last words of his last epistle. He wrote, grow in grace and in the eyes of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And that's what he did. He became the rock, the great leader of the Church of Jesus Christ. Praise God for the epistles of Peter. He deals with such practical issues. He deals with the glory of our salvation in the first book that he wrote. The second one he deals about the warnings about false prophets in the church. What a blessing. I preached through those two books and what a blessing it was to us. Read those rich words of Peter and see how the Lord brought him from what he was to becoming one of the great, great apostles that Jesus chose. One of the things, if God can deal with Peter with his cussing and swearing and being nothing but a rough old fisherman, And making Him one of the great apostles, He can do anything with us too. So hold on to that truth. Let's close in prayer.