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The Book of First Peter: Message
One
By Dr. Michael
Guido, D.D.
A man walked
into a church and said to the pastor, "I'd like
to shake hands with you, but there's no hope for me
now, for I've gone so far. Even my mother doesn't
believe in me." Looking at him and longing to
help him, Dr. Morgan said, "That's indeed a
terrible story, but I know Someone Who does believe
in you, and He believes in you because He's able to
make you what you're not." There was another who
was weak. No one believed in him, but his brother and
the Lord. His brother brought him to the Lord, and
from that moment He never let go of him. Even when it
seemed that he had made shipwreck of his life, our
Lord prayed for him that his faith wouldn't fail, and
his faith didn't fail. His name? Peter. He wrote one
of the most charming and comforting books of the
Bible. We'll study that book on this broadcast.
The book of
Peter opens with his name, that is, the name the Lord
gave him. It all happened like this. Andrew, his
brother, heard John the Baptist say, "Behold the
Lamb of God." Repenting, and questing, Andrew
turned and followed Jesus. No one can truly follow
Him without finding another to bring to Him. So the
first thing he did was to find his brother Simon. He
told him, "We have found the Christ." And
he brought him to Jesus. He looked steadily at him,
and said, "You are Simon, the son of John. From
now on your name is Cephas, that is, Peter, meaning a
rock." The word "rock" in this verse
means "a detached but large fragment of
rock." Now the foundation of the Church is that
large and living Rock, the Son of God. And Peter was
just a fragment of that massive rock. Thus, as Simon,
weak and wishy-washy, he let go and let God have His
way, and he was transformed into Peter, the rock-man!
And that He'll do for you.
In the book
that bears his name, Peter called himself "an
apostle." That word means "to send."
It was used of one who was sent on a mission. That's
what Peter was, an Ambassador of the Lord. And so are
you, if you're saved. You and I are sent ones. Our
Lord said, "As My Father hath sent Me, even so
send I you." Why was He sent? He answers,
"to seek and to save the lost." Now let's
put the verses together. "As My Father hath sent
Me, to seek and to save the lost; even so send I you,
to seek and to save the lost." Some time ago I
read a fable of an elephant that was taking a walk in
the jungle. A fly came to him and said, "Kind
elephant, I'm little, and you're big. Will you give
me a ride?" "With pleasure," he
answered, and he walked on with the fly on his back.
He didn't get far until a mouse said, "Kind
elephant, I'm not much bigger than the fly. Won't you
give me a ride?" "With pleasure," he
answered, and the mouse ran up his trunk. He walked a
short distance and met a turtle who said, "Kind
elephant, I'm sure you'll be glad to give me a
ride." "You're welcome," said the
elephant, and up he went. In the same way, as he went
along, he picked up one and another until he had a
very big load. Thus burdened, he met a tiger who
said, "Kind elephant, you're big, and I'm much
smaller. Surely you'll give me a lift." "I
can't," said the elephant, "I have more
than I can carry. I can't walk another step."
"Good," said the tiger, "this is just
the moment I've been waiting for." Whereupon he
leaped upon the great animal and destroyed him. Many
a Christian and many a church can learn a lesson from
this fable. So many have become so burdened with
material delights and duties that they go down in
defeat. Let it not be forgotten that it's the
business of every believer and the commission of
every church to bring the lost to the Lord. There's
no greater mission than that of bringing the lost to
the Lord. And there's no greater sin than keeping a
soul from the Lord.
It's written
in 1st
Peter 1:1, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers." That word,
"strangers" is made up of several words, as
"alongside," and "upon."
"It's used in Biblical Greek," said Dr.
Wuest, "of the people of a heathen city. The
word here describes the recipients of this letter as
Christians who have settled down alongside of the
unsaved." You're living, my friends, alongside
of folk who are unsaved. They're observing you. What
do they see? One afternoon a woman took some scouts
on a hike. Her miraculous medal, which she always
wore, was hanging visible outside her uniform. A
little girl hurried over to her and said,
"Pardon me, ma'am, but your religion is
showing." Is your religion showing? Can others
see Christ in you? A Hindu student told Billy Graham,
"I'd become a Christian if I could see
one." Said Graham, "And when he said that,
he was looking at me. That was one of the greatest
sermons ever preached to me." Let's be like
Jesus!
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version..
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to the next message in this Sower Scripture Study on
the book of First Peter.
This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program, "The
Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
