Twelve Ordinary Men: Lesson 2

Overview

Simon Peter: Chief of the Apostles

Every list of the Twelve in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts begins the same way: with Peter. The Greek word translated "first" (protos) carries more than numerical meaning—it can denote rank or chief influence. Peter stands as the leader among the leaders Christ called, and yet he was, like the others, a thoroughly ordinary man. A fisherman from Bethsaida who worked the Sea of Galilee out of Capernaum, partnered with his brother Andrew and with James and John, Peter was married (Jesus healed his mother-in-law in Matthew 8:14) and his wife traveled with him in ministry, as Paul attests in 1 Corinthians 9:5, where Peter is called by his Aramaic name, Cephas ("rock").

A Man of Impulse and Passion

Peter's personality leaps off the pages of Scripture. He drops his nets at Jesus' call, steps out of the boat onto the water, draws a sword in Gethsemane, and at the empty-tomb breakfast jumps into the sea to swim to his risen Lord. His passion cuts both directions: when the miraculous catch of fish reveals the holiness of Christ, he falls at Jesus' knees and cries, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man" Luke 5:1–11. When Jesus moves to wash his feet, he refuses—then begs to be washed all over John 13:8–9. He confesses Christ as Messiah at Caesarea Philippi and receives the promise that on this rock-confession the church will be built Matthew 16:13–18. And then, hours later, he rebukes Jesus for predicting the cross. As John MacArthur put it, Peter "had a habit of revving his mouth while his brain was in neutral."

Two Names, Two Realities

Notice that Jesus never replaces Simon's name the way God renamed Abram or Sarai. Instead, Jesus uses both—Simon, Peter, or Simon Peter—and the choice often signals what is being addressed. "Simon" tends to surface when Jesus speaks to the weakness of the flesh: "Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded to sift you" Luke 22:31; "Simon, are you asleep?" in Gethsemane Mark 14:32–38; and three times "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" when the risen Christ restored him after his denial John 21:15–17. "Peter"—the rock—names what grace was making him into. He is, in the truest sense, simul iustus et peccator, simultaneously saint and sinner. That is why so many believers find their own story in his.

Peter's Ministry and Legacy

Restored and filled with the Spirit, Peter takes his place as leader. He convenes the apostles to replace Judas Acts 1:12–26, preaches the first sermon at Pentecost Acts 2:14–41, heals the lame man at the temple gate Acts 3, stands before the Sanhedrin, raises Tabitha, and—through the rooftop vision and the household of Cornelius—opens the door of the gospel to the Gentiles Acts 10–11. His letters, 1 Peter and 2 Peter, encourage suffering Christians and warn against false teachers. Church tradition, attested by Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius, holds that Peter was martyred under Nero, asking to be crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to die as his Lord had died.

A Word for Us

Peter's life preaches that Christ builds his church not through the polished and powerful but through humble, flawed, passionate people who keep returning to him. Remember: for all his failures, Peter and one other were the only disciples who followed Jesus to the high priest's house, and Peter alone was close enough to meet his Lord's eyes when the rooster crowed. He failed within sight of grace—and grace restored him. The same Christ who named him Rock knows our weakness by name, calls us back, and sends us out.

Transcript

We do have a lot to cover, so we are first going to open in prayer. 2s

Let us pray. 7s

Lord, we thank You so much for gathering us here. 8s

We thank You for Your Word that You are constantly shaping us, transforming us, leading us, 11s

guiding us, telling us Your law, giving us Your salvation and forgiveness. 17s

Lord, we thank You. 22s

We thank You for the apostles whom You appointed and called to share Your Word and to share Your truth 23s

and that by them and by Your grace and mercy throughout the ages, we have joined here today 30s

to learn more about You and to grow closer to You. 39s

We ask that Your Spirit would guide this study and that You would keep our hearts and minds open 43s

to where You would have us grow. 47s

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 49s

Okay, so just a quick reminder or refresher of what we did last time. 53s

We talked about just the overview of the apostles and who they were, that the apostles, 59s

they were regular guys. 65s

They were just regular people. 68s

They didn't have any extraordinary religious authority. 70s

They didn't have any great power. 74s

They had very worldly jobs. 75s

They are flawed. 78s

They were just a group of ordinary men. 80s

But God chose the humble, the lowly, the meek, the weak. 85s

And there was never a question then because of the men who were chosen. 91s

There was never a question of the source of power or the source of strength. 98s

In what was transforming the world. 105s

And there was no question of who was to be glorified. 109s

So we are going to, we have a diagram here. 114s

So we have the 12 apostles named in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 119s

And then we have them named again in the book of Acts. 126s

And every time they're named, they are named in very similar orders. 130s

And for our purposes, we are separating, we're separating them into groups of three, 136s

groups of three groups of four. 143s

And you'll notice that every single time the apostles are named, the very first name is Peter. 148s

Or Simon Peter. 159s

So he was a very, very key apostle. 161s

First, so we often call him the first apostle or the leader of the apostles. 170s

And we'll get to why we do that. 176s

But first, when they're being described or when the names are being named, 178s

it says, you know, Jesus called the 12 first, Simon, who is also called Peter. 184s

Or first, Simon Peter, or first Peter. 190s

And that word first, it can mean first as in order of, this is the first one that was called, 194s

second, third, and so on. 202s

But the Greek word that's used for that word first, Protos, 205s

it also has a connotation of first in rank or influence, like chief. 210s

So Peter is considered to be the chief of the apostles, the first of the apostles. 219s

So we are going to look at Peter today. 227s

And I will say he is one, well, not one of, because there are only 12. 232s

But he is, I think he has got to be my favorite apostle. 237s

And we'll find out why, but I just, I love Peter. 241s

He has, yeah, he's awesome. 245s

So we have this map of Israel. 247s

As you can see, it is not to scale. 250s

So do not try to take this to the Holy Land to figure out where you're going, 254s

because that's not going to help you. 259s

Okay, so this is the sea, the Mediterranean Sea. 261s

Here's Israel, and there's lots of stuff, lots of towns. 264s

But we're talking about Peter. 268s

So I just have a couple of places there. 270s

So Peter was a fisherman with his brother Andrew, 273s

and they had a fishing company with James and John as well. 277s

So Peter, Andrew, James and John, they were all fishermen. 281s

Peter is from the town of Bethesda, which is right near the sea of Galilee. 286s

But the fishing, and you can see that in John, 292s

the first chapter of John, verse 44, it tells us that he was from Bethesda. 297s

But the fishing business was centered in Copernum, 302s

and this dot should be even closer to the sea of Galilee, 307s

because it's right on the sea of Galilee. 312s

So this was a major town north of the sea of Galilee, 316s

where they would fish from. 321s

There were three common fish, and this is just to kind of set up the context of where Peter's coming from. 325s

There are three common fish, the sardines, which are little fish. 332s

This is most likely the tiny little fish that is talked about when Jesus feeds the 5,000, 336s

and it says the boy had the fish and loaves. 343s

It's probably those, the little sardines that he had. 346s

And then there are barbells, which are a carp-like fish. 351s

They weigh up to about 15 pounds. 356s

And the reason they're called barbells is they have these little thingies on the end of their. 360s

It's derived from a Latin word that means beard. 366s

So these fish are swimming around with these little beards. 369s

Just so you know. 373s

And then the largest fish is the mushed, which is a tilapia, 374s

or a tilapia is in the mushed family. 383s

And if you go to the Holy Land, I am told, I have not been there, 387s

but you can order this at restaurants, and it's referred to often as St. Peter's fish. 392s

So that's kind of neat. 400s

So these were the fish that they were fishing for. 401s

And the first two, the sardines could be caught in a net. 406s

You know, lots of them. 413s

You could do the barbells. 414s

You could do that was about the largest fish they could do on a line. 416s

And then the nets would also, they would use those nets for those tilapia-type fish, 421s

because those would grow up to five or six feet long. 427s

So those were really long. 430s

Simon Peter, we know about his life. 434s

We know he was a fisherman. 438s

We know he was married. 439s

We have references to this in Matthew, chapter 8. 442s

Let's go there. 446s

And I will tell you where all of these references are. 450s

I don't know that we'll be able to read every single reference today. 454s

For times sake, but I will give you all of the verses that I have written here. 460s

So Matthew, chapter 8 verse 14, 466s

it says, 471s

When Jesus entered Peter's house, 472s

He saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 474s

So this is where Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law. 477s

So we know that Peter was married. 481s

We also know if you flip over to first Corinthians, 484s

first Corinthians chapter 9. 488s

So you're going to go past the Gospels, past the book of Acts, past Romans, 490s

and you'll find yourself in first Corinthians, 495s

first Corinthians chapter 9, 498s

verse 5, 503s

where we read, 505s

Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife 508s

as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Seaphis? 512s

So Seaphis is the Aramaic word for rock. 516s

So when Jesus refers to Simon Peter as Petra, 522s

the Greek word for rock, 527s

it's Seaphis is the Aramaic word for rock. 529s

So anytime you see Seaphis that is referring to Peter, the Apostle Peter as well. 532s

So Peter's wife, we know, accompanied him at least on some of his mission. 539s

She went with him as Paul writes in first Corinthians. 546s

We don't know if Peter had children or not. 552s

In first Peter, the chapter 5, he references his son Mark, 556s

but this is in the same way that Paul references Timothy. 562s

It's a very close relationship that they have, 568s

Mark that he's writing about in that, my son, Mark, 572s

that is the writer of the gospel, Mark. 575s

So they had a very close connection. 579s

We don't, we don't know if Peter had any biological children. 582s

We just don't know. 588s

Scripture does not tell us, 589s

but we know he was married. 590s

We know he had a mother-in-law and we know he fished. 592s

Okay. 597s

Now we're going to get to why I love Peter. 597s

His personality. 600s

I love him. 603s

Peter is one that would take a running leap into the pool 606s

and as he's flying over the pool, 615s

say, I hope there's water, right? 618s

He was impulsive. 620s

He was impulsive. 623s

He was the one who dropped the net and followed at Jesus' invitation 625s

in Matthew the fourth chapter versus 18 through 20. 629s

He jumped out of the boat when Jesus was walking on water. 635s

Remember, they thought they saw a ghost and Jesus says it's me 640s

and Peter says, if it's you, tell me to come to you 643s

and he takes a step and he walks on water 646s

and then realizes what he's doing 649s

and that's when he begins to think. 651s

But he was so eager. 653s

I love when he is, they're fishing after Christ death 656s

and they see Christ and they're in the boat 662s

and he sees Jesus and he jumps out of the boat and swims. 666s

He's not going to wait for that boat to make it to shore. 671s

He's not even going to bother to put his clothes on. 673s

It says that he jumped in, naked, and just swam to his Lord. 675s

He is so, so impulsive. 681s

He's the one who, who went that big group of soldiers 685s

was there to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. 690s

Peter is the one who was ready and sloped off the ear 695s

of the servant of the high priest. 699s

He reacts out of emotion. 702s

He's very impulsive and very passionate in his impulses. 705s

He's also the one at the Transfiguration who says, 710s

Lord, it's good for us to be here. 714s

Let's build tents. 716s

Let's build dwelling places for Elijah and Moses 718s

because he's just going to do something. 721s

So he has this impulsive personality. 724s

He's very passionate. 729s

In all of this impulsivity, he's very passionate about it. 731s

He is passionate about the way he feels 736s

and he does not mind sharing it or living into it, 739s

leaning into the passion of the moment. 745s

One of the beautiful examples of that is Luke. 750s

So let's go back to the Gospel of Luke. 753s

Chapter five. 757s

Luke, chapter five, we're going to look mainly at verse eight 767s

here, but the context of this is, 772s

well, let's just start at verse one of chapter five. 779s

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Genesis, 783s

and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 787s

he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake. 791s

The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 793s

He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, 797s

and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. 800s

Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 803s

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 806s

put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. 809s

Simon answered, master, we have worked all night long 813s

but have caught nothing. 816s

Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets. 818s

They would do the fishing, their business was happening overnight. 820s

Once the dawn came, their business for the night was done. 826s

That fishing time was pretty much over. 831s

The fact that Jesus is asking them or telling him to put down his nets, 834s

Peter saying, okay, work hours are done. 841s

We're not going to catch any fish. 843s

But if you say this, I will do it. 845s

So when they had done this, they caught so many fish 849s

that their nets were beginning to break. 852s

So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. 856s

And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. 859s

Now here, pay attention. 863s

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 865s

go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. 868s

When he realizes the incredible, incredible holy nature of Jesus 874s

and this miracle that had just happened, 882s

his immediate response is, I'm a sinner. 886s

I'm a sinner. 891s

I can't be near this. 892s

And that passion of, and declaration that is on Peter's lip or lips, 893s

he realizes his own sinfulness in God's presence. 901s

In John, chapter 13, we see very much the same sort of thing. 906s

So we're going to just turn over to the gospel of John, chapter 13. 912s

This is when it's the last supper and Jesus washes, 917s

or says he's going to wash the apostles' feet. 924s

And Jesus, or in Peter says, in verse 8, Peter said to him, 929s

you will never wash my feet. 934s

Jesus answered, unless I wash you, you have no share with me. 937s

Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 941s

And so there's this passionate response, first saying, Lord, you can't serve me. 946s

And then when Jesus says, you need to be cleansed by me, 953s

which we understand that we need to be cleansed in the blood of Christ, 958s

we need Christ to wash us clean. 962s

Then Peter takes it again, passionately to the extreme, saying, 965s

well, don't just wash my feet, but wash my face, wash my head, wash my hands, wash all of me. 969s

And you go, go, go, Peter, it's all right. 975s

It's all right. 978s

So Peter is just very passionate in every response. 978s

We see this impulsive and passionate behavior in Mark VIII chapter, 984s

when Jesus says that he's going to head to Jerusalem, 989s

and what's going to happen to him there, that he will be tortured and crucified. 993s

And what does Peter say? 999s

He says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you can't let this happen, Jesus. 1000s

And he rebukes Jesus again, that impulsive, passionate, immediate response from Peter. 1004s

Same thing in Matthew, when Jesus again is telling what's going to happen, 1015s

and Peter says, I will never leave you. 1021s

I will never leave you. 1024s

Everyone else may desert you, but I won't. 1025s

I will go with you to the death. 1028s

You know, he's just absolute. 1030s

John MacArthur, I love this quotation, he wrote that Peter had a habit of revving his mouth 1033s

while his brain was in neutral. 1040s

I think that's such a great, great quotation. 1044s

And I think that is why Peter is my favorite, because he is so dedicated, 1047s

so passionate about the Lord, absolutely clear on who Jesus is as far as 1056s

Jesus is holy. 1062s

He's the one that says Jesus is the Messiah, and yet he is also the one who is so flawed. 1065s

He is so flawed, and which one of us cannot relate to the one who is so in love with his Lord and Savior. 1073s

And wow, can easily say, I am a sinner. 1085s

I am a sinner. 1094s

I thought that's why I love Peter. 1097s

He's so passionate, even in his flaw, even in his sin. 1099s

He's so passionate about Jesus. 1105s

So now we're going to talk about his name, because he has, well, that's on the other side. 1109s

He has two names, Simon, also called Peter. 1112s

Simon was a very, very common name, and I think it's important to note that Jesus did not rename Simon. 1119s

He didn't rename him when God comes to Abram and makes a covenant with Abram. 1129s

He changes Abram's name to Abraham, so everyone thenceforth called him Abraham, same with Sarah, Sarah. 1136s

But he doesn't rename Peter. 1146s

Jesus called Simon Peter, sometimes he called him Simon, and sometimes he called him Peter, and sometimes he would call him Simon Peter. 1150s

Both. 1159s

Peter means rock, as we said, the Aramaic being seaface. 1160s

And you'll see seaface used in first Corinthians, you'll see it used in Galatians. 1165s

Let's turn to Matthew, verse 16, or chapter 16, not verse 16, that was not helpful. 1173s

Matthew chapter 16, oh, I'm in Mark, that's why it's even more and less helpful. 1185s

Okay, so Matthew 16, verses 13 through 18. 1192s

Now when Jesus came into the district of Cessaria, Philippi, he asked his disciples, okay, so, and on this map here, we see Cessaria, Philippi. 1199s

So it's north of Copernum, it's north of the Sea of Galilee, Cessaria, Philippi. 1208s

He asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? 1215s

And they said, some say John the Baptist, but others, Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. 1219s

He said to them, but who do you say that I am? 1225s

Simon Peter answered, and notice, who's answering first? 1229s

Simon Peter, the one who's going to be quick to answer, quick to speak. 1233s

Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. 1237s

And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven. 1242s

And I tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 1251s

Peter's confession is what the church is built on. 1263s

It is the rock of the church that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. 1271s

And so that is the Peter. 1281s

That is the seaface, the rock on which the church is built. 1287s

John MacArthur pointed out that Simon is often used referring to the secular life of Simon Peter. 1293s

So when Jesus is talking to Simon Peter about his home, his work, his family life, et cetera, he will use Simon to address Simon Peter. 1301s

Or when Simon Peter is being rebuked, when he's being rebuked or corrected by Jesus. 1315s

In Luke chapter 22, verse 31, Jesus says to him, Simon, Simon, listen, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. 1324s

He was warning Simon. It was a warning to the weakness, the flesh of Simon Peter. 1337s

In Mark chapter 14, verses 32 through 38, this is where Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John to the Garden of Gethsemane. 1350s

And he has told them to pray. Let's go ahead and turn there. 1361s

Mark chapter 14. So we're just going to go over one gospel. 1367s

Mark chapter 14. We're going to go to verse 32. 1375s

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. 1382s

He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. 1387s

And he said to them, I am deeply grieved even to death, remain here and keep awake. 1392s

And going on a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 1399s

He said, Abba, Father, for you all things are possible. 1405s

Remove this cup from me, yet not what I want, but what you want. 1409s

He came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep? 1413s

Could you not keep awake one hour? 1420s

Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial. 1422s

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 1427s

So here Jesus takes three of his closest friends, three of his apostles, and he goes, and he is praying out of grief. 1432s

Prayings so hard we read in other gospels that he is sweating blood, and he has asked his friends to keep awake, to pray with him, to be praying for him. 1442s

And when he comes and finds them sleeping, he addresses Simon Peter in the secular, which is the weakness of his flesh. 1455s

Simon, could you not keep awake, and he is warning them, you will find him. 1464s

He will fall in the weakness of your flesh. 1472s

In John, the 21st chapter, let's go there. 1477s

John the 21st chapter, this is after Jesus had died. 1482s

This is after Jesus was resurrected. 1487s

This is after Peter jumps out of the boat naked and swims to Jesus on the shore. 1491s

So Peter has denied Christ at the crucifixion or when he is being beaten by the Roman soldiers. 1501s

He has denied Christ, and they had not had a chance to talk about that. 1511s

So John 21 in verse 15, when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of God, do you love me more than these? 1519s

And he asks him three times, and three times he addresses him as Simon. 1533s

Simon, do you love me? Simon, do you love me? 1541s

He is addressing the man who had denied him. 1547s

He is addressing the weakness of the flesh in who is to be the rock or the confession of the rock of the church. 1554s

This is when Christ restores Peter. 1566s

This is when he restores him into that relationship with him. 1572s

We know that Simon Peter repented, we know that he was sorry for the denial. 1579s

Remember when the cockrode and Peter made eye contact with Jesus, and he just hit him, and he realized and he wept bitterly because he had a contrite heart. 1588s

He was repenting of that, and so this is that time where Jesus is restoring him. 1604s

So, major marks of Peter's ministry. 1613s

In Acts 1 verses 12 through 26, Peter is really established. 1618s

His leadership amongst the apostles is established. 1626s

He is the one that kind of calls to order the apostles and says we need to replace Judas, who betrayed our Lord. 1631s

We need to replace him, and this is how we are going to do it. 1641s

This is where we see that leadership within and amongst the apostles coming forth. 1644s

In Acts 2 chapter 14 through 41, Peter delivers the first sermon on Pentecost. 1650s

The apostles are in the upper room, the Holy Spirit comes upon them with tongues of fire, and they all go out and they are preaching. 1660s

And people are saying you all are drunk, and no, no, no, no, no, we are not drunk. 1667s

And then Peter delivers this incredible first sermon filled with both the law and the gospel. 1672s

Could we all preach so eloquently? 1678s

He gives this sermon. 1682s

That's a major, major point of ministry. 1684s

In Acts, let's go to the book of Acts. 1688s

The third chapter, starting in verse 1, one day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer at three o'clock in the afternoon. 1691s

And a man lame from birth was being carried in. 1705s

People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the beautiful gate so that he could ask for alms for those entering the temple. 1708s

When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. 1715s

Peter looked intently at him as did John and said, look at us. 1721s

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 1727s

But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give to you. 1731s

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk. 1737s

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 1741s

And that then leads to another opportunity for Peter to preach a sermon. 1749s

And he gets to tell the people of their sin and of the salvation and the healing, the full, the real healing that we have in Jesus Christ. 1757s

In the fourth chapter of Acts, Peter addresses the counsel of the high priests and the Pharisees. 1770s

In Acts chapter 9, Peter heals an anionus and Dorcus. 1779s

So Dorcus is that woman that had died Tabitha. 1787s

Is her name Tabitha Dorcus? 1791s

I like Tabitha better personally. 1794s

No, he raises her to life so he restores life in her in Acts chapter 10 and 11. 1797s

So in chapter 10, Peter has the vision. 1806s

He's on the rooftop praying and he has the vision where God lifts the ceremonial law. 1808s

He says it's like a sheet that is laid out with all the animals, clean and unclean on it. 1818s

And God says all is clean. 1824s

I have made all all is clean. 1827s

This also then shows Peter that the word of the Lord is not only for the Jews, but it is for the Gentiles as well. 1829s

The Gentiles are no longer to be considered unclean. 1841s

Then we see this very thing taken to Cornelius. 1844s

And the whole household of Cornelius is baptized. 1850s

And they are, we refer to it as the second Pentecost or the Pentecost of the Gentiles. 1855s

This is where the household of Cornelius has the Holy Spirit come upon them. 1860s

And Peter says, if they've got the Holy Spirit, what's stopping us from baptizing them? 1864s

So that's a major, major point in ministry for him. 1868s

In Acts 12, Peter was imprisoned. 1873s

This is when James is martyred, which we'll talk about when we get to James. 1877s

But Peter was also imprisoned and then he was set free by the angel of the Lord in Acts 15th chapter. 1883s

This is when the Christian leaders meet. 1892s

They have counsel at Jerusalem and Peter addresses the counsel. 1896s

In 1 Corinthians, we have an understanding that Peter had influence at the church in Corinth because Paul is writing about Peter. 1903s

And his, so clearly the church in Corinth had familiarity with him. 1914s

First and second Peter, those are the letters, the epistles that Peter wrote to the churches. 1921s

He was instructing and encouraging God's people as they suffer for the sake of righteousness. 1928s

And he's warning them against false teachers. 1934s

Part of the rebuking and the correction that Simon received from Jesus brought him to a place of real maturity in his faith to where his confession of Christ as the Messiah, he could stand on that. 1939s

And he didn't fall into Simon so much. 1964s

He was Peter. 1969s

When he was restored, his position as an apostle was restored, he was Peter. 1972s

And he didn't back down. 1981s

And he died for it. 1984s

That sounded a little too chipper. 1985s

And he died for it. 1988s

That was better. 1989s

Okay. 1990s

So scripture tells us that Peter died as a martyr. 1991s

We have that in John, the 21st chapter, verses 18 and 19. 1994s

But it does not actually record Peter's death for us. 2000s

In John 21, Jesus says, this is what's going to happen to you. 2004s

And we see that he will die. 2010s

And I think that Peter, who died, church tradition, has Peter in Rome by the time of Neuros persecution of Christians and Peter's martyrdom taking place I've read in 64 and I've read in 68. 2013s

So somewhere around the 60s, Peter was martyred. 2026s

There are disagreements regarding where he was in the book of Acts after he, the angel, sets him free from the imprisonment. 2031s

And it says that he went to the people to the church that was praying for him. 2041s

And then it says, after he talked to them, it says he left for another place. 2045s

But we don't have in scripture where that other place was. 2050s

We have him next at the council in Jerusalem. 2056s

So the church has an argument was he in Babylon, was he in Rome. 2059s

And there are good arguments made for both. 2066s

The church on or as a whole is settled on Peter being crucified upside down. 2071s

Clement of Alexandria, he was a second century Greek intellectual and theologian. 2079s

He wrote to the Corinthians, let us pass from ancient examples and come unto those who have in the times Neuros to us. 2084s

Let us place before our eyes the good apostles, Peter, through unjust envy endured not one but two or two but many labors. 2096s

And at last having delivered his testimony departed unto the place of glory due to him. 2106s

So we see Clement as writing of his death. 2112s

Eusibius was a fourth century bishop in historian and he cited Clement of Alexandria's testimony of Peter's death. 2115s

And Clement said that Peter had to watch his wife die first. 2125s

And that when he was seeing his wife let out to die, he rejoiced because of her summons and her return home. 2135s

And he called to her very encouragingly and comforted comfortingly addressing her by name and saying remember the Lord. 2144s

And when it was his turn to die Peter asked to be crucified upside down because he wasn't worthy to die as his Lord had died. 2152s

Lots and lots with Peter. 2163s

We could study and study and study on Peter. 2166s

But we don't have time. 2170s

So Simon Peter, these are my final thoughts on Simon Peter. 2172s

He often learned the hard way but he was also hand picked by Christ himself to lead the leaders of his church. 2177s

So Peter, though very, very flawed, was chosen by Christ to be the leader of the leaders of his church. 2189s

And Simon Peter, I love that we can call him Simon Peter. 2200s

It's the name of the simultaneous saint and sinner that we all struggle with. 2204s

Right? That we all experience. 2212s

We are all the Simon Peter. 2214s

We are all the saint and sinner. 2217s

And so he struggled and his struggle was real but his passion and his love of the Lord was also very real. 2219s

And consider this. 2229s

For all of Peter's faults, he and one other disciple, which was probably John, were the only ones who followed Jesus to the high priest's house to see what would happen to him. 2231s

He was also the only one who was close enough to Jesus to look into Jesus' eyes when the rooster crowed. 2245s

So though he denied knowing Jesus, he was also the only apostle to be close enough in that horrible, horrible moment to look into the eyes of Christ. 2259s

That's Peter. 2276s

I have a plan for the rest of these but we're on break from adult education for a couple of weeks and we will celebrate our Lord's birth and the new year. 2280s

And then we'll come back to find out more about these incredible yet very ordinary men that Christ has chosen. 2293s

Thank you so much. 2301s

You 2312s