Good morning.
It is a dangerous thing to tell someone, when it speaks, to take all the time they need. But I think all of us who have spoken have, at one time or another, thought about that miracle in the Old Testament when the sun stood still—and wished that the clock would stand still.
Could we turn to the Word of God and look into what the Lord might have for us today? In Matthew 4, we will begin at Matthew 4:18 and read through verse 22.
And walking by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers.
And He saith unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left the nets, and followed Him.
And going on from thence He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
And they straightway left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
Now turn with me to Matthew 16, a story I think you are familiar with, but one I want to read. We will begin at Matthew 16:13.
Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that the Son of man is?
And they said, Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Who is in heaven.
And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Then He charged the disciples that they should tell no man that He was the Christ.
From that time Jesus began to show unto His disciples that He must go unto Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and the third day be raised up.
Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God be favorable to Thee, Lord. This shall never be unto Thee.”
But He turned and said unto Peter, “Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto Me; for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.”
Then Jesus said unto His disciples:
If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.
For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?
There are two things Paul had to say. Turn with me again to a familiar portion in Romans 8. We will look at Romans 8:28-29.
And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Finally, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 3:18.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
Let us pray.
Lord, once again, as we open Your Word, we come to You and say again, as Peter himself said, “Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Those are the words we want. Those are the words we seek: Your words.
Lord, we ask You to be with us today as we consider Your Word. May that which Your Spirit has to say to the churches be spoken today. We look to no man; we look to You, the One Who has that word that can affect change, that word that can bring life, that word that can conform us to the image of our precious Lord Jesus.
You alone have those words. Speak, speak, Lord. Your servant hears. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I think many of you know that about four weeks ago—maybe it was five; my memory says it was five—I began to share on Peter’s life. What I said was that we needed not merely to see the historical Peter. I did not say the hysterical Peter—the historical Peter.
We need to look more deeply, because I believe we can learn something from Peter. But what we need to learn are the lessons from his life. How do those lessons apply to us? How can God use what He did in the life of this great apostle and bring it into our lives, so that these become living lessons?
That is what we have titled this series: Lessons from the Life of Peter.
To help you remember—and to help me remember—there are three things I thought we should consider:
I believe, if the Lord would help us see these three things, that we are called. Not only are we called, but our calling is for a purpose: that we may be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus. All of His dealings, all of His workings, and the whole span of this life are for that one singular purpose: being conformed.
Then, in the end, I believe it is God’s will that we be prisoners of the Lord Jesus—that He would so capture the heart that we could say, like Peter in John 6, when all those disciples left offended and the Lord turned and said, “Will ye also go away?”
Do you remember Peter’s words? Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”
So this is where the burden originated: called, conformed, and captured.
I believe, in the end, we are to be possessed for the Lord. I believe the Lord wants to so arrest us, so apprehend us, in spirit and in life, that we become the possessions of the Lord.
You may think that is mystical. I do not think it is mystical at all. The Lord wants to so take hold of us that we are His possessions. I believe that is what Peter meant when he wrote his letter and explained what the church was.
In 1 Peter 2:9, he said:
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.
That is what he saw.
Let me briefly refresh your memory concerning what we touched on last time. We dealt with the issue of being called in part one.
We are called to a Person. I think some people look at calling the wrong way. They believe that calling has to do with some special work or some special place. That can be part of calling. You may be called to a special work, and you may be called to a special place.
But when we see Peter’s calling at the outset, it says simply, “Come after Me,” or, as it says in the Authorized Version, “Come, follow Me.” First and foremost, our calling is to a Person.
It says in 1 Corinthians 1:9:
God is faithful, through Whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
That is calling: called to a Person.
The second thing we discussed was this: there is a beautiful promise. We are called with a promise. When you read the story in Matthew 4, it says, “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Is that not beautiful?
From the beginning, this Christian life is not about our effort. It is not about making ourselves into something. The promise starts at the very beginning: if we come unto Him, He will begin to make us.
To me, that is the whole story of Peter’s life. It is the making process. It is the making of the man of God. It is all the dealings he went through, all the trials he went through, all for one purpose: to make the man of God.
Then we looked at this third point: we are called according to purpose. You see that clearly in Romans 8: we are called according to purpose.
And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to His purpose.
This purpose is bigger than you. If you see yourself as the whole of the purpose—if everything revolves around you, your ministry, your understanding, your learning, what God is doing in your life, and what God is showing you—you have missed the purpose of God.
If you notice, from the beginning the purpose of God was corporate. He called Peter, He called Andrew, He called James, and He called John. He did not just call Peter. All of them together were called into the purpose of God.
I believe we have some understanding of this corporate call, because in the end, this is what the church is. We are the called-out ones gathered together. That is what the church means.
If someone ever asks you, “What is the church?” it is simple. Do not make it so difficult. The church is the called-out ones—not one, but ones—the ones called together and gathered together.
If some people try to say it is not important to gather together, tell them they do not understand what the church is. Hebrews 10 says:
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is.
How can we be the church if we do not gather?
“Oh, you do not need to gather.” Brothers and sisters, that is a wrong understanding of the church.
This is where we have been. Today, we would like to begin with the second point: conformed.
Now, I do not know about you, but when you read the stories of Peter in the Gospels, do you get the impression that he was sort of singled out? I used to read those stories and say, “Peter, Peter—it always seems Peter is being picked on.”
You can get cynical. Peter always seems to be the first to speak, always corrected, always dealt with. I wondered about this. I said, “Lord, why is Peter always the one first to speak, the most prominent one? Why is he the one who always has the first word, always says what he will do?”
I believe God, in His mercy, uses this man to show us how He deals with the man of God in order to conform him to the image of the Lord Jesus.
There are many dealings in our lives. If we do not allow the Lord to deal with us, we will never be conformed to His image. And if we do not allow the Lord to deal with us, we will never be effectively used in His purpose.
This is what Peter’s life is. This is the lesson we can gain from Peter’s life: all of these many dealings, from the first to the last, are for the making of the man of God—to mold him and conform him to the image of the Lord Jesus, so that in the end he would be a useful vessel.
I do not know if that speaks to you, but to me it was the explanation. To me it was the whole story. When the Lord called Peter at first and said to Peter and those other three, “I will make you fishers of men,” this is what He meant.
“Peter, there are many things you are going to go through, all with one purpose: to conform you to the image of the Lord Jesus.”
Look again at Romans 8:28-29. I think you know that verse by heart.
And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Those who are called according to purpose—this is what we see in Peter’s life. This is what we dealt with five weeks ago. But there is an enormous word that we might not pay much attention to. It is the word because.
I do not know if that is one of those words you just read over and do not pay much attention to. It may not seem to carry much weight, but I capitalized it because I think it gives the explanation of all that is done in the calling of the man of God.
Because.
What is the reason? Why were you called? Because.
It is not merely a joining word; it is the explanation. Read on:
For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
God is after an outcome. The end is not calling. Sometimes all we talk about is calling. But the end is conformity to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
This is the purpose of God.
Now, the word conformed does not occur as many times as you might think. As a matter of fact, in the Authorized Version—the King James Version; I know some of you do not think I read the King James Version—that word occurs only twice, and never in the Old Testament.
Let us consider that. The word occurs only twice.
The first occurrence is Romans 8:29: “conformed to the image of His Son.”
The second occurrence, in the Authorized Version, is Romans 12:2. Turn there with me.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
These are the only two places in the Authorized Version where that word conformed occurs. To me, that speaks volumes, because when it gets down to it, there are only two choices.
You may think this world is full of choices. Let me share a pet peeve with you: I do not like restaurants with long menus. They just confuse me. These menus have page after page after page. I keep flipping back and forth: “Maybe I want this. Maybe I want that.”
You would not think a fifty-three-year-old man could act this way, but I finally say, “Linda, what should I get?” She knows it is true. She always tells me to get what she wants so she can sample both. Little family secret.
Too many choices.
But when it gets down to the Word of God, there are only two choices. Are we going to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus, or are we going to be conformed to this world?
There are only two choices. In the end, the question will be asked: Were you conformed to the Lord Jesus, or were you conformed to the image of this world?
That speaks volumes to me.
There are actually two different Greek words. I will probably scare Alan to death with my Greek. Alan, was I your worst Greek student ever? He says that is true of all the guys. If he had graded, it would have lowered my GPA.
But it is interesting that these are not the same words, and there is a message in that.
In Romans 8:29, the word is summorphos. I hope you can see the word morph in that. We are morphed, if you would like that explanation, into the image of the Lord Jesus.
You have seen computer animations where they take something entirely different—totally different in appearance—and gradually morph it until it is changed and becomes something else. That is what the Lord is doing in this life.
This word stresses inward conformity and describes essence and character. It is complete and durable, not merely an outward form.
But when you look at the second occurrence in Romans 12:2, it is a different word. It speaks of fashion, of an outward shape. It is something shallow, transitory, passing, unstable, and changeable. It will not endure.
Brothers and sisters, these are the two choices in the Word of God. This is what He is doing in our lives, and this is what He did in Peter’s life: he was to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus and not conformed to this world.
What choice do we make? I believe that is the question, and I believe that is the reason we have been left here.
Will all the dealings in your life result in gold? Will the things the Lord allows in your life, and does with you, result in a permanent and abiding change?
This is the question. May the Lord help us to see. I believe this is the lesson from Peter’s life.
There are three things I want to touch on today. Now listen, let me qualify something. Some of you may think I am speaking right at you, that I had you in mind when I prepared this message. But I can assure you, more than you, I had me in mind.
This is not pointed, but if the Lord points it, so be it. I do not think we can hear the Word of God without the Lord speaking to us. If we can, there is something wrong.
First of all, the first thing the Lord uses to conform us to His image is correction. You may not like that word, but it is evident in the life of Peter that the main thing the Lord seems to use is correction.
Have you ever wondered why Peter was corrected so many times? Have you ever wondered why Peter would speak something and the Lord would take issue with it? It is through correction that we are conformed.
Let me put it another way: unless we are willing to be corrected by God, we will never be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus.
I think of many stories. We could spend all morning talking about stories, but we do not have the time. Think of Matthew 16. We have already read it. What a great revelation Peter had—so great that the Lord said to him:
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father Who is in heaven.
Such a great revelation. But do you know what follows? It says that Peter took the Lord aside. I cannot imagine it. Peter took the Lord to himself. Can you picture that? He grabbed hold of the Lord because the Lord had begun to say that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, die, and rise again.
Peter came to the Lord, grabbed Him, and said, “God be favorable to Thee. Do not let this happen to Thee.”
He was convinced that he knew what God had to say.
But the Lord Himself said to Peter, “Get thee behind Me, Satan.”
I have said this before: I have been called numerous things in my short life—many of them accurate, by the way, and many of them well deserved—but I do not think I have ever been called Satan. Maybe you have, and you are just too kind to tell me.
“Get thee behind Me, Satan.”
What height of revelation. What depth of humiliation. What was the purpose? To conform him to the image of the Lord Jesus.
Oh, how the Lord has to correct us. If we are willing, He will correct us. There are many things in us that need adjustment, many things in us that need correction. Our Lord will correct us in His love.
Think of another example. The next chapter, by the way—Peter could not last one chapter. In Matthew 17, at the Mount of Transfiguration, the Lord was transformed in glory. It says He was bright as the light.
I do not know if you can imagine that: bright as light. In my home, sometimes we put in cool-light bulbs. You ever do that? They are not “cool” like the kids say, “That’s cool.” But the cool light is a warmer light. It is not so bright or stark.
But this was bright as light.
At that moment Moses appeared to Him, and Elijah appeared to Him. As they were conversing, Peter had an idea. Peter had a better idea.
Peter spoke right up. Notice, the three were there—the inner circle. John was there. James was there. Peter was there. But Peter was the one who spoke up and said, “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”
“This is a good thing,” as Martha Stewart says.
“Let us build three tabernacles: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” I am sure he meant the bigger one for the Lord.
And a strange thing happened—the strangest thing in the universe: God spoke.
It even says, “While he was yet speaking.” God did not even let him finish his idea. I am sure he had embellishments to his idea.
“Go ahead, Peter. Just share. We will think about that. We will consider it at the next brothers’ meeting.”
But while he was yet speaking, God rent the heavens with His voice and said:
This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.
And they fell down and worshiped.
Correction.
I do not know about you, but that is two for two by the two big guys. Think about that. The Lord Jesus said, “Get thee behind Me, Satan.” God the Father said, in effect, “Peter, just be quiet. You are missing the point.”
If we allow God to correct us, He will mold us to His image. The sad thing is that many of us do not allow Him to correct us. May the Lord be merciful.
There are so many stories. Think of the Garden of Gethsemane, when these three of the inner circle went with the Lord to pray. That was the garden of His agony. How deep was the suffering in that agony? The Lord Jesus, it says in the Word of God, was sorrowful, even unto death.
He asked them, “You all wait here while I go over there and pray.” And when He came back to these three—His own—you know the story: they were asleep. They had failed in their calling.
The Lord said, “Sleep on. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
How the Lord corrects.
It is interesting. It says the three were there, but it says, “He said unto Peter.” God was doing a work in this man. I am sure Peter looked at John and James and thought, “What about them?”
Do not look at others when God is dealing with you. When the Lord has you in His school of correction, look at the Lord. That is what Peter did. That is how he became so useful: conformed by correction.
Think of the other story, also in the garden. Peter could not get out of the garden without being corrected again.
All three Synoptic Gospels say that when the crowd came with Judas, one of them had a sword, took the sword, and cut off the servant of the high priest’s ear.
But John is not so kind. John 18:10 says:
Simon Peter therefore having a sword stretched out his hand, and smote the high priest’s servant, and struck off his right ear. Now the servant’s name was Malchus.
Once again, Peter. And the Lord said, “Peter, put your sword away. He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.”
This was probably a record for Peter: twice in one place he was corrected.
I believe the Lord loved Peter so much that He was not willing to let him go. The Lord loved Peter so much that He corrected him twice in the garden of His agony.
Unless we are willing to be dealt with by the Lord, we will never be conformed to His image. Turn with me to Hebrews 12. I think these are verses you know. I will begin at Hebrews 12:5.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons,
My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord,
Nor faint when thou art reproved of Him;
For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,
And scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.
It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not?
But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them; but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.
All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness.
Are we able to receive the chastening of the Lord? If you cannot, you will never become a son.
I grew up in the day when they believed in chastening. I will never forget—some people are not here, and I am glad, because I would not want them to know this—but when I was young, I was not the best kid in the world.
Once in a while, I would skip school. I do not think any of you probably did that. But I thought I was brilliant. I would take my books, go with the kids to the bus stop, disappear from the bus stop, skip school, and then show up at three o’clock with the kids and walk home carrying my books.
The only thing I did not know was that they had instituted a new policy: if you are not there, call home. That was my undoing.
There is a story about Peter and the temple tax. They asked Peter, “Does your Master pay the didrachma?” Immediately Peter said, “Yes.” Peter was never shy about speaking up.
Then there is a beautiful word in the following verse. It says, “The Lord anticipated him.”
That was not biblical in my case, but my father anticipated me. He got the call telling him that his little boy—his baby boy—was not at school. And he anticipated me.
I will never forget that. I thought he was going to kill me. I do not think I skipped school again.
Do you receive discipline?
I read a story once. A father said to his son, “Son, the reason I discipline you so much is that I love you so much.” The little boy said, “Oh, I sure wish you did not love me so much.”
I hear people say that you cannot discipline the way people once did; if you discipline anybody, suddenly it is child abuse. Boy, my dad would have been locked up for the long haul. When he said, “Come here, boy,” we knew what was going to happen. He had a big leather belt, I am telling you.
Some people say today it is only time-out. “You go over there and take a time-out.” I would pray for time-out.
I heard there is a new way to discipline with hot sauce. They call it saucing. Any of you parents into saucing?
But I think the Lord disciplines us because He loves us. He only disciplines those He loves.
Are you disciplined? Has the Lord ever corrected you? That means He loves you. You better worry if the Lord never disciplines you. There is no love.
This is what Hebrews 12 is about, and this is what Peter’s life stands for. Peter was corrected by the Lord Jesus a number of times. He was corrected by God the Father.
You may say, “Well, I will receive correction from the Lord.” But there is an interesting story in Galatians 2, where Paul says, “I withstood Peter to the face, because he was in error regarding the gospel.”
Think about Acts 10 through 15. Peter was used to open the door—the keys of the kingdom of heaven—both to Jews and Gentiles. In Acts 10, at the house of Cornelius, the door of the gospel was opened to the Gentiles. God made no difference between Jew and Gentile. We are all one in Christ. What a glorious day.
But although Peter was used to open the door, when some men came from James in Jerusalem, he drew back. He would not eat with the Gentiles. And this new upstart, if you will—the apostle Paul—rebuked him to the face, and it says in Galatians 2, before all.
I do not know if I would have done that to Peter. Most of the New Testament, when it speaks about a man in the Gospels, is about Peter. And here is this young man, Paul, only five chapters old, opposed to this great man Peter, saying, “You were wrong.”
I would think everyone held their breath. The air went out of the room. “That is Peter. He is speaking to Peter. He did not even walk with the Lord Jesus.”
Maybe lightning bolts. Maybe thunder.
But the story is that Peter received that correction, even from this brother. Later, when Peter wrote his letter, there is no hint of bitterness:
Our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood.
Let me ask you this, because I believe I know the answer: is it not harder to receive correction from a brother or sister than it is from the Lord Himself?
It is pretty hard—especially when you think, “Well, that brother is not at the level I am at,” whatever level that is. Maybe you think you are a level-four disciple and they are a level-two disciple.
I wonder, are we able? We are conformed by correction.
Proverbs 27:6 says:
Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
But the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
May the Lord help us to be able to receive. Second Timothy says that the Word of God is for conviction, which means reproof. It is for correction, so that the man of God may be complete in every way. It is for the making of the man of God.
So this is the first thing that comes to me about Peter: we are conformed by correction.
Nobody likes being corrected. One thing I hate about my job is employee reviews. I hate them. I told the people who came into our company for peer review, “I hate these things.”
Nobody likes being corrected. They say, “Well, it is constructive criticism.” Ask somebody the next time they are criticized whether they thought it was constructive or not.
But the Lord, in His love for us, corrects us so that He might conform us to His image. That is the lesson of Peter’s dealings.
Let us press on. There is a second thing. You will notice in Matthew 16 that we are conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus through the cross. Without the cross, you cannot be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus.
It is interesting in Matthew 16, where Peter has that exalted revelation and then immediately receives that humiliating rebuke, that the Lord begins to talk to His disciples about the cross.
If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
He that would save his life shall lose it; and he that shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.
I think everybody is freezing. There are people zipping up and putting on coats. Hold on—not everybody. We are in the hot zone, are we not, sister? I am right there with you in the hot zone.
The Lord cannot conform you unless you take up your cross.
I believe most Christians look at the cross and think of the historical cross, where the vicarious work of the Lord Jesus paid our debt and paid for our sins. We should think of that. It was a work only He could do, and it was done once for all.
Some people who have more light understand the inclusive work of the cross in Romans 6: that they have been included in the death of the Lord Jesus, and that this is the path to victory. It is the inclusive death, where the whole race of Adam was collected and died in the Lord Jesus, and then was raised as a new man.
Everyone in Christ is a new creation. That is the inclusive work.
But there is another work of the cross that I do not think we talk much about. Any time you talk about it, some people think you are being heavy or negative. But the Lord Jesus talked about it.
He said, “He who will follow Me must take up his cross and deny self.”
Do we know anything about the cross?
I do not believe it was any accident that the Lord presented this to Peter after his revelation. I think it is similar with the apostle Paul. You remember, he had revelations up to the third heaven. I wonder what that means. I cannot wait to be with the apostle Paul and ask him, “What was that like?” Of course, then I suppose I will know.
But because of the exceeding greatness of his revelations, he was given a thorn in the flesh. It was a cross.
Without the cross, there can be no conforming.
Let me make a distinction here. You can receive the gift of eternal life simply by believing in the Lord Jesus—no other requirement. This is where people muddy the water between the saving work and the sanctifying work. They get them mixed up and come to strange conclusions.
You can receive the gift of eternal life, the free grace of God, simply by believing in the Lord Jesus. Let me put it in elementary terms: all a believer needs to do is believe. That is it.
But it is different for a disciple. When the Lord spoke in Matthew 10, He said to His disciples:
He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he that doth not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me.
If you love father, mother, brother, sister, or yourself more than the Lord, you are not worthy to be His disciple. I do not know about you, but I have always thought those were pretty harsh words.
But the cross has to cut across your natural affections. There are some people—I know I am going to step on toes here. I know this is when people are going to come to me and say, “Brother, this is the issue I have with you.”
Family is not first.
God forbid he said that in the church. The Lord is first.
You know how I feel about family. Do not panic. But some people are packing up their Bibles and putting on their coats. Lock the door, brother. Do not let anybody leave. They are walking out already.
But the Lord said that he who loves father, mother, sister, wife, or himself more than Him cannot be His disciple. He who takes up his cross daily and follows Him—he who loses his life—shall find it. But he who keeps his life will lose it.
We are conformed by the cross.
I hope this is making sense. Sometimes people think the message of the cross is negative. It is anything but negative, because at the end of the cross is resurrection.
If you are not willing, as a Christian, to bear the cross, you will never be a disciple. I did not say anything about salvation. But for those willing to go on and take up their cross, they will be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus.
Paul knew this secret. In Philippians 3:10, he said:
That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.
Paul spoke of the last days and said that men would be lovers of self. If there is any phrase that summarizes the age, it is, “Be good to yourself”—lovers of self.
Another pet peeve: people take the verse about loving your neighbor as yourself and say, “You have to love yourself first before you can love others.” They bring it around to say that the reason we cannot love others is that we do not love ourselves.
But if you read that verse carefully, love of self is assumed; it is not encouraged.
People can either love themselves highly, and all they ever have is an “I” problem. I do not mean an ophthalmology problem. They are always saying, “I this, I that, my this, my that.”
It is my problem. You need surgery.
Or they may have a low opinion of themselves and still have an “I” problem—just at the other end of the scale. “Woe is me. I am just so nothing. You always, you never.” That is the fragrance of death—the stench of death.
Do you understand the difference? We are not to be highly exalted. The cross deals with self, whether it is exalted self or low self. Self just has to go.
This is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20:
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.
This is what John the Baptist meant when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Unless we are willing to take the cross, we will never be conformed.
Spurgeon said, “There are no crown-wearers in heaven that were not cross-bearers here.”
Let me ask you: is there any scar? Paul said, “I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus.” I do not mean literal scars, but there should be some work done in you where the Lord has brought you to the end of yourself, where it is no longer just about you.
This is what we are called to.
I love that poem by Amy Carmichael:
Hast thou no scar?
Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?Hast thou no scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can He have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?
It was once a devout man who prayed to the Lord Jesus, “Give me Your scar.” The Lord Jesus spoke to him and said, “There is a scar that no one sees. It is on the shoulder. It comes from bearing the cross.”
If you have that scar, you will be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus.
Now let me finish. If I have worn you out, I apologize. I hope this is meaningful to you. I believe, to me, this is what Peter’s life is about.
Finally, we are conformed by change. Unless a change takes place, you will never be conformed.
This is the time of year when everybody thinks about change. Everybody has their resolutions. I even have my resolutions.
Yesterday, one of my vices—do not tell Linda—is Seven-Eleven coffee. I went to get coffee, and the guy who knows me said, “You want a donut?”
He knows me. I love those Seven-Eleven donuts. I usually get two because, you know, in the mouth of two witnesses is scriptural. But do not tell Linda.
He said, “You want a donut?” And I said, “No, I cannot do it. It is New Year’s.”
He said, “Oh, I have a New Year’s resolution. I resolve to eat all I want, gain ten pounds, never exercise, and pay my club membership.”
I thought, now that is a resolution I could live by.
But is there any change?
The Word of God speaks about those who are transformed. It literally means metamorphosis. They are transformed. That word is translated in the King James Version as “changed.”
We are conformed by change. Brothers and sisters, the only way that change happens is when our eyes are opened and we behold the glory of the Lord.
Look again at 2 Corinthians 3:18:
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, this is what the work of God does. The Lord Jesus is unveiled to us in moments when we see His glory. In those moments, more is done than even in correction or in the cross. When we see the Lord, we are transformed from glory to glory.
The perfect illustration is Job. Job went through all those chapters. You know the story: all those dealings, all those crises. I never say, “I suffer like Job.” Who could say such a thing? No man has suffered like that.
But after all those dealings, Job came to the end and said:
I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear;
But now mine eye seeth Thee.
That is how we are transformed.
I believe there were times in Peter’s walk when he saw the glory of the Lord. In Luke 5, they had been fishing and caught no fish. Then the Lord came into the boat and said, “Put the net down over here.”
The draught of fishes was so great that the nets broke. Peter called Andrew and James, and they brought out two boats—two boats are better than one—and filled both boats to overflowing.
Something happened in that moment. Peter’s eyes were opened, and he saw the glory of God. He fell down at the Lord’s knees and said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Have you seen Jesus?
Do you remember when Peter was at the fire, and the little maid said, “You are one of them”? “Oh, I am not one of them.” Then he looked and saw the Lord Jesus.
One of the Gospels says, “The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.” Just that moment. He was transformed.
I believe that did something in his heart, more than much of what he went through and did not do.
This is what Peter’s life is about. Philippians 3:20-21 says that even our body will be conformed to His body of glory.
I do not know about you, but I am looking forward to that. You may have the perfect body—do not get me wrong—but I do not have the perfect body. I know that already. You do not have to come up and tell me.
But one day even our body will be transformed into His body of glory when we see Him. This is transformation.
Turn to 1 John 3:1-3. I will close with this thought.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him even as He is.
And every one that hath this hope set on Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.
See what love the Father has given to us—that we should be called the children of God. Lenny began today with the love of God that we cannot understand.
This is the story of Peter: transformed.
Not only was he conformed through correction, not only was he conformed through the cross, but the Lord appeared to him.
I do not know what happened when the Lord went back to Peter after His resurrection. I do not know what happened. But I can imagine those moments when the Lord went to the one He loved and rescued him. Peter was transformed.
Peter had a name: Simon. You all know the story. His name means shifting sand. And he was transformed to Peter—the rock.
These are the things I think Peter’s life represents. Peter was called, but not merely called. Those who are called according to purpose are called because they are to be conformed to the image of His Son.
And in the end, through many unveilings, they will be transformed and be like Him. That is our hope.
Well, I hope this is clear. I do not know if I have worn you out or encouraged you, but to me, this summarizes Peter’s life.
May the Lord grant us to see. May we be willing to receive correction from our Lord and from one another.
May we be those whom the Lord can use through everything we go through in this life, everything He allows, and everything He does, to conform us to His image.
And may the end of our life be like Peter’s: “Lord, to whom shall we go?” We are caught.
Lord, we commit to You this burden. Oh God, only the Holy Spirit can illumine and teach us anything of the Lord Jesus.
We ask that You would open what we cannot say, that the Holy Spirit would light upon it, enlarge Your Word, open Your Word, and manifest to us what the Spirit says to the church.
We want to be those who can be corrected. Deal with us in this life. Do not let us escape. Do not let us go.
Conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus. Lord, make us those who are willing to take up our cross and follow You.
And above all, open our eyes to see Jesus in all of His glory. Then we shall be like Him.
We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.