"Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all the were so many, yet was not the net broken." (John 21:11 KJV)
"No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39 NLT)
Yesterday I listened to a brief message from Pastor Jack, about Peter and the reason that he asked to be crucified upside down, as to not try and be associated with the way Christ was crucified. The way that Jack put it, Peter was ashamed because he did not represent Christ as well as he could; based upon that which had happened in Rome, after Paul was beheaded.
If you know that story, then you know that the emperor had lost mind, and set out to destroy all the Christians, lighting them on fire, feeding them to lions; doing whatever he could to take out the ones which had made him feel, shall we say, less than worthy. The point Jack made in this, is that Peter was there at that time, but remained in hiding.
I shared on this quite a long time ago; and I don't even know why or when it was; but my belief is that Peter went there is bring Paul's body back to Jerusalem, to have a proper burial. Many people, especially the Catholic church, believe that Peter was the one that started the church in Rome; but the truth is, Paul was the one that started the church in Rome, having ministered to them for several years, before and after actually going to Rome to be put on trial.
Without making a big deal about this, it was much like the night when Peter denied knowing Jesus; three times he denied Him, each time, with a little more passion and aggression. As a leader in the church, he should have used whatever authority that he had, to at least represent the church; but, as Jack explained it, he stayed out of sight and tried not to be seen as a Christian.
John is showing us something about Peter that some might not know, that Peter was not weak or frail, but he could take on the task of six men, and then some! The other six pulled the net in the water, up to the shore; Peter pulled the net filled with 153 fish, from the shore to the campsite! That had to be some sort of demonstration of how strong he really was.
Last night I was watching Shemane Nugent's show, Faith & Freedom, and she had a Pastor of a church, "Tip of the Spear Church." The point I received from his message was that the church needs to be bold and loud, not squeamish and timid. If we have the mighty power of Christ, we are not called to be silent and hiding in the shadows!
Yes, the world all around us is a mess and getting worse and worse, as the day approaches; but we are the Light that needs to shine in the darkness; it is Christ in us that gives us the strength and the bold authority to spread the Good News of the Gospel, even though it is not legal in some parts of the world, portions of the United States included!
It's only going to get worse, no matter who the President is, the system has been lost to the enemy, and he isn't going to freely give it back. By the way, Pastor Bryan's message yesterday was awesome! He had shown the connection between Jeremiah 32:14 and Revelation 5:9-10; how God was going to take back the deed of this earth, and give it back to man, through Christ Jesus, the One that bought it back by His death on the cross!
Therefore, by His death, which was the greatest form of weakness, He not only died for our sins, but He redeemed and took back the fallen earth, as well! Mighty and Powerful is our KING...
"Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, "Stop Weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir of David's throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals." Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God's people. And they sang a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth."" (Revelation 5:4-10 NLT)
No comments:
Post a Comment