Apostle Peter
Simon thrice denied Jesus– The Apostle
Peter thrice avowed his love and devotion for the Christ. 69 Now Peter sat without in the
palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all,
saying, I know not what thou sayest.
(Matthew
26:69-70) 15 So when they
had dined, Jesus saith to
Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith
unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
(John 21:15) 71 And when he was gone out into the
porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of
Nazareth. 16 He saith to him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith
unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(John 21:16) 73 And after a while came unto him they
that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy
speech bewrayeth thee. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus,
which said unto him, Before
the cock crow, thou shalt deny
me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:73-75) 17 He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest
thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest
all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(John 21:17) You and I do not know why the Apostle Peter denied Jesus!
What we with a surety can know is that if he
would have been identified with certainty that horrible night, he would have
been at risk of being taken, flogged, and murdered, just like his Master was;
for this was a night when Lucifer and his millions of angels egged on the
people to destroy and kill the Messiah, and when that lynch-mentality had taken
over, no follower of Jesus could feel safe! The Apostle Peter was no coward. We know this by looking at the risks he took for the rest of his life in
preaching the gospel, and finally being executed in a most cruel manner; he was
not a man who would back away from trouble! But that night was neither the
right time nor place. We don’t know but if God placed fear in his heart just to safe-guard the future of the
Church! The Apostle Peter was the Senior Apostle, and as such he was the Head of the Church to-be, now when Jesus was being
crucified. Such is the apostolic succession of the true Church; the Senior
Apostle always becomes the new Head of the Church when the old Prophet dies. The Apostle Peter was not the rock upon
which the Church was to be built! This is a very
important understanding; even though Peter means ‘stone’, Jesus would not build
his Church upon a mortal man! If it were to be built on any man at all – it
would be Jesus Christ, wouldn’t you agree! The rock of Jesus! In
the following passage we see the mystery open up; The people had
many ideas on who Jesus might be. But the Apostles said that he was the Christ,
the Son of God. How could they know that? Through
revelation! Jesus gave a
promise to the Apostle Peter, that if he, the leader of the Church, were to
seek wisdom from God in other matters, he would, by revelation, know the
answers from God through revelation, and so the gates of hell would not prevail
against the Church. So, the rock of the Church is Jesus – who will reveal
himself and his truths through revelation!
The Apostle Peter was not the rock
Jesus talked about! 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the
Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias,
or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter was given the keys of the kingdom. Whatever he bound, sealed, loosed, blessed or cursed on earth would have binding
force in heaven. He also had the power to convey these keys of the kingdom to
new apostles, so as to maintain twelve in that quorum. But, unfortunately, the
Apostles were killed of quite rapidly, and it is quite clear that those who
claim authority by receiving the keys of the kingdom from Peter,
never received any revelations from our Lord. How else can we explain that
after the death of the Apostles the doctrines of the post-apostolic church, as they
were set forth by councils, popes and clergymen have lost much contact with the
actual words of Jesus! And this must be a great concern, when churches which claims divine rights pervert the words of God
made flesh. The words of the churches of today are so often contradicting the wonderful
and beautifully simple teachings of
Jesus and the Apostles. Good thing, then, that we have so many of their words
in the Holy Bible! Learn about the
great Apostasy!
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