Peter The Rock

 



I was driving to work this morning listening to Reformation Network, they have been running a series from RJ Sprouls about the Holiness of God.

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Ligonier Ministries

 Dr. Sprouls was talking about

Luke 5
1And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

and these verses, as he read them, made me think of something.
This could almost be a foreshadowing of these verses:

Mathew: 16:13-20
 13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19And 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. 20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ

And finally these:
Acts 2:14, 37-44

  14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.

 

37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren *, what shall we do?"

38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."

40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"

41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

44 And all those who had believed were together * * and had all things in common; 

 

Peter was the "rock on which I will build my church" (yes, I know we all know this already) but the catching of all those fish, after they had fished all night and caught nothing, once Jesus got involved they caught so many they almost sunk the boats. That, to me, is a foretelling of Peter's ministry. 

 

Paul was the greatest Apostle for the Greeks, or Gentiles, but even that started with Peter. If Peter had not been preaching and teaching through out the cities, Paul would have never been persecuting, and may or may not have been on that road to Damascus where he was called to serve the Lord.

 

There were other disciples, and all had their duties, but the bible sets Peter apart, as the starter, or leader, the beginning of the new life in Christ. The rock on which all churches were built. No matter the denomination it all started with Peter, and boats full of fish.

Catching all those fish that day is a foretelling of all the souls that have been "caught" since Peter took that stand. 

Before Jesus sent his Helper, they were hunkered (yes, I said it) down in a room, afraid of persecution, afraid that it was over, not knowing anything to do but to pray. 

When Jesus got involved, the nets began to fill up, Peter, The Rock, made his stand, and set events into motion that have filled nets for thousands of years since. 

 

I'm sure I am not the only one who has made this comparison, and I am sure if I looked online I would find plenty of blogs about it. But I have more fun working out my own research and thoughts in my head. And you get to shake your head and go "duh! You're a little behind the times."

 

Just another thought: something to make you go hmmmm....

If Peter is the Rock, doesn't that mean when we are caught between a rock and hard place, we should follow that Rock's example? Pray and ask the Father for guidance? 

(just another one of those thoughts that always pop into my head.) make sense or not, there it is.  

 

I'm fairly new to all of it so when the Spirit laid it on my heart to make the comparison, I did. 

And you get stuck with my learning process.

So there ya go.  

It was just an aha moment I had to share.

Father, I pray you bless this reader today, let Your Spirit move on them and bless all that their hands will do in Your name. 

Amen