Peter’s Story Beyond A Comeback

Donald E Coleman 0:21

All right, welcome back. We are picking up where we left off with Peter. We're gonna talk about the second movement, like movement number two is what I want to call this. But in reality, I thought about this since the last episode. I never really looked at Peter, his story, as a comeback story, right? Because we we read it, we see how Peter denied, and we see how the Lord restored him, but then we don't really connect, at least I haven't, connected truly, the letters he wrote and how his love and understanding of missing the mark or or letting Jesus down and then being restored, and how he lived from that. So I want to continue on here, and we're gonna be kind of staying in First Peter for most of this, and I'm gonna move around in here, but moment two. I'm gonna call this First Peter Agapow in the crucible, right? Because we see in First Peter, Peter is writing, so he writes his first letter to believers, right, whom he calls the exiles scattered, right? And they're scattered throughout the Roman providences. So they're they're in not a good situation, right? So these communities are under social pressure, they're facing hostility, and they've been displaced. So they're living the way of the cross without having walked with Jesus. So they're living like we are. They have the these group, this group of people that Peter is writing to, they didn't physically walk with Jesus. But here's the beautiful thing, Peter did. Most of them writing, people writing with it, writing in the Gospels, walked with Jesus, sat with Jesus, talked with Jesus. So I want you to think about that as you are reading their letters and reading what they are saying and how that impacts the authority and the power from which they are speaking. Because within this context, Peter speaks to this group of people, to these people scattered, not with an abstract theology. He didn't speak to them like with something that was hard to understand, but he spoke with the language of a man who had been in the crucible himself. He understood this. And his letters, he's writing from a heart position. So I'm going to start out in First Peter eight.

A Living Hope That Holds

Donald E Coleman 4:13

Right? So when you when you read verse, let's start with verse three, right? It says, praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope. Are you listening to this? Into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. You're talking about a man now who's living from being restored. And think about the power of his words. Like and he says, you know, a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And they didn't stop there. He said, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil a fate. And right in verse five says it this way, and let me keep going. And it says, and he says, This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is already, that is ready to be revealed in the last times. Now, think about when Peter wrote this. So we're talking about approximately about thirty or so years after Jesus. But in he's saying here, revealed in the last time, are we not closer to the revealing of this? So this letter feels like it's even more urgent for us to understand this. And I want you to remember that everything we're talking about here is about a gap pow. God's agape formed and shaped inside of the beloved, and then now flowing out as a gap pow to others. And you can hear this in his words. And verse six says it this way. Verse six says, says it very, very beautifully. He said, In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Now, think about this. Suffer grief in all kinds of trials. Now, I want you to think about how Peter felt after the rooster crowed three times. How he can pull from that emotion and that understanding to encourage someone else that's in a situation or circumstance that's far beyond anything that they could ever ask, think, or imagine. They never considered this, they never understood it, but now he's imparting in him authentic words that have life in them because he went through that same crucible. Now, verse seven says it this way: he says, These have come. Now, wait a minute, hold on. What is these? Suffer, grief, and all kinds of trials. So look how he's saying that the situations or circumstances that you find yourself in, you're there for a reason. And God knows what that reason is because he's with you in the reason, and I understand it because I was in the same situation when I walked with Jesus, and he came to restore me, and in the same way, he will restore you, because you have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Now, watch this now. Now, let me go back to seven. He said, These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. I just want you to get that. So I want you to understand, crucible, everything that we go through in this life has a purpose, and Peter reveals what that purpose is, that it may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. At the end of the day, our lives are to be for the praise, glory, and honor of God the Father, Jesus Christ. Now,

Trials That Refine Real Faith

Donald E Coleman 10:47

let's get to verse eight. And I like to call this the invisible love that's flowing. Watch this. Now he says, though you have not seen him, you agapau him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. I want you to think about that now. Let me let me read that one more time. I want that to sit in because that's where bulk we're gonna sit right here in this moment. He says, though you have not seen him, Jesus, you are Gapau Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. You can't tell me that God hasn't touched those people. Look at Peter's description, look at the detail he's using. The fact that he used the Gapau indicates that Agape was received and they're living from a place of belovedness, and in their grief and suffering, they have been shaped and form, and now Agapow is flowing out of them to Jesus and to others that are scattered with them. But notice what Peter does here in his writing to the people who have never seen Jesus, he knows what it's like to have seen Jesus and then to have looked away at the moment that mattered the most. And here he is writing to people who have never laid eyes on him and yet are a god powering Jesus that comes through faith, that comes through a genuine experience with God. I just want you to see this because this there is a pastoral. You can see Peter's leadership, you can see his comeback, you can see how God shaped him, you can see how when Jesus asked him those three times, and how that transition of those three times, Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? And the last time, do you love me? You can see how it shaped Peter now. Because in this case, right here, in this, this, this line here, look what happens. Peter is in some sense amazed by the faith of these communities. Look at his words. He said, You haven't seen him. He said, Look, it's like people who were not there, and they did not walk with Jesus, they did not hear his voice, and yet they love him, they agapow him. Look at this, man. And like when you think about it, the Greek for like inexpressible and joy, joy, I mean uh glorious joy, literally means joy beyond words,

Loving Jesus Without Seeing Him

Donald E Coleman 14:51

saturated with glory. Isn't that like that is absolutely beautiful? And I believe this is what God is doing. God is doing this right now in the earth. He is restoring the beloved and believers back to that place where they can be filled with an inexpressible, joyous, I mean, gracious joy, or the way that is said it, joy that is beyond words, and that we are saturated with glory. Put that into the context of the six empty jugs, man being emptied out, right? So think about the the grief and the suffering. Think about that as being part of, or God using that to empty them out in order that they may be saturated with glory, and they are speaking from a place of agape that has joy beyond words. Because it's important for you to catch this, because this is the joy of the agapitos, of the beloved, the joy of people who have discovered that their love and whose love for Christ is flowing back to him from that discovery. You can't, you can't fake this, right? You can't, it can't be artificial. This is authentic, and you're seeing it all around us within young, old, all in between. There is this inexpressible joy and gratitude and hunger for God, an expression of love like I have not seen in thirty some odd years of my walk with God. What is it? It's the tsunami of agape that's flowing in the earth. You can't see it, you can't touch it, but just like the wind that blows and you know not where it's coming from, God is restoring, He's renovating our hearts to be filled with agape that it may flow out to others. And I want you to catch this because this is the first movement becoming in the fourth. It's the first movement, it's agape received, right? Overflowing as a gapow returned. So now what I want you to I want you to make the connection here, what Peter is teaching us. Agapow is agape flowing out of us, back to God and to others, it has to flow back to uh uh to God before it flows back to others, it shapes everything about what is going on within us, and therefore, because we are formed and shaped differently, not in a heart perspective, from a mind perspective, from all aspects, even psychologically, we see things different. And as a result of that, a kapow flows, it continues to flow out of us because our love for God has been filled to the brim, and now God has ordained it to flow out to others. I just want you to think about that. I really want you to understand what all of this is about. The four movements of divine love. Yeah, it's it's a way that I can identify, but I want you to understand the purpose of it. Everything with God, and everything ends with God. We have to remember the source of all power, all might, all strength, all life that is encompassed in all love, and that is God. Now I want you to like jump down with me into for into verse 22. Love one another deeply from the heart. So let me read verse 22. So look what it says. It says, Now that you have purified yourself by obeying the truth, so that you have sincere, watch this now, love,

The Tsunami Of Agape Today

Donald E Coleman 20:38

sincere love for each other, love one another deeply from the heart. I want you to catch what is about to happen here. You see, you see love here twice, and most people never truly understand what Peter is actually saying here. Now, let me read this again, and I'm going to replace the Greek words for the two loves that are in place, and I want you to see the movement. Now that you have purified yourself by obeying the truth, so that you have sincere philadelphia for each other, agape one another deeply from the heart. So the first love that Peter acknowledged, he said, You have a sincere brotherly love for each other. But he then said, Now, I want to, I want you to shift here. I want you to agape one another deeply. Notice, I want, don't let these words slip by from the heart, which is where agapow flows. So here's the key the Greek word translated deeply here literally means strain. At full stretch. Right? So strain. I want you to get this, man. This is freaking, this is awesome. I'm sorry, y'all, man. I'm getting so excited here because I'm I'm seeing the word of God so differently now. And it's all by the grace of God. So what is he saying here? He's saying at this point, he says, now that you have purified yourself by obeying the truth, so that you have sincere brotherly love for each other, agapow one another deeply, strain at full stretch from the heart. And that straining at full stretch, it's like a muscle being pushed to the outer edge of its capacity. Do you see this? And this word that means this, it only appears a handful of times in the New Testament. And Peter uses it in both of his key letters on Agapow. And I mean on the key passages when he is talking about Agapow. I just want you to I want you to understand this. Now, why strain at full stretch? Why that word? Why that, why that Greek word meaning that? Because Peter knows what full stretch love costs. He knows what it feels like to be stretched to his limits and to break. So if you're out there and you're listening to this, I want you to understand what Peter is saying. He's not calling these communities to easy love or comfortable affection. He is calling them to a kind of love that can be strained, tested, pressed to the outer edge, and still hold. Just let that sit. Do you feel like you've been strained, tested, pressed to the outer edge? Here's the key. With agape, agape, you can still hold. Why? Because perfect love casts

From Brotherly Love To Agape

Donald E Coleman 25:26

out fear. Love never fails. Or let me say it this way: perfect agape casts out fear. And agape never fails. It holds. But here's what I want you to grab here because there's a crucial order in how Peter structured the sentence. I don't want to be academic. I want you to see it from the words. Peter does not begin with the command. He begins with formation. Notice he said, now that you have purified yourself by obeying the truth, so that you have sincere Philadelphia for each other. I just want you to grab that. Because that statement is agapitan emerging first. Belovedness showing up first. Identity showing up first. Grab this now because genuine formation, sincere Philadelphia, brotherly love, the warm, real affection of people who share something true. And from that formed place, from our agapitos place, right? From us being agapitos and understanding being shaped and formed into agapitan, right? The third movement. Let me say that again. Right? From our agapitos, then being formed from that place of being formed into agapitan, the fuller. Remember the six ceremonial jugs, Jesus said, fill them to the brim. It becomes possible. And didn't Paul say it this way? He said, All things work together for good for those who agapal the Lord and are called by his name. Because this is Paul's, like Paul's pattern, Paul's like understanding in Peter's voice. Peter is picking up on what happened and what happened or what Paul is doing. But I want you to see that there's a transition here because Peter and Paul had a riff. They had a disagreement. Go back and read Galatians. Well, I'm going to talk more about that in a moment. All right. Let me not jump ahead. Because here's what you have: you have been formed. Now live from that formation. You have sincere love, Philadelphia. Now stretch that Philadelphia into a GAPAW. Oh, isn't this wonderful? I want you to get it. I want you to get it. I want you to get it. Now, I want to go to the second point or the second time Peter uses the Greek word for deeply here. And it's in 1 Peter 4 and 8. So let me get there and I want to read this to you. And I want to read it so that you can grab a hold of it. I just don't want to jump to four and eight. I want to read a little bit. Let me see how much is in here. All right. Okay, let me just read it and promise me

Love At Full Stretch Covers Sin

Donald E Coleman 30:21

you'll go back and read all of 1 Peter, right? This week, and then focus when you get to four, read from one all the way down. But look what it says. 1 Peter 4 and 8. I want you to grab a hold of this. It says, above all, love each other deeply, or agaphow each other deeply. Now, here's what here's what it says. It says, above all, agaphow each other deeply, because watch this now, because love covers a multitude of sin. Let me let me let me let me break the Greek on you again. I and I'm only using the Greek because in the English we get, we don't get the full impact. I'm convinced of this now. So look what he says. He says, above all, a gap how each other deeply. Let's go back now deeply. What does that mean? It means to strain at full stretch, right? Or what does it mean? It means a little bit more. Remember that came up at that full stretch. It means that that insatiable joy that's there, right? So he's singing agape each other at full stretch, straining, because agape covers over a multitude of sins or missing the mark. What is Peter making reference to here? He's making reference to the rooster crowing three times. And I want you to get this. Who's agape here? Right? Agape is God. So Peter is saying that Jesus is God because Jesus came and restored him. Are you seeing how this is all right here in front of us? This is the most incredible thing when you really dive into this. We're in deep waters now, or let's put it this way: we're hanging out deeply, straining to full stretch to hear what God is saying to us tonight, or in this recording. Look what he says here. He says, above all, Peter places a Gapow at the apex of the entire Christian life. Wouldn't that be something if we all did the same thing? Let me see that again. Peter is placing a Gapow at the apex of the entire Christian life. Not above correct theology, not above spiritual gifts, not above moral purity. He says, above all of this, this is John's priority in Peter's language. When everything else in life presses on a community, when everything else is pressing in in life in the community, the thing that must not be released or let go is your agape. Because when agape flows in you and agape has formed you, how can you let go of agape? Authentic, true encounter experience of God's love, truly God's love. I want you to see this now. And again, at full stretch, Peter will not allow these suffering communities to settle for a love that is merely warm or comfortable. Are you getting this? Are you getting this? And I know some of our listeners are in environments where they're, because they're Christians, they're in tough situations. And I believe this letter is speaking to you, but it's also speaking to us that are in comfortable positions. Us in the Western church that are in comfortable positions. Our life's not in danger when we go to church. And Peter is asking us to stretch, to stretch, full stretch that muscle of a God Pow, as he's calling them and us to a kind of love that can sustain itself even when it's strained. And I will say this, especially when it is strained. But when it comes to the phrase that must have or the phase that must have been deeply personal for Peter, look what it, this is it. The phrase Peter says, agape covers over a multitude of sins. I want you to see this now because Peter is quoting Proverbs ten and twelve, but he is not doing it academically. He is quoting it as a man who committed the most public betrayal imaginable and who was covered. I want you to see this. A man who denied the one he claimed to a capao the most, but at that point it wasn't a ga pow. What was it? Right? It was Filio. But look what happened to the one he claimed to Filio most and was not condemned but commissioned. I want you guys to see this. I really want you to understand when I'm talking about a comeback, because most people today, and what they have been taught in some cases, or led to believe that if you have a setback, it's all over. Well, Peter, Peter's walk is an example for when you have a setback, don't take a step back, but be prepared because God has a comeback. I really want you to leave this episode understanding that everything that you've gone through, even the shortcoming, even missing the mark, you're not alone. I've missed the mark at times. But agape kept pursuing me. Agape kept bringing me and drawing me back to the place of being formed, to the place of agapan, agapitan. Why? Because my agapitos was strong, but yet it wasn't fully developed. I knew I was loved, but I didn't have the formation or the forming of that love to carry me to the place where it could be fully stretched. But I believe that's what's happening. That's what's happening in the world. That's what's happening in this tsunami of agape. We are being restored back to the fervency, to the brim with agape. And it is forming and shaping us as believers that can express within their heart, not their head, how God, how agape has never stopped pursuing us in all things. And I want I want to read Proverbs 10, 12 just so that you can hear it here because I said it, right? Hate stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. I just want you to grab that. And as I get ready to close this out, I want this, everything that we've just talked about in 1 Peter 8, this is the only New Testament writer. Peter is the only New Testament writer who can write this line and mean it personally. Paul writes beautifully about justification and forgiveness. Look at what he went through. John writes about abiding love. Look where John was. But Peter writes about agape, agapeo, agape, agapitos, and agapitan that covers. Because he is a man who was covered when he had no right to be. The graciousness of God was with him all the time. This is agape as protection. One of the first qualities Paul names in First Corinthians thirteen, he says, Agape protects, it covers. Not by pretending the wound wasn't real. Peter's denial was very real. But by holding the beloved, holding your identity within a love that is larger than your failure. Failure. Man, I hope you've been so blessed. And I want us to slow down right now as we go into our standard contemporative pause. I want you to rest here for a moment. I want you to settle into everything that's that has transpired in this episode. Peter writes, love covers a multitude of

Contemplative Pause And A Hard Question

Donald E Coleman 42:56

sins from the inside of having been covered. Let me say that again. Peter writes Agape covers over a multitude of sins from having the inside from inside of having been covered. Is there a person in your life whose failures are being asked to hold, that you're being asked to hold within you got this now within agape that is larger than what they have done. We all know somebody. But that changes now. It all changes because now we can look at Peter and we can show them Peter's comeback story because that's what this is all about. This is it. And if you're the one listening, if you're listening to this and it's you, it's about turning in the other direction. Have you received the covering Peter described? God is always waiting, love is always pursuing. Is there a moment in your own story where you were held in a love that did not condemn but commissioned you? Of course, you wouldn't be listening to this podcast if you didn't. I want you to know this that love agape covers what I cannot in myself or in others. And let me say that again. I I love covers what I cannot undo in myself or in others. Just settle in that. Inhale, breathe out. On the inhale now, agape covers what I cannot do in myself or in others. And on the exhale, I receive covering and from it offer what I have received. Agape. Be blessed and know that agape is always pursuing us. And come back next episode, we're going to be talking about movement three. The ladder that ends in agape. Until then, be blessed, stay the course, and keep living daily

Blessing And Next Movement Tease

Donald E Coleman 46:31

for Christ.