Summary: Every Bean has its black and every Diamond has its flaw... Our lives aren't without flaws, but God can use our flaws and give us clarity and strength. Peter was an example of God uses someone's flaws to give him clarity and strength. Peter is a great example for us because even with all his flaws scripture always records him first among the disciples. A. Peter’s Inconsistent Clarity: 1. One minute Peter is influenced by God (Matt 16:13-17) and the next he's influenced by Satan (Matt 16:23) 2. Peter supports Christ (Lk 22:33-34), and Peter denies Christ (Matt 26:69-75) 3. Peter uses his faith and loses his faith (Matt 14:28-33) 4. Peter takes the lead, but leads the disciples nowhere (Jn 21:15-19) 5. Peter is tolerant to all, but at the same time he's a bigot (Acts 10:9-35) 6. Peter teaches acceptance, but he practices exclusivity (Gal 2:11-13) B. Peter's true identity: 1. Sinner saved by Grace. 2. Prone to the weakness of the flesh. We are all Peter. We are are all flesh and blood, and we suffer from the same weakness. We are all flawed, and we can't deny it, though we try hard to pretend like we're not, but we're human. C. Peter's Strength: 1. To know our strength, we have to know our weakness. Peter's weakness was his passion... He spoke before he thought… He acted before he thought… stepped out… He took on leadership before he thought… 2. Peter's strength was also his passion... He did speak up, he did act, and he did lead. Christ encourages us to be passionate; Rev 3:15 But Christ also encourages us not to be impulsive; Matt 10:16 D. Peter was an Example: In the apocryphal book, "The Acts of Peter", we're told how Peter was crucified upside for his testimony for Christ. This is commonly accepted as the way Peter died. Peter didn't consider himself worthy to be crucified like Christ. Peter was aware of his flaws but that didn't deter his passion for the Gospel. Peter's life and example speaks to us today in the words of the prophet Isaiah; Isa 53:6 Therefore, like Peter, Christ encourages us to use the passion we have (which is the Spirit of God) and never forsake the message of our Salvation. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and as Peter wrote; 1Pet 5:10 Be cautious, but not deterred from your call. Yes, we make mistakes, we're flawed, we sinners. This shouldn't be a surprise. Every bean has its black, but thank God for Christ because He takes all our sin away!
