P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

Watch for Falling Rocks

CONNIE:  The apostle Peter was no solid rock, but Jesus had great plans for him anyhow.  If you’ve ever crumbled under pressure, it doesn’t mean God can’t use you if you apply the Peter Principle to your life.  Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy

         CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery

         LONNIE: And I’m Lonnie Melashenko. 

         CONNIE: Lonnie, do you remember a few years back when we heard a lot about something called the “Peter Principle?”

         LONNIE:  If I remember right, that was a management concept--something from the business world--about people getting promoted to a level above where they function best.

         CONNIE: It’s kind of a pessimistic view of life in the corporate world.  Basically it predicts that if you keep getting promoted, you’ll finally arrive at a place where you can’t do your job very well!

          LONNIE: Well, Connie, that’s not a very bright picture, but there’s another Peter Principle that we’re going to be looking at today.  It’s a biblical Peter Principle.

            CONNIE: I think I see where you’re going with this.  When you look at the life of the Apostle Peter, Jesus selected him for one of His closest associates--sort of a vice-president or Prime Minister I guess you could say.

            LONNIE: That’s right.

            CONNIE: Are you suggesting that Jesus promoted Peter too high, and that was the reason he failed when push came to shove?

            LONNIE: You might think that, but I believe there’s a different principle we can pick up by studying Peter’s life--particularly some of the “stony” parts of his path--where things got a little bumpy for him. 

            Peter is probably the best known of Jesus’ disciples.  And most people think of him as a brash, quick-on-the-trigger, fast-action kind of guy who all-too-often jumped into the fray without taking time to think things through. 

            But there’s something else we need to notice about him as well.  When he made a mistake, he was willing to admit it and ask for help to get straightened out.

            CONNIE: That’s a good principal most of us could benefit from.

            LONNIE: One person whose life brings this story into the modern day is a man whose life has followed a sort of Peter-like course.  Some of our listeners will be familiar with John Osborne, who’s on the line with us right now.

            LONNIE: John, I’ve had a chance recently to look through             your book Back on Track in which you are pretty forthright about the way the Lord has led in your life, but also about the way that at times you ran ahead--or got ahead of the Lord. 

            Tell me, of all the people in the Bible, who do you most identify with?

            JOHN: Well, with out a doubt, Peter. Without a doubt.

            LONNIE: Hmm somewhat impetuous?

            JOHN: I just identify so much with him and with the things he did and praise God he finished out the New Testament there as a wonderful evangelist and finally a martyr and I just pray that I can give my life to the Lord Jesus Christ as he did Lonnie.

            LONNIE: John, I want to just reach out to you and thank the Lord for putting His hand on you and continuing to shadow you and not let you go

            JOHN: Oh thank you!

            LONNIE: Because there are many people who maybe don’t know your story.  Tell us about it in capsule. You kind of got off track

            JOHN: Yeah

            LONNIE: What happened?

            JOHN: Well, it’s a situation of becoming critical of denominational leadership, of church leadership. You know, God is a God of organization Lonnie, and He has to have leaders and people who do the administration and the organization of His church. And when you began to look at the people, you take your eyes off Jesus. If the Lord waited for any of us to be perfect before He asked us to do His work, His work would not get done, because none of us are perfect.

            LONNIE: Now John you are a very effective communicator. But, you got off in this ministry of majoring in the minors

            JOHN: Yeah

            LONNIE:  Sort of chasing after the devil’s rabbits. Problems in the church and problems in leadership

            JOHN: Right

            LONNIE: You found that you can whip up a lot support for this in fact financially in numerical support, but you went from just pastoring and radio then television and satellite.  This thing became worldwide. A ministry that you created.

            JOHN: It was amazing. I was in television making regular evangelistic television programs and I made one videocassette of some problems that I saw in some church leadership and just to distribute to some of our church members. Lonnie it went like a firestorm around the world.  It was unbelievable. Over night I had a world following of every disgrunted church member around the world suddenly was on my bandwagon. Suddenly I was their champion and it got to this place where I got on this squirrel cage to where we were depending on $10,000 a day to come in the mail. It was just amazing, the instant following that I got as soon as I became critical of church leadership.

            LONNIE: Now just kind of assess a little bit what happened and how.  Where did you run ahead of God, and how did this really get mired down, and what was that moment of realization when you finally decided Lord either I go ahead and really disconnect or I’ve got to come back.

            JOHN: Well the thing I finally realized, Lonnie, is that just because I was being quote blessed with finances did not mean I was doing the Lord’s will. That’s were I became disillusioned is because I began thinking God is blessing me.

            LONNIE: And this is sort of like Peter’s experience walking on the water looking back saying  “look at me man, hey look at me”

            JOHN: “Look at me look what I’m doing guys” (laughter)

            LONNIE: And the moment that happened, he just sank and the dear Lord reached out and didn’t let him go. Did he?

            JOHN: No he didn’t, and that’s what happened with me too, Lonnie. It took place over a ten year period, but when I realized I was going down on the wrong road of being critical, becoming the accuser that’s what God talks about in Revelation 12 there is the devil being the accuser of the brethren. And I realized I was the accuser of the brethren.

            LONNIE: And you shouldn’t be that because Satan has already got that turf covered.

            JOHN: Exactly, so when I realized I was going down the wrong road, to try to turn this thing around, suddenly all the hate everybody had against all the church leadership that had been supporting me soon turned against me, and they began hating me, and my ministry crumbled like a house of cards.

            LONNIE: And you and your wife made a decision.  You went forward in an altar call, you were even re-baptized to become God’s champion, and your prayer really is, as we close here John was “Lord, you just have your way” right?

            JOHN: Well, it had to be. I was either going to be lost and rich or let the lord have His way and lose everything and save my eternal salvation, hopefully some that will come back into the fold with me

            LONNIE: What a testimony. Thank you John for talking with us today

            JOHN: Thanks Lonnie 

*MUSIC 1:      .  “Have Thine Own Way”

             CONNIE: Thanks for that music go out to the group called “Summer Church,” and the song was the familiar hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.”  A prayer that’s important in every Christian’s life!  As always, if you’re interested in learning more about the music we play on our program, please stop by our web site at www.vop.com.

            In our next segment we’re going to be hearing from a voice that’s very familiar to our regular listeners, Lonnie.

            LONNIE: That would no doubt be my associate speaker, Morris Venden.

            CONNIE: You’re right.  Morrie was the regular speaker on this broadcast for about 2 ½ years, and we like to bring him back from time to time to share some of his wisdom with us.

            LONNIE: I might add that Morrie hasn’t quit speaking.  He’s still heard regularly on college campuses and at church convocations all over the country, where he does a great job of representing Voice of Prophecy.

            CONNIE: And I can’t help but notice some of the letters and e-mails that come in asking, “Where’s Pastor Venden?”  So we want to assure you that he’s still with us, and you will continue to hear from him on a pretty regular basis on our broadcast.

            The thoughts he’s sharing today--about Peter--are based on material in his book How Jesus Treated People. 

            LONNIE: Personally I think that’s one of his finest books.

            CONNIE: And if you’d like to have a copy of the whole book, we’ve got one reserved for you.  It’s our thank-you for anyone who sends in a gift of $12.00 or more to help support our gospel outreach to the world.

            LONNIE: That’s right, Connie.  We don’t often mention it, but from time to time we like to remind folks that we’re a listener-supported ministry.  Every gift, large or small, helps to keep the gospel message on the air and Christ-centered Bible lessons in people’s homes.

            CONNIE: So, if you’ll write to us at Voice of Prophecy, Box 53055, Los Angeles, 90053, and enclose a gift of $12.00 or more, we’ll send a copy of Pastor Venden’s book How Jesus Treated People out to you right away.

            LONNIE: We’ll give the address again, later in our program, but right now, let’s listen to Morrie’s message.

MORRIE: The disciples had taken off on a hundred-yard dash through the garden when the mob had taken Jesus, but at least two of them had turned around and followed at a distance as the crowd made their way back to the hall of Caiaphas. They were Peter and John. They couldn’t stay away for very long.

When they entered the hall, John found a place as near to Jesus as he possibly could, but Peter joined the crowd by the fire, warming himself in the cool night air and trying to pre­tend. It’s a familiar story. But sometimes we don’t stop to con­sider carefully the steps Peter had taken to bring himself to the place where he could deny his Lord.

The first step came when Jesus tried to warn Peter of His danger. Jesus had said, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.”

But Peter answered, “Though all men shall be offended be­cause of thee, yet will I never be offended.”

Jesus said, “This night, before the cockcrow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”

Peter insisted, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” Matthew 26:31-34. He was sure of himself. He felt strong. He was sure he had enough willpower and backbone to make the right decision and follow through with it. He consid­ered himself a self-disciplined man—one whom Jesus could count on. He did not realize his danger. That’s the first step anyone takes in denying his Lord.

His second step toward the denial was to give in to the temp­tation to sleep when he should have been praying. It’s an easy step to take when you are feeling self-sufficient. Who needs to pray when you can do it yourself? Who needs a higher power if you have plenty of power and strength yourself? I’d like to pro­pose that one of the main reasons the majority of Christians do not spend much time in prayer is that they do not feel the need of help from God that often. They’re doing all right by them­selves. They find it easy to turn over for an extra hour of sleep in the morning rather than spending time in communion with Christ, for they don’t feel the need of prayer that much. And that leads to the next step.

The third step Peter took was to begin to fight his own bat­tles. He thought he was big enough to take on the enemy in his own strength. He tackled the whole mob with his one sword. But all he got was one ear—and it wasn’t even a particularly important ear, except to the high priest’s servant to whom it belonged!

When we have separated ourselves from the source of strength, we forget that we are never to fight the enemy our­selves. We forget that God is the only one who can fight our battles for us. He’s the only one strong enough. And when we begin swinging our swords, the inevitable result is defeat and shame.

The fourth step Peter took that night was to try to save him­self. Jesus didn’t join in with him and help him fight his own battles in the way Peter expected. So he started running. If Jesus wasn’t big enough to save him, then he’d better save him­self. And Peter took off into the darkness.

The fifth step Peter took was to follow Jesus afar off. His trust in Jesus had taken a beating. He wasn’t ready to com­pletely and permanently cut himself off from Christ, but he was being careful now. He didn’t want to get too close. He deliber­ately kept some distance between himself and Jesus. And so he followed Jesus from afar.

But the night was cold. The night is always cold when we find ourselves far away from Jesus. Have you discovered that yet? So Peter took the sixth step of seeking warmth and comfort where the world finds warmth and comfort. He joined the rest of the mob by the fire, trying to warm himself there. But he found himself strangely uncomfortable in that setting, which led him to take the next step, the seventh, of assuming a false identity. He wasn’t fitting in too well. When the rest of the rab­ble would laugh as Jesus was mistreated, Peter found himself wanting to cry. But that would draw attention to him, and they’d notice that he wasn’t really one of them. So he forced himself to laugh louder than any of them. When the rest of the crowd would curse and jest, it jarred on Peter’s spirit. He was playing a part and not doing too well, because it wasn’t long before he was noticed.

And that’s when he found himself at the final step of denying Jesus altogether. When a person has separated from Jesus and is finding his warmth and acceptance in the world and someone says, “Aren’t you one of them?” he says, “No, I’m not!” That’s the way it goes. When the heat was on and they were pointing the finger at Peter, he took the final step as he began to curse and swear and to deny with an oath that he ever had known Jesus.

Right at that moment, Jesus turned and looked at Peter. Jesus turned from where He was being shoved and pushed and crowded. Jesus—wearing the crown of thorns and with blood dripping quietly down—turned and looked at Peter. There are different kinds of looks. When Jesus looked at Peter, it wasn’t a look of anger or disgust. It was a look of pity and love for His poor disciple.

We probably wouldn’t claim Peter as a disciple of Jesus right then. Even Peter was denying it. But Jesus saw that Peter was still His. Peter wasn’t a hypocrite. He had really meant it when he said he would die for Jesus. But Peter was weak. And Peter had been led away, step by step, from the side of Jesus, from trusting fully in Him. Peter hadn’t even noticed the process un­til now. The devil always works this way. He doesn’t take us in one gigantic leap off the cliff. He knows we’d see our danger and call upon Jesus immediately. So he takes us from here, to here, to here, in little tiny steps that are as innocent-looking as possible, so we won’t realize our need.

Jesus looked on Peter with love and disappointment and sor­row. If Jesus ever needed a friend, it was then. If He ever needed someone to let Him know they were still with Him, still

           CONNIE:  “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  And the story of how Jesus treated Peter is one that shows us how real Jesus’ love commitment is. 

            When you think about Peter, he’s really an interesting character.  There always seems to be something exciting going on around him.  Listen now as Lonnie takes us for a quick tour of the famous apostle’s life and lessons in today’s message, “Watch for Falling Rock!”

Sermon-  Watch for Falling Rock

            LONNIE: Imagine yourself standing on top of a hill with three of your closest friends when suddenly one of them begins to change.  As you watch, his clothes and his face start to glow--as if there were a hole in the clouds and a shaft of sunlight broke through and shone directly on him only.

            But it’s a sunny day.  Not a cloud in the sky.  What’s happening?

            Then suddenly--like something from Star Trek--two more people materialize in front of you.  Just like that!  Now there are five of you on top of the hill!  Where did these two come from?  Who are they?  What do they want?

            But they don’t seem to notice you.  They just turn to your friend--who continues to glow like a firefly’s tail--and talk to him.

            What are you going to do?

            Run for cover?

            Duck?

            Hide?

            Well, Peter knew what to do--or at least he thought he did--when that very thing happened to him.

            The story is told in the 17^th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.  Notice what Peter did.  Here it is in verses 1-4 of Matthew 17:

            Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

            Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (NKJV)

            What a story!  Can you imagine yourself doing that--jumping right into a conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah?

            I can’t picture myself doing that.  I think I’d be too much in awe to say anything.  But not Peter.  No siree¼that wasn’t his personality.  Maybe you know someone like him--a man of action, always ready with a plan--ready to do something, whatever seems to need to be done.

            They’re great people to have around when you have a building project at the church.  They want to be busy.  They get a lot done.

            But sometimes those of us who are eager for action get ahead of ourselves a bit.  And that’s what happened to Peter that day.  Notice what happened next:

            While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"                                                                            (Matt 17:5 NKJV)

            Wow!  What’s this?  Suddenly there’s a cloud sailing across the clear blue sky, and a voice  "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"

            It’s not a time to talk, Peter.  It’s a time to listen.  It’s not a time to be building tabernacles, Peter.  It’s time to stop your doing, doing, doing, long enough to really hear what Jesus has to say!

            That got their attention. 

            And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."

            When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.  (Matt 17:6-8, NKJ)

            What a message!  What a powerful lesson for Peter.  But even more important for our message today, take a look at Peter’s response.  He listens!  He stops what he’s doing.  And now, finally, he dives for cover.  He falls on his face.  At last he realizes he’s in the presence of God.

            And then what.  When he next looks up, he sees what?  He sees “no one, but Jesus only.”

            Oh, friend if we could just do that.  If we could just get our eyes focused right, our minds off what we think needs to be done, our mouths shut, and then finally look up and see Jesus only!

            Now, here’s the thing I want you to notice about Peter.  He realized when he’d made a blunder.  He recognized his faux pas, and listened when God corrected him.

            Peter wasn’t perfect.  He wasn’t guaranteed to be 100% error free like a floppy disk, or even 99 and 44/100 percent pure like Ivory soap.

            But he was teachable.  He was willing to recognize the error of his ways  . . . AFTER he had galloped a mile or two down the wrong path!  And most important of all.  When he looked up, he looked to Jesus.

            I could stop right there, couldn’t I?  There’s enough of a message in those words, isn’t there? When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

            There’s something for all of us there, because Jesus promised that when He is lifted up, He will draw all the world to Himself.  And that’s what the world needs.  We need to be united around Jesus.

            But let’s take a quick look at another story from the life of Peter--this falling rock who finally became a solid rock for Jesus.

            You know the story well.  It begins on a dark and stormy night, out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  Fear, fatigue, and gut-wrenching “am-I-going-to-live-to-see-morning” despair hangs like a cold, soggy blanket over a boatload of disciples whose tiny craft pitches and rolls uncontrollably in the gale.  They’ve exhausted themselves.  They’ve come to the end of their rope.  For eight hours they have rowed and bailed, bailed and rowed, and they’ve gotten nowhere, and now they’re preparing to meet their Maker.

            Then they see it.  An omen of their impending doom, a specter coming across the water, and they know the end has come.

            What they don’t realize is that they’re looking at Jesus, and yes, the end has come--but not the end of their lives, just the end of their present problems.

            Then Jesus speaks, and they listen!  But what does Peter do? 

            Ahhh¼he’s so predictable!  Just like up on the hilltop--he wants a piece of the action!  He wants to be front and center when miracles are happening!  He asks permission to walk across the water to meet Jesus!

            And this time Jesus grants his request.  He waves him on--come on, join me!  And suddenly Peter finds himself smack dab in the middle of Jesus’ miraculous power.

            He’s walking on water!  And he’s so amazed, he can’t help looking around to see the others--check out the expression on James and John’s faces.  Wow!  I bet they wish they’d been the ones to speak up this time!

            Trouble is, Peter’s gotten side-tracked.  Remember, in the story from the mountaintop, when he looked up, finally his eyes were filled up--filled up with Jesus.

            Now he takes his eyes off Jesus, and what happens?

            You know what happens.

            Suddenly Peter, who’s been floating like a feather, starts to sink like a rock.

            Suddenly he can’t find Jesus, and all he sees is waves and wind.  He starts to focus on the troubles and trials coming his way, and he loses sight of Jesus, and that’s it.  Curtains, right? 

            Down to the depths of the sea--the death he thought was coming to the whole boatload is to be his alone.

            He’s made one mistake too many, and it’s all going to be over very soon. 

            But remember, along with his impetuousness, along with his brashness, along with his need for speed, Peter has another, redeeming, characteristic:  The ability to recognize a wrong path when he’s on it, and to admit the error of his ways, and to get turned around.

            Immediately he cries out in desperation “Lord, Save me!”

            And immediately Jesus reaches out His hand and pulls Peter up from his watery grave.

            Peter!  What a fellow.  What a rock.  What a falling rock!  He slipped and fell many a time. But each time, when he looked up, he saw Jesus.    Oh, my friend, today, wherever you are, take the example of Peter.  Look up, focus on Jesus.  He’ll save you just as He did Peter, his falling Rock.