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Training Wheels from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Today I want to talk about the journey of becoming more like Jesus, and it is a journey. I will be talking mostly about the life of the Apostle Peter, but I want to begin with something Jesus said to all of His disciples in Luke 6:40:

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. Luke 6:40 NKJV

Jesus said that a disciple is not above their teacher, but when fully trained, they will be like them. He was speaking to His disciples and He meant that when they were fully trained, then they would be like Him.

As we are taught by Jesus and grow in Him, we become more like Him. More and more, we are conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29) and ultimately, when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2):

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2–3 NKJV).

We shall be like Him when He is revealed. That means that we change. We change our hearts and our minds as we become more like Him. This occurs over time, over the span of our lives.

In Philippians 1:6 Paul wrote: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NASB).

So there is a beginning, and one day there will be an ending. At the moment, all of us are somewhere in between these two points. That means that we are all at various stages of development, at various levels of faith. Let’s take a look at the life of Peter.

In the summer of 28 AD, Jesus was speaking on the beach of the sea of Galilee to a large crowd of people that began pressing in closer and closer to hear Him. So He got into a nearby fishing boat, that happened to belong to a professional fisherman named Peter, and He asked him to push off from the shore a little. Then Jesus taught the crowd from Peter’s boat. 

When Jesus had finished speaking, He told Peter to go out to the deeper water and let down his nets for a catch. Now Peter and his partners had fished all night but caught nothing, so they had washed their nets and called it a day. Because Jesus asked him, Peter agreed to try again and when they let down their nets, they caught so many fish that their nets began breaking, and they had to bring a second boat to help. There were so many fish that the two boats began to sink, and Peter, James, and John were amazed at the catch. Peter fell down at the feet of Jesus and told Him to go away for he was a sinful man, but Jesus told him “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” That was the day that Peter’s journey really began, when he left everything behind and followed Jesus.

At this point, Peter was not an Apostle, nor filled with the Holy Spirit. He was simply a fisherman that was following Jesus. Just yesterday he was fishing, and now he was watching Jesus turn water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Each day Peter’s faith grows a little more. He watches in wonder as Jesus fashions a whip, and drives the money changers out of the temple. Jesus turns over their tables and pours out their coins while the disciples look at each other uncomfortably. 

Peter and the other disciples baptized new converts, brought supplies, ran errands, rowed the boat, acted as ushers, and prayed for people while they traveled with Jesus. They watched Jesus teach, saw Him heal people, and cast out demons. They go to Peter’s house where his mother-in-law is sick with a fever, and Jesus heals her. Peter watches Jesus heal lepers, the blind, and people who were paralyzed.

After a long night of prayer, Jesus chose twelve men from the crowd of disciples following Him, and He calls them Apostles. Peter is one of them, and he becomes one of Jesus’ closest friends. He watches Jesus bring a widow’s dead son back to life in the city of Nain, then Jairus’ daughter, and then Lazarus. Peter watches Jesus feed thousands of people with a couple of fish and some bread. His faith grows more.

The Apostles grow in importance and began to argue about which of them was the greatest. Jesus rebuked them. James and John ask to sit on Jesus’ right and left hand in His kingdom, and the others become jealous. Jesus rebuked them. They ask to call down fire from heaven and burn up a village that rejected them. Jesus rebuked them. When Jesus tells them of His coming crucifixion, Peter rebukes Jesus, then Jesus rebuked him.

One night while the disciples were in the boat, Jesus came to them walking across the water. They screamed in fear thinking He was a ghost. Peter asked if he could come to Him on the water and Jesus told him to come. So Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water, but when he saw the waves becoming violent, he became afraid and then began to sink. Jesus caught him and said Peter, “Oh Peter, why did you doubt?”

Jesus sent these twelve out to minister in the towns that He planned to visit, and then later He sent out seventy disciples in pairs of two. The Apostles heal some people and cast out devils, but later meet one they were not able to cast out. They are still a work in progress. People bring their children to Jesus, but the disciples rebuke them for wasting His time. Jesus rebukes the disciples and sits a child in His lap.

Peter, James, and John watch Jesus transform one day while praying. His face changed and His clothing became gleaming white. Moses and Elijah appeared, and He spoke with them. Peter and his companions were of course, sleeping. But when they awoke, Peter offered to build them a shelter from the sun. A voice came from heaven and rebuked them.

On the night of the last supper, the disciples argue about which of them was the greatest while on the way there. They sit in awkward silence while Jesus washes their feet. While Jesus is in the garden praying and sweating great drops of blood, the Apostles sleep. Jesus rebukes them.

When Jesus is arrested, Peter pulls out a sword and gives Malchus a whack beside the head, taking off his ear. Jesus reaches down, picks it up, and puts the ear back on Malchus’ head. Then Jesus rebukes Peter. Later in the courtyard, a girl recognizes Peter and says that he was with Jesus, but Peter began to call curses down on himself and denies knowing Jesus three times. Jesus looks at him, and Peter begins weeping.

When Jesus was crucified, Peter didn’t attend, nor was he at the burial because he was scared they would crucify him as well. After a while, Jesus got up and left the tomb and He later appeared to others, and then to Peter on the beach. Jesus gave the disciples instructions from the Holy Spirit and then ascended to heaven, His job complete.

Ten days later, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples in the upper room and it changed their lives. Peter preached a message and 3,000 people were saved on the first day. When Peter confronted Ananias and Sapphira for lying about what they had given the church, they fell dead. Soon Peter was raising the dead, healing the crippled and sick. People lined the sick in the streets so that his shadow would fall on them when he passed by. Peter became like his Teacher, and his training wheels were off.

The point of this message is that you don’t start out as the wise Apostle. You begin your journey as the young fisherman, and young people, make young people mistakes. The longer that you are faithful and obedient, the more that you will become like Jesus. Yes, obedience is part of it. Jesus told some disciples “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say?” Those disciples were not becoming more like Jesus, because they were not doing what He said.

Jesus gave His Apostles power as they grew mature enough to handle it. He did not give it to them as long as they wanted to call down fire from heaven and burn people up, or while they were arguing about which of them was the greatest. He simply left their training wheels on until they grew up.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me see the world through Your eyes and understand Your love for people. Help me to grow spiritually and become more like You. Give me the grace to change, soften my heart, and fill me with Your Spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Note: For those who may have missed last week's announcement to the Bible Study Group, the last chapter for the book of Acts, covering Acts 28, is now available! You can also find any of the previous chapters on this page. We look forward to your feedback!