<TITLE>03. Par 5-8</TITLE>L-5 Then it must have been Simon Peter; he said, "Years ago, when my father and I, and many of you brethren knowed my father, knowed that he was religious man. He was a--the stricter of our denomination. He was a Pharisee. We believed, as Pharisees, that God means every Word. We must keep that Word. My father was a great, strict man. He believed that God kept His Word."
"Many times have I thought since then, that when he would take me in the late of the evening, when our fishing was over, and grab my little muscle and pull it up, and say, 'Simon, you're as strong as iron,' then stroke my hair back and hug me to his bosom, when I would pat him, and look at his eyes dimming in age, he'd say, 'Simon, set down. I want to talk to you just a little bit. I'm getting old, Simon, and someday I'm going to have to leave. I'm going to have to leave my boat and my nets with you. You too will seine this sea, as I have done. And you too will probably attend the same synagogue that I have. And I've tried to instill in your little Jewish heart that all the days of my life, I've looked for One to come, but He looks to be farther away now than ever, but perhaps, He will come in your day, Simon. And if He doesn't come in your day, you teach your son. There will be much tinsel in those days, but Simon always remember what the prophet said, for we as Israelites believe our prophets. And the prophet Moses said, 'That when this Messiah would come, that He would be a prophet like him.' Now, He will not be an educator. He will not be some great theologian, but He will be a prophet. Because Moses said, 'The Lord, your God, shall raise up a prophet liken unto me.' And you remember when you see this Messiah come, that'll be the sign that it's Him, because He will be a--the God prophet. He will be God in a form of a prophet, and by that you'll know.'"

L-6 "And when my brother Andrew went down to these meetings and told me that there was a Healer from Galilee, a healing the sick people by prayer. Oh, I never thought much about it, and he persuaded me to go down and listen to this One called Jesus of Nazareth. Andrew had already believed on Him as the Messiah, but to me, I stuck with my fish nets. And then, one day, I attended the meeting. And when I left my boat and went down the bank to where He was, and walked into His Presence, without Him knowing me, His eyes turned like lights seeming to search every corner of my soul, and said to me, 'Your name is Simon, and you're the son of Jonas.'"
"Then all my daddy's teaching flashed before me. This truly was that Messiah, because He was a God-prophet, not only did He know me by name, but He knowed that godly old father of mine, for He said, 'You are the son of Jonas.' From that day, I followed Him without one doubt in my mind. No matter what the world says about Him, what our people says, to me, He, since that hour He's been the Messiah."

L-7 John said, "When I seen Him out of a Bible story, associate Himself today with creating bread and fish, I know He had to be that Messiah. He must be."
Then right back, I would believe, towards the stern of the boat, the boat was floating at this time, because twilight was setting in, and they were, what we would call today, catching their wind from their hard pulling on the oars. It must have been Philip that said, "Brethren, you should have been with me. After I seen Him that day, stand there and tell you, Simon (that your name was Simon, and He changed it to Peter, which we call you now.), speak of your father, who I knew, I was so convinced then that I wanted to tell everybody."

L-8 And you know friends, to stop in our little drama, there's something about it, when you once get convinced that it's truth. You can't hold your peace. You've got to tell somebody about it. There's something that you just can't keep still about. It's life, and you want everybody to know it.


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