[tmtranscripts] S.E. Idaho Transcript, 11-22-02: "Meeting with Simon Peter"

[Bill Kelly]

S.E . Idaho TeaM
11-22-02

Paul, the Apostle(Bill):   Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am Paul, present with you once more.  Let us pray.

Giver of eternal life, Lover of men's souls, sure and steadfast Pilot Who
unerringly guides us toward Paradise, God of our limited understanding, we
worship You with all that we are!  We thank you for life eternal.  We thank
You for the mortal experience with its ups and downs which brought us to
great decisions and produced unparalleled soul growth.  I am pleased to be
once again with these, my friends, and ask that our time together may be
richly blessed as we share with each other in Your presence.  To You be all
glory and honor, world without end.  Amen

Ken: Well, thank you, Paul.  Welcome to the group!

Daniel(Bob S.)  Greetings, my friends.  This is Daniel, your teacher,
guide, friend, elder brother and staunch companion on our trip toward
Paradise.  As you already know, we have a superb group of guests here
visiting us tonight; and, again, I apologize for putting off a lesson which
I partially promised you last week , for we must take advantage of
individuals as they are available.  So, tonight, we will take advantage of
one or more of the guest personages who are available this evening.  I now
pause to allow time for one of our guests.  One moment, please.

Simon Peter(Bill):   I am Peter...(Ken: Welcome, Peter)...the self doubting
apostle, the impetuous one, and the one whom Jesus loved as much as any
other man, woman, or child.  Don't be concerned over my authenticity, for
it has been determined that if Paul could be present and allowed to speak,
others of us will have that same opportunity.  

Yes, like my brother, Paul said, these are exciting times for those of us
whom you refer to as "apostles".  We are very much in understanding of your
feelings and your situation as you once again respond, as we did, to the
majesty, the brilliance, the unquestionable authenticity of the Spiritual
Presence of God as was manifested through the incarnation of His Son,
Michael of Nebadon.  Yes, we are sensing the same quality of spiritual
experience in you people, my brothers, my sisters, as was our daily fare,

I have been given this opportunity tonight as a follow up on your lesson on
self forgiveness, for I am the perfect example of that great need which
every person, to some extent or another, has within himself: the need to
understand how God's love both transcends and uplifts our own self love and
consequent self forgiveness.

Without going on at great length I would simply remind you of some key
points in my own history.  The first point was, I never expected to err as
I did!  Even though Jesus told me that before the cock crowed I would deny
him three times, those words did not enter my soul!  They barely entered my
mind.  I was sure, with all the enthusiasm of my impetuous nature, than
nothing could bring me to deny my Master!  We were all in shock that night
when Jesus said there was a betrayer in our midst.  But we didn't
understand, then, who it was and our self doubt manifested as we each said,
"Is it I, Lord?"  Yet, when it came my turn to question I really couldn't
conceive that I would deny our Lord Jesus and shamefully deny either
knowing him, his message, or my fellow apostles.

Consider the irony of it, my friends!  Was I in front of Pilate, being
accused of being a follower of this man?  Was I in front of Caiaphas when I
made my denial?  Oh, no, a teasing servant girl was sufficient stimulus to
bring my instinctive, animalistic desire for self preservation to the point
that, without thinking, the words came out of my mouth...the first time!
Then, having heard myself say it, the second time I had knowledge
aforethought; and yet I still continued to profess non-involvement with
this one charged as a criminal, as a blasphemer against Israel.  It was a
horrible time, for at the same moment that my animal nature asserted itself
my conscience and probably my Thought Adjuster were speaking too.  The
final, conclusive, conviction of sin came as I saw the face of my Master,
whom I had denied, look upon me, not with anger, but with great and
profound pity and understanding. [Editor's note: The UB says "Pity,
co-mingled with love"]   I, Peter, the Rock, the chief spokesman, tumbled
from my self appointed pedestal of spiritual pride to the depths of despair
and humiliation!  

I so loathed what I had done that I was almost completely sure I could not
be forgiven!  Yes, I became fairly convinced that the appearances of Jesus
that we were told about after his resurrection were real and that he didn't
visit us because of me. What  minuscule understanding I had then of our
Master's love!  How limited was my experience of his love that I could
think that he would restrict communication with the others because of some
problem with me! How self centered in my guilt and shame!  

No, it was necessary for Jesus to seek me out.  He had to convince me that
he knew that my words were not spoken from my whole being, my heart.  He
knew I was human and that self preservation would overcome me.  He
understood!  He never actually forgave me at that moment.  As he said, he
forgave me before I ever thought to ask, because he understood.  My great
task was to forgive myself.  And so like my brother, Paul, who called
himself the ""chief of sinners", I, Peter, the rock, experienced sifting
sand before I could once again climb up upon the true Rock of divine love.  

What Jesus wanted me to do was to stop thinking about myself, stop
wallowing in the guilt of the past and get on with the work of the Kingdom.
  "Feed my sheep", he said.  As you know, he said it three times to let me
know that instead of thinking about my failure, I was to point my face
forward and feed his flock.

That is your job, too, my dear friends.  For you are apostles by your own
acceptance of that commission.  This is the Correcting Time.  It is an epic
in Urantia's history.  You will understand how Magisterial missions,
Trinity Teacher Son missions and other spiritual ministrations are
coordinated when it is necessary for you to understand those things.  But
today I speak to you because your time has come to continue to serve our
Lord Jesus Christ as we did.  Rejoice, my dear friends, for you know so
much and the door to the Kingdom is wide open.  Invite, encourage, draw to
your hearts his sheep, that they may enter the fold and find green pasture
and still waters!  I leave you with these thoughts.  My blessing, my
encouragement I give you.  Good evening.

Group: Good evening.

Daniel(Bill): Thank you, Simon Peter, for your follow up sermon to my
teaching.  You are still a gifted preacher; I can tell.  It is our joy, my
friends,  to meet these famous people from your history, those of us who
come from far away and other planets.  I am guessing that, if appropriate,
you may have the privilege of more contact now in your mortal lives, and of
course, in your life to come.  Are there any comments you would like to
make to Peter, who is present still, or on other subjects?  If so, the time
is yours.
Ken: We are delighted, Daniel, Peter, that Peter was here to talk to us, to
share his love for the Father, and to share with us, show us an example of
true freedom.  Thank you, Peter, for being here.  It was our delight to
have you.

Peter(Bill): Thank you, Ken, for your welcome.  You heard words which
others had heard when I was still walking on this planet, for I often told
this to my friends and helped strengthen them, especially in the Jerusalem
church.  But those conversations have, of course, not been recorded.  So,
in the spirit of common apostleship, I came tonight.  Are there other
comments that you want to address to me or to Daniel?  Very well, Daniel
will conclude our meeting.  He requests that Bob transmit, if he wishes to.

Daniel(Bob S.)  I am Daniel, with you still.  My friends, how awe struck we
all are by the story of our brother, Peter.  The story of his colleague,
Paul, is equally worthy of study.  You, my friends, can learn from your
elder brothers and hopefully not have to endure what they had to experience
in order for the Master to get their attention.  I suggest, as an
assignment for the week, that you review what our textbook has to say
regarding our brothers Peter and Paul and refresh your memories as much as
necessary; but do it from your advantage of years and lessons and superior
understanding.  Yes, I say superior, for you are the product of 2,000 years
of experience which Peter and Paul did not have.  This puts us in a
position of historical significance and greater understanding.  Learn what
you can from your brothers for their story is timeless.  I will now close
tonight's meeting.  Will you stand and take each other's hands.  Our
brother Paul wishes to conclude with a word of prayer.

Paul(Bill): To You, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father, may
all honor and glory spread from shore to shore on this beautiful planet,
Urantia, so that all knees may bow, and all hearts confess that You are
Lord and Master.  We, indeed, long for the day of Your Kingdom coming in
fulness, the days of Light and Life.  Help us, and especially these my
younger brothers and sisters, always to set our faces toward that goal.  In
the name of Christ Jesus, Christ Michael, I pray.  Amen.



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