In the second chapter of Acts, there is a most amazing story. What is amazing is that under circumstances that would have caused him to run and hide just a few days before, a man boldly stands up and says things that could get him killed. But this time he speaks with such authority and power that no one dares to touch him.
The story becomes even more amazing in the third, fourth, and fifth chapters of Acts, when this man openly defies the authorities, and the authorities don’t dare to touch him. He is put in jail but mysteriously escapes without even the guards knowing it. In fact, people have such high opinion of this man that they bring all their sick, lame, and blind and line them up on the street in hopes that just the shadow of this man might fall on their sick and lame. And believe it or not, they were all healed!
What is so amazing is that this “new” behavior was not “normal” for this man. Let’s look at his record of accomplishments up to the time that this strange story begins to unfold.
Peter's Story
The man we are talking about is Peter. He does not have a very impressive record when he is mentioned, More times than not, it is because of his failures. Think of the time when Jesus was walking on the water. A bold Peter stood up and said, “Master, if it is really you, bid me come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28 KJV)
Jesus bid him come and Peter stepped out of the Boat, took one look at the water, and began to sink, As a reward for this great lapse of faith Jesus said to him, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31 AMP)
Then there was the time when Jesus asked Peter to pray with Him. But what did Peter and the others do? They slept. “Peter,” Jesus said, “are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake just one hour?” (Mark 14:37 CSB)
Then when Jesus was on trial for his life, what did Peter do? The others just ran away out of fear. Peter walked right into the courtyard and swore he never knew Jesus.
What happened when Jesus was crucified? Where were Peter and the others then? They were hiding. They were afraid. They wouldn’t come near the cross.
Peter Had Doubts and Fears
Much has been made of the story of “doubting Thomas,” but was Thomas the only doubter? By no means. What happened when Mary Magdalene ran to tell the hiding Disciples that Jesus was alive, and that she had seen Him? “They…believed not.”
When Jesus did appear to the disciples, did they readily believe it was him? No. He had to prove it was really himself, in spite of the fact that He (Jesus) had taught them about all that the prophets had spoken concerning his death and resurrection. They did not believe it when it actually happened. He had to say to them, “Look at my hands and feet. I am really me. Feel me, and see that I am real, that I have flesh and bones just like you have.” (Luke 24:39 paraphrased from the NLT)
The only problem with Thomas, who gets all the blame for doubting, is that he wasn’t there, with the others. And the other disciples also had to have proof that Jesus was real.
Getting back to Peter, just knowing that Jesus was alive did not change Peter. As a matter of fact, not only Peter, but the others pretty much believed that it was all over, and it was time to go back to fishing.
How then, do we account for the fact that we find Peter standing tall in front of all his enemies, and saying to them, “You killed the Son of God,” but God has raised Him up, and we are witnesses to it? Not only that, but Jesus is now at the right hand of God, exalted. Because God has made him both Lord and Christ.
How do we account for the fact that at the end of that speech 3000 souls gladly received the word, and were baptized?
How do we account for the fact that Peter and John walk to the temple, heal a lame man in the name of Jesus, and then proclaim to all the people, in the presence of the priests and pharisees who killed Jesus – proclaim to them all, that Jesus is Lord – and this time 5,300 believe!
How do you account for the fact that Peter is called in front of the officials who killed Jesus, and he stands up and tells them that Jesus is Lord, and that there is no salvation in any other name but Jesus? Was that the same scared Peter who ran away, and who denied even knowing Jesus because he was so scared?
An Encounter With The Holy Spirit
What happened to Peter? What changed him into a man bold enough to speak up, and filed with such power that the authorities stood in awe of him, such power that just his shadow was enough to heal people? What happened to Peter?
Peter had an experience.
The power to stand up and speak out came through an experience – not through training or learning but through an experience.
The faith to take the hand of a lame man and pronounce him healed in the name of Jesus came through an experience.
The fearlessness in front of the authorities to whom he “told it like it is” came from an experience.
Peter had been to the upper room where something happened. Peter received something in that upper room that made all the difference in the world.
In the Upper Room
Let’s examine the account of that upper room experience:
What did Peter receive? Was it speaking in tongues? Yes. But did that make the difference? No, because speaking in tongues – or in a prayer language – is not enough to change a man. It is a beautiful religious experience. It brings peace and joy and the knowledge that you can now ask the holy spirit to pray through you when you get stuck for words, or don’t know how to pray properly for yourself. But it doesn’t change a coward into a fearless man. It doesn’t heal a lame man. It doesn’t open prison doors,
What did Peter receive? Peter received power. He received power and authority. The difference in Peter was the empowering by the holy spirit. People listened to Peter, not because he was a great speaker, but because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in power.
Listen again to what Jesus promised: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” and “ye shall be witnesses unto me.” (Acts 1:8 KJV) In other words, Jesus told them, “ye shall produce the evidence that I am who I said that I am.” The Son of the Living God.
The difference in Peter did not stem from special man-made qualifications, no special training that somehow turned him into a spiritual giant. He was an ordinary person, a fisherman. Yet, here he was, stepping forth before the doctors of the law, before the super religious priests – and he did it clothed in the authority and power of heaven itself.
An ordinary man became extra-ordinary under the power of God. He was transformed through the power of The Holy Spirit!
It happened to Peter. It can and it must happen to us.
God's Desire It To Empower You With The Holy Spirit
God is calling each of us to do what Peter did: To put ourselves in the place where we can be empowered like Peter and the others were. Don’t forget that there were 120 people in that upper room who were filled with power and authority. We only hear about a few of them. But we know that they were all using that power and authority because of the rapid growth of the church and the tremendous favor it had with men.
In this day in which we live, the powerless will end up suffering, always the victim of life, but the power-filled will walk through prison doors into real freedom – the freedom of God’s very own children.
