Lessons from the Life of Peter: Peter’s Power

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.” Acts 4:8-10

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!” Acts 5:29

Even his fellow apostles could hardly believe it. At every critical moment, God was using Peter to define what He was doing and to bring salvation to thousands of people.

When some in the crowd on the day of Pentecost had accused the apostles of being drunk, Peter had stood up and quieted them with an exposition on one of Joel’s ancient prophecies. After he and John had been arrested for their proclamation of the Gospel, Peter boldly preached the Good News to the whole Sanhedrin.

Far from being fearful, or even cowed, he was totally confident in the face of their withering questions. When the apostles had been confronted another time by the Sanhedrin, Peter led them all in proclaiming that they would obey God rather than men.

Yes, he who had fled from the Garden in terror, and denied Jesus three times out of fear, was now the leader of them all.

How could this pompous, bragging, hard-headed sailor be transformed into one of church history’s greatest leaders? After all, this was the same man who had been rebuked on the Mount of Transfiguration for his presumption, and compared to Satan when he tried to tell Jesus that He didn’t need to die on the cross.

Although there are many factors involved in Peter’s amazing transformation, I only want to examine three which I believe to be the most critical.

First, Peter had been broken. Jesus talked about this type of brokenness in Matthew 21:44 when He said, “He who falls on this stone [Jesus] will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

In other words, as a person submits to Christ in the midst of their trials and difficulties, those places of hardness and obstinacy in their souls are shattered. Sadly, if they do not submit to Christ, these very same places can leave them bruised or even crushed.

Peter was a boorish, conceited man when he began his walk with Jesus, but his many rebukes, failure in the Garden, and three denials had left him a broken man. The broken pieces of Peter’s life were reconstructed, however, and Peter became the “rock” which the early church would so desperately need.

Second, Peter’s brokenness prepared him for the second phase of God’s dealings: emptiness. Paul says of Jesus in Philippians 4:7 that He made Himself nothing, or emptied Himself.

Unlike Jesus, who was sinless, it took a great deal of brokenness for Peter to truly begin the process of emptying himself. Once it began, however, the pride, self-will, and stubbornness which had bound Peter’s soul for years began to dissipate slowly, but surely.

Third, once he was emptied, the process of being filled with the power and might of the Holy Spirit could begin. The Peter who stood up after the day of Pentecost wasn’t just a man filled with the Holy Spirit; he was a completely different man than he had ever been before.

His confrontation by Jesus on the beach after the second miraculous catch had continued the process of working much-needed humility into his heart. This humility gave Peter the foundation he needed to contain the incredible outpouring of the Spirit which would be his in the days to come.

Do you see? Peter’s spiritual journey to maturity is probably going to be the same general pathway as yours. No matter how much you have failed, or how hardened your soul may be, God is well able to bring you through the brokenness you are experiencing.

As you respond to Him, you will find yourself being emptied of your problems so that you can be filled with His power.

Never forget, the same God who transformed Peter is able to transform you!

© Copyright 2005 by Jim Laffoon