With that, Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, let loose: “Rulers and leaders of the people, if we have been brought to trial today for helping a sick man, put under investigation regarding this healing, I’ll be completely frank with you—we have nothing to hide. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of his name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is ‘the stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.’ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.”
They couldn’t take their eyes off them—Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realized these two were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education. They recognized them as companions of Jesus, but with the man right before them, seeing him standing there so upright—so healed!—what could they say against that?
Acts 4:8-14 The Message (MSG)
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We experience God's power through His Spirit. When Jesus ascended to the Father, those who believed were promised that the continuous presence of the Holy Spirit would fill them with power from Heaven (Luke 24:49). This is something else that our finite minds can't really comprehend until we see the Holy Spirit at work. It is then we tend to be the most thankful and believing. It is difficult to take credit for something wonderful that happens to us when we know in our hearts we had absolutely nothing to do with it. We try to make sense of it but something deep inside our hearts blocks our attempts to rationalize a miracle. It is so much easier at times like these to give God praise and thanks. Wonder and awe is good, but trust and belief is even better. Obedience and faith please Him greatly. Although we weren't created to totally understand it all just yet, we are blessed to be recipients of God's grace.
We are not left to our own devices when we put our trust in God. Jesus did not make empty promises. His instructions were recorded and have endured the tests of time as has no other written Word. The Holy Spirit helps us to discern and rightly divide the Word of Truth, when we rely upon His help. We can easily be in agreement with the Word when we know for ourselves what God tells us in the Bible. The way to know for ourselves is to read it and allow the Holy Spirit to do His job of guiding us through it. As we do, this is the power that speaks for us to an unbelieving world (Mark 13:11).
Those ordinary, uneducated fishermen God used to change the world did not represent themselves. They followed and believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. That same power sent from Heaven to indwell their hearts was the Holy Spirit and it is available to everyone else who follows Him today.
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