Peter

How the Holy Spirit and the Word of God Changes You

By Evelyn C. Pointer

The process of conversion

In preparation for the day of Pentecost we will be discussing how the power of the Holy Ghost and the Word of God changes you. We must all be changed.

We must become new people in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. We must be born again as Christ told Nicodemus. To be converted means to

change. First, we must change our minds, accepting the word of God as true. Then we must change our hearts as we learn to love and reverence God.

Wind, lightning, and rain are symbols of the Spirit. All three are responsible for the metamorphous of a pinecone into an evergreen

Works of the Holy Ghost

Finally we must change our actions, by submitting ourselves to the will of God and obeying his commandments. Some people believe that people do not or cannot change.

This is just not true. We change every day, from moment to moment. Our experiences change us in ways that may not be immediately apparent. But the changes that the Holy Spirit

makes in us can be astounding. The Holy Ghost is eloquent and will convince us of the truth and give us the he strength to obey God.

Fire is another symbol of the Holy Spirit. It is used to purge and causes an irreversible change in everything it contacts.

He makes you into a new person. The Holy Spirit is the Almighty Power of God and nothing can resist him. The Holy Spirit and the word of God took Peter, a simple fisherman, who was not a scholar or scribe and who was even called unlearned by the Pharisees, and who even considered himself an unworthy sinner and changed him into the leader of the Church of God. In our discussion today we will examine how the Holy Spirit changed Peter, and how the Holy Spirit will change us, and in fact must change us if we are to inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Peter’s Conversion

A different PathPeter began his life as Simon, brother to Andrew. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. Peter at times, may have said or done things that people interpret as weak or showing a lack of faith. But what Peter had was really just a lack of understanding because the Lord had not given him

understanding yet. It was to Simon that Christ said in Matthew 16: 18-19, “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall

be loosed in heaven.” The name Peter means “rock”. Christ was telling Peter that he would be placing the responsibility of the church on his shoulders. After Christ’s resurrection the Holy Ghost transformed Peter into one of the greatest and most fearless leaders of the bible.

Let us consider the Apostle Peter and how he was transformed. What was Peter like from the time when he first met Jesus Christ?

The book of John tells us about the first time that Simon Peter meets Christ. Peter’s brother Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. He heard John the Baptist say as he looked upon Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God!” Andrew and the other disciple that was with him called to Jesus and Jesus invited them to his house. But Andrew first went and got his brother Simon and brought him, telling him that they had found the Messiah. When Jesus saw Peter he told him, “Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas (or Peter), which is by interpretation a stone.”

Cephas means Stone

Fishers of Men Later after John had been put in prison Christ calls his twelve disciples. He first calls Peter and Andrew as they are fishing. The book of Luke gives us the most details and tells us how amazed and humble Peter was. Let us read Luke 5:1-11. There are a

couple of things that are very clear. Peter did not think he was worthy, and most importantly Peter, as well as all of the apostles left everything without hesitation to follow Christ, as it says in Mark 1:17-18 when he called Simon and Andrew, “And

Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.” Now let us not think that these men were so very different from us.

Taught by Jesus

They were not like John the Baptist who was filled with the Holy Ghost from the womb. They had the same fears, needs and responsibilities that we have. In fact as we study about Peter we will see that there were a lot of things that he didn’t understand, and sometimes he said things that showed that lack of understanding, and he had fears just like us. But he did something that most other people will not do. He forsook all to follow Christ. Most people find it di fficult to even be inconvenienced for the word of the Lord, much less make major sacrifices.

Jesus came to their ship walking on the water. This is found in Matthew 14:25-33. After feeding five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes, Christ told the apostles to get in a ship

and go to the other coast while he sent the people away. While they were in the ship in the middle of the sea the wind began to blow fiercely and the waves became boisterous. Then

they saw Jesus walking on the water and became afraid. Jesus told them not to be afraid because it was him. Peter said that if it was him to let him come to Jesus on the water.

Peter was taught what true faith is, as he walked with Christ. He learned these lessons step by step at Jesus’ knee, just like a child learns looking at the good example of a father. One time was when

Peter learned step by step what true faith and perfection was. He had the best teacher... Lord Jesus.

At first Peter began to walk on the water just like Jesus but then the wind was blowing so hard and the waves roaring and he began to be afraid and started sinking. Jesus reached out to him and

grabbed him and said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” This is an example to us. The roaring waves and fierce winds are the troubles in our lives. Our faith in

Jesus allows us to walk over all of these things. They will not overcome us, we will never fail as long as our faith is strong and we walk with Christ.

No one knows how to walk when they are first born...it is learned. When we first try to obey God and commit your life to God we have to learn to stand correctly. We will also get help on how to stand. The Holy Spirit will inform us when we are crooked and will show us why it is important to stay planted on the Word of God. We will be shown how to walk and the places where we must and not must walk!

Who must we reverence

When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John in the mount, they saw him talking with Moses and Elijah. Peter, afraid and not knowing what to say, said to let them build three

tabernacles, one for Christ, one for Moses and one for Elijah. The voice of the Father spoke to them from heaven, “This is my beloved son, hear ye him.” Peter and all of us learned that it is

Christ that we must reverence and worship, never a man, not even men so righteous and honored as Moses and Elijah. Many people prefer to look to someone they can feel and

and touch. They believe the things these men say even if it is in direct contradiction of the Holy Scriptures. Close to the time of the crucifixion, Jesus began to warn the apostles of what was

going to happen. They didn’t understand. They thought that the Messiah was going to return Israel to its former glory. Peter told Christ, “No Lord, let it be far from thee”. Christ spoke

strongly to Peter, knowing his fear was from the devil. He said, “Get thee behind me Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Lessons in Obedience, Worship and Faith

Walking like Jesus

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Christ obeyed

the will of the Father. He taught Peter, as well as all of us that we must sacrifice the things and desires of this life. We also know that he told Peter later that he would die for the word of God. By that

time Peter was full of the Holy Ghost and understood that it was an honor for him to suffer like Christ. We must all make sacrifices and in taking up our cross we must go through a portion of the suffering of Jesus.

When Christ washed the disciple’s feet, initially Peter tried to refuse because he felt it was beneath Christ’s dignity to wash his feet. Christ explained that if he didn’t wash his feet he had no part with him. Peter then said not only his feet but his head

and his hands! But Christ explained that he would be clean every whit with only his feet washed. He went on to explain that as he was our Lord and Master and washed our feet that we should be like

him and wash our brother’s feet. Foot washing represents the good service, brotherly love and acts of righteousness that we do on behalf of our brothers with meekness and humility.

Crucifixion

At Christ’s crucifixion we see Peter deny Christ three times, even after telling him he would die with him. Peter was terrified. His own death was before his face. If he had admitted to being a servant of Christ he would have been put to death. Please don’t assume you would have been stronger than Peter because you would not. All strength comes from God and Peter was not given the strength to confess that he was Christ’s disciple at the crucifixion. It was not the will of the Father or of Christ that Peter would be put to death at that time. When the cock crew Jesus turned to look at Peter and Peter wept bitterly. This was the worst time of Peter’s life. He was full of self loathing.

After Christ’s resurrection we see that Peter became stronger. Christ had appeared before the disciples at least three times over the span of about forty days. Peter steps forward as leader of the church of 120. They came together and cast lots and

chose another disciple to be one of the 12 to replace Judas Iscariot. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost fell on the church, Peter is able to speak boldly to the people and to the Pharisees and leaders who mocked. He spoke with authority, understanding

the Holy Scripture from the very beginning and explained how all of the prophets had prophesied about the coming of Jesus. Peter was never weak or fearful again.

During this time we see the Peter change. He was no longer a spiritual babe.. On the Pentecost the Holy Spirit had transformed him and just like iron that is purified to make sure the impurities are gone--he was no longer weak or wavering in faith.

Peter

In the name of Christ he baptized the church, performed miracles. He became bishop of the church of God. He never failed or faltered. He left his teachings for us for all generations. He suffered, was imprisoned, was beaten and finally was put to death for the word of God. He became a different person through the power of the Holy Spirit. We must remember that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We can change and become new people. We may be weak now, but if we walk with Christ he becomes our strength and we will not fail. If we fall he will lift us up, just like he did Peter.