Ten days after the Lord ascended, the Day of Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit descended. Peter then stood up with the eleven and delivered a powerful message full of Scripture and full of Christ in His rejection – and in His glory. Thousands, of all nationalities, heard the message, and of these three thousand were broken down and converted.
In the days following Peter plays a prominent role in the spread of the gospel, attended with miracles wrought in the Name of the Lord. Peter preached as a man in love with his Lord and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Such a presentation of the risen Lord still works miracles in men’s lives today. The cripple begging at the Beautiful Gate received something better than silver or gold. This occasion presented Peter with the opportunity for yet another powerful message; ‘You … killed the Prince of life … God raised him from the dead’. It was clear that it was through His name that this man was made whole. Here was a positive declaration of the gospel, in hostile surroundings. Such preaching is still effective in bringing men to Christ. Peter also faced problems among the assemblies, as evidenced in the case of Ananias and Sapphira who conspired against the Holy Spirit. Both fell down dead at Peter’s feet, and as a result great fear came on all the church and many more were added to the Lord. Simon the sorcerer tried to purchase the gift of God with money while in the gall of bitterness. On a number of occasions Peter was imprisoned and had a remarkable release due in part to the prayers of the Lord’s people.
One of the last records we read of him concerns the sad occasion at Antioch when he was rebuked by Paul for his failure to stand against the Judaisers in the church. Peter’s was a rich life, lived for God with enthusiasm and in the power of the Spirit. His feelings about his experiences are not lost to us for they are handed down in the two epistles which bear his name. These are full of sound advice clearly based on his relations with the Lord; e.g. the one who was associated with the question ‘Carest thou not that we perish?’, now offers the solution to all fear, ‘Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you’.
