“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are constantly moulding and shaping us into Your character and nature. You are dealing with every area of our lives both which is visible and those which are not visible. We give ourselves to You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said.
The disciples were gathered together in one accord, in prayer and supplication. Peter stood up among them and addressed the issue of filling the place of Judas Iscariot. The person had to be one who had been part of the ministry of the Lord from the baptism of John till the time He was taken up from them. This was an important decision considering that the task for them was to be His witnesses and bring people to faith in Jesus. The matter that immediately captures our mind is that it was Peter who stood up and took charge to address this issue. We will remember immediately that this was Peter, who had denied the Lord. He had vehemently affirmed that he was willing to lay down his life for Christ. This was Peter who went back to fishing. All of these and many more incidents, regarding Peter, would flash across our minds. This very same Peter is now a different person. He was now taking charge of the situation and giving direction to the disciples. Was this not the work of the Holy Spirit in Peter? Surely it was.
Psalms 32:5 ‘ I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah’. Simon Peter experienced the forgiveness of his sin. He confessed, he repented and he was forgiven. This was a wonderful experience for Peter. The baggage of his old life was not weighing on him and he stood up before the other disciples, as a man forgiven by God. Just like Simon Peter, each of us must experience forgiveness from Jesus. Let us come back to God and be healed just as Peter was healed of his inner struggles and we see him demonstrating confident leadership.
King David too experienced forgiveness and healing from his sin, which is the experience that he is making known to us. Psalms 51:9-13 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. (10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (11) Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. (12) Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. (13) Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You’. We can have forgiveness, healing, restoration and the joy of the Holy Spirit. When we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit does come and take residence in us and we see the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. At the same time, we must be conscious that the Lord had commanded the disciples to first be baptised by the Holy Spirit before they began the work of being His witnesses. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a definite experience that took place at a particular time and place and they continued being filled with the Holy Spirit, repeatedly.
Luke 22:31-32 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. (32) But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” The Lord was praying for Simon Peter. We understand that the devil is active. There is an engagement that is taking place in the heavenly realms of which we are not fully aware. Satan is piling up his arsenal against the church, you and me. The Lord is praying for each of us and for the church as a whole that our faith in Him should not fail in all circumstances.
Since the Lord is praying for us, is it not simple for us to reach out to Him, in the times of our temptations and overcome the evil one? The Lord also told Peter that his task was to strengthen the brethren. As we read our text for today about Peter standing up and taking charge of the situation, we can see how beautifully, God’s purposes for Peter were unfolding. John 21:15-17 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” (16) He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” (17) He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. Simon’s love for Jesus was to be seen in his caring for the flock of God. This is what we see Simon doing now as he initiated the process of having a replacement for Judas.
“Each of us can place ourselves in Simon’s place, be forgiven, healed, restored and also fulfil God’s purpose of our lives.”