Make Known With Boldness

"With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." Ephesians 6:18-20

What is behind the transformation of the Apostle Peter? Peter could easily be described as someone who spoke boldly but was quite the opposite in his actions. His denial of Jesus Christ is a prime example of this. In Matthew 26:31-35 it says, "Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same." Peter confidently denies what Jesus predicts will happen. It is as if Peter is trying to put up a front before God and the Lord sees right through it. Was Peter trying to convince himself that he would not deny Jesus or appear bold before Him like a child showing off in front of a parent? As history would have it, Peter would go on to fulfill the prediction of Jesus. Shortly after Jesus was arrested, Peter was confronted in a courtyard. "Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!” After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly (Matthew 26: 9-75)." We can all empathize with Peter. All of us seek approval and acceptance from others in our own, unique ways. It is a way for us to express our desire to be something we are not in hopes that we can achieve some sort of meaning for our lives. When we see Peter weeping, it makes me wonder if it was solely because he had denied Jesus after boldly saying he never would or a combination of that and the humbling confirmation that he was not as bold as he proclaimed to be.

Suddenly, this seems to all change for Peter. After Jesus' death, resurrection, and the receiving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter changes. In Acts 2, just after God gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples, Peter turns to address the crowd in attendance. Acts 2:14 begins, "Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd ..." After the conclusion of his speech, it says, "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day (Acts 2:41)." In less than a couple of months, Peter went from a fearful, cowering, and disheartened disciple of Jesus Christ to a bold proclaimer of His Gospel; converting thousands. The fact that scripture tells us that Peter "stood up" says a lot. He was sitting down and took the initiative to stand up and become, arguably, the first Christian in history to proclaim the Gospel. This says a lot about his transformation. Peter went from frightened to fearless. From running away to standing firm. From saying, "I don't know the man" to "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:36).” This change can be directly attributed to the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is the restoration of the life of God. On the Day of Pentecost, God gave the promised Holy Spirit that Jesus testified of prior to His death. In John 16:7, Jesus said, "But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." The "benefit" of Jesus "going away" is so He could send us the "Advocate," otherwise known as the Holy Spirit, to indwell us as He did back in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall. It is in the receiving of the Holy Spirit that makes us alive to God once again. We then have the capability and desire to proclaim the truth about God and His message of salvation. Peter went from an unforgiven, spiritually dead, follower of Jesus Christ to a forgiven, spiritually alive Apostle of Jesus Christ. He had become what the Apostle Paul would later describe as someone who would "make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel." That mystery is "Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)." The God that Peter denied was now living within him and proclaiming His message of forgiveness and eternal life to the world. The mystery has been revealed to the world and has been accepted by every born again believer in Jesus Christ. Everything is available for us to be a bold, confident, and uncompromising witness for Jesus Christ. We can know what it is to stand up before the crowd, like Peter, and tell them about the love of God and all that He offers them through faith in Jesus Christ.