We are going to continue our study on hearing from the Lord. Today we are going to take a look at Peter.
Peter heard from God in a few different ways. He’s a great example for us.
You Are the Christ
Peter is the first disciple recorded to proclaim Jesus is the Son of God.
Matthew 16:15-17 (ESV) “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
How do you think God the Father revealed this to Peter? Did he get that revelation in his mind? Or did he just “know” it? We may not be able to know for certain, but we can know that he learned this information from God the Father.
Sometimes the Lord will give you “a knowing,” and you learn over time to discern what that knowing is about and Who it comes from.
Let’s look at another example.
Ananias and Sapphira
“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.” Acts 5:1-11 (ESV)
Crazy story, huh? How would you like to know someone like Peter, who could discern your secrets by the Holy Spirit?
How did Peter know what they had done? He says to Ananias that Satan had filled his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. That’s a clue. Peter could see these things in the spirit, knowing the truth from lies inside of Ananias’ heart! He had a knowing and a revealing by the Holy Spirit, who dwelt inside Peter, to testify to these things. Again, Peter had a “knowing.”
Are You Like Peter?
Sometimes people will show up around you, and you just know that they are being deceptive. This is called discernment, and some of you walk in high levels of discernment. You can actually grow in this, as evidenced by this verse:
“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14 (ESV)
You can grow in the “knowing” and the “powers of discernment.” Notice the word practice. It takes practice. And you can put in those hours quickly or spread out over a long period of time. Practice is like that. And we can get very good at distinguishing good from evil.
Some of you may “feel it” in the spirit. You can walk into a place and feel evil or feel peace. And others may actually be able to “smell” spiritual things. We have a friend that can smell witches. She says they smell like raw sewage, and she gets a whiff of them as they walk by. Our bodies, as the temple of the Holy Spirit, can start to pick up on spiritual realities going on around us.
One of the verses I think helps in this regard is Romans 8:11
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11 (ESV)
Part of the life given to our mortal bodies is the ability to detect spiritual things with our physical bodies.
Testimony of God’s Peace
There was a time a few years ago when I received a phone call from a friend who was anxious. This guy welcomed the spirit of anxiety fully in his life. It was as though he not only invited this spirit over for dinner, but gave it a permanent place to live. When he called and I answered the phone, I could feel this man’s anxiety through the phone. It came up on my heart and increased my heart rate. My chest tightened as I talked to this man. I was able to talk to this guy and reassure him things were going to be ok. Then I prayed for him, and this guy felt better. He thanked me and hung up the phone.
When the call ended the song, King of my Heart by Kutless resumed playing on my phone. It was then that God’s peace washed over me and pulled me up. I felt like I had to walk on my tiptoes, and I felt really light. Then I felt this amazing feeling in my gut, like I just had a really good meal. It was then that the Lord showed me this is what his peace feels like to my body. Just like my friend could physically feel the effects of the spirit of anxiety, so my body could feel the physical effects of God’s peace.
Then, later that day, we met with a prophetic friend of ours, and he told me, “God wants you to know what His peace feels like.” He prayed for me, and I felt God’s peace in an even greater way than I did before, after the phone call. And it lasted for over an hour. It felt so good! My friend said to me, “God says you can ask for this whenever you want.” And I have been ever since!
Simon the Former Sorcerer
Let’s look at another time Peter received a message for someone. We are going to look at who I like to call Simon the Former Sorcerer.
“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.’ And Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.’” Acts 8:14-19, 20-24 (ESV)
Even though Simon’s sins were completely forgiven, he was still in “the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” How is this possible? Because of Simon’s past as a magician and sorcerer. He had previously made agreements on a soul-level that needed to be broken now that he was a believer in Christ.
And how did Peter detect this gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity inside of Simon? Peter himself says, “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” Peter sees it in the spirit. Peter sees it all over Simon and calls it out. Simon asks Peter to pray for him, and Luke, the writer of Acts, doesn’t record if Peter actually did it, but I’m pretty sure he did.
Peter’s Trance
Lastly, we are going to look at a time when the Lord spoke to Peter through a trance.
“The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.” Acts 10:9-16 (ESV)
A trance could also be considered an open vision, a vision of spiritual or Heavenly things that replaces your natural vision, and you see it with your eyes open. You can also hear Heavenly things while in a trance or open vision. Many times, people will see the Lord in a vision and hear Him say things to them.
The Lord was showing Peter that the gospel is for everyone, not just the Jews. Notice that it says Peter was in prayer. Visions are a normal part of being in prayer. Remember what Joel prophesied hundreds of years prior: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” Joel 2:28-29 (ESV)
Both men and women, boys and girls will have the Spirit of the Lord poured out on them. The results will be that they will prophesy, dream spiritual dreams, and see visions. Don’t discount these things as things that no longer happen. I assure you they still do. Joel tells us this was going to happen, and he was right!
What about You?
How does the Lord speak to you? Does He give you spiritual dreams? What about visions?
Do you get a knowing or a feeling? Perhaps you have strong powers of discernment?
Do His words come into your mind, and you can’t get them out?
Does the Lord get your attention with strange and wonderful things? Have you been able to see into Heaven, like Moses and the elders did?
Maybe you don’t know how the Lord speaks to you. I encourage you to ask Him. Ask the Lord how He would like to speak to you and reveal spiritual things to you. He will start showing you. Pay attention to the interesting spiritual activities around you. Don’t just pass it off as coincidence or have a “it will never happen to me” attitude. Why not have a “hey, it could happen to me” attitude? Why not open yourself up to the Lord for Him to speak to you in the way He created you to receive from Him?
Let me close out with a couple verses that Peter wrote to us:
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV)
The Lord does still speak to his followers. Just like he did in the Old Testament with Moses. Just like he did in the New Testament with Peter. Hearing from the Lord is a good thing. We should actively engage with the Holy Spirit. This is part of that abundant life Jesus tells us about!
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