A MIGHTY ENTRANCE 131in you an unexpected confidence.
When I traveled to the Vatican in Rome to meet the
pope, I thought I would be nervous. But it didn't happen
because I was so full of my subject. And among the Vatican
leaders I sensed a hunger for things of the Spirit.
Peter the Mighty
Peter was facing more than the priests of the temple. He
was actually up against the government of Israel. In fact the
night before he was permitted to address the priests, he and
John were thrown in jail. But when he spoke, the words
were hard-hitting. He told them the Lord was "the 'stone
which was rejected by you builders, which has become the
chief cornerstone'" (Acts 4:11). It was a direct quotation of
Psalm 118:22.
Was this the same Peter who, a few weeks before, in the
same place, before the same people, had been cowed by the
sneer of a girl and had denied his Master? Now here he
was, filled with the Spirit, in utter fearlessness, defying the
murderers of Jesus.
It was no longer Peter the meek. It was Peter the
mighty. What a change the Spirit made!
So great was this fellowship with the Holy Ghost that
Peter directly challenged Ananias. He said: "Ananias, why
has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?" (Acts
5:3). Peter's words and God's actions were so forceful that
"great fear came upon all those who heard these things" (v.
5).
HIS CLOSENESS TO US
I can tell you from personal experience that there comes
a point where fellowship of the Spirit becomes so real, so
deep, and so great that your words and actions conform to