Thursday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 14, 2022 by under
Scripture: Acts 4:1-12 (NKJV)
4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Devotion
Several weeks ago, on May 15, 2022 to be exact, the Church celebrated Cantate – The Fourth Sunday after Easter. We heard Jesus tell His disciples that He would go away and send “the Helper”, the Holy Spirit. In today’s reading from Acts we hear of the Holy Spirit in action, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit…”
What followed when Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit”? Did Peter begin to gyrate, as we sometimes see people do who claim to be “filled with the Holy Spirit”? Did being “filled with the Holy Spirit” cause Peter to collapse because he was smitten?
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said…” He “said”! Now, when Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit,” did he begin to speak incoherently, claiming he was speaking in tongues? No! What did Peter say? He spoke exactly as Jesus said in the Cantate Gospel from John 16. “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).
Guided by the Holy Spirit, Peter spoke the truth of Jesus Christ, who was crucified and risen from the dead. Where is one to look for salvation? Peter made it quite clear, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Prayer: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
