1

22

Activated-Chinese

P.O. Box 2-160Tam Shui P.O., Taipei County 251Taiwan R.O.C.info@activated-chinese.orgwww.activated-chinese.org

Activated Ministries

P.O. Box 462805Escondido, CA 92046-2805USAactivatedUSA@activated.org(1-877) 862-3228 (toll-free)

Activated Europe

Bramingham Pk. Business Ctr.Enterprise WayBramingham ParkLuton, Beds. LU3 4BU, EnglandactivatedEurope@activated.org(07801) 442-317

Activated Africa

P.O. Box 2150 Westville 3630 South Africa activatedAfrica@activated.org 083 55 68 213

Activated India

G.P.O. Box 5215Bangalore - 560 001 India

activatedIndia@activated.org

2002 Aurora Production, Ltd.

All Rights Reserved

Activated Magazine No. 3 [Traditional Chinese]

3

“

He who

loses money

loses much.

He who

loses friends

loses more.

But he who

loses faith

loses all.

4

One of the most illustrious per-sonalities in the entire Bible is

Simon Bar-Jona, commonly known to-day as Saint Peter the Apostle. Oneof Jesus’ first disciples, Peter was avery colorful character—a rough andrugged fisherman bursting with en-ergy and ready for action.

During his years under Jesus’ personalleadership and teaching, Peter often pushedhis way around like the proverbial bull in achina shop. By far the most outspoken ofthe twelve apostles, he did not hesitate tospeak his mind or do whatever he thoughtshould be done, with little thought of theconsequences. Men of force are men offaults, and Peter’s strong personality, self-con-fidence and forceful opinions of how thingsshould be done often resulted in him mak-ing serious blunders.

H o w e v e r , s h o r t l y a f t e r J e s u s ’resurrection, Peter underwent a dramaticchange. This transformation is what our storyis about. We begin at the closing hours ofJesus’ ministry on Earth, at the last supperthat He ate with His disciples on the eve ofHis crucifixion.

“Before the cock crows … ”

Knowing that He would soon suffer tor-ture and death for the sins of the world,Jesus looked upon His disciples and said,“You will all be offended and leave Me thisnight. For as it was foretold, ‘I will smite theshepherd, and the sheep of the flock shallbe scattered.’” (See Zechariah 13:7.)

Upon hearing this, Peter impulsivelyproclaimed, “Though all men desert You, yetI will not!”

Aware of what was to come, Jesusanswered, “Before the cock crows, you willhave denied Me three times.”

pe te r ’ st r ans f o rma t i on

5

Peter was offended at such a predictionand even more adamantly insisted, “ThoughI should die with You, yet will I not denyYou!” The other disciples quickly joined in,affirming with Peter that they, too, wouldstand by Jesus come what may.

But to Peter’s horror, Jesus’ predictionwas soon fulfilled. That very night, as Jesuswas in the Garden of Gethsemane prayingwith His disciples, a band of temple guards,sent by the chief priests and rel igiousleaders, came with a large crowd carryingswords, clubs and torches. They seized Jesus,who, knowing His time had come, peace-fully went with them, alone. Jesus’ disciplespanicked at His arrest, quickly forgot theirvows of loyalty, and fled for their lives intothe night.

As Jesus was taken away to be tried bya religious court hastily assembled at thehigh priest’s house, Peter followed andwatched from a distance. In the courtyardoutside the house, a woman noticed the dis-traught and nervous Peter and asked, “Aren’tyou one of that man’s disciples?”

“No! I’m not!” Peter’s reply was deliber-ately brusque.

Moments later, as Peter stood warminghimself by the fire the night guards had built,a man who had been present when Jesuswas captured pointed to Peter and loudlyquestioned him, “Didn’t I see you in theGarden of Gethsemane with Him?”

“I swear I don’t know the man!” Peteranswered.

Soon others standing around joined inthe accusation: “You are one of them! Wecan tell by your accent that you’re fromGalilee, just like Jesus. You must be one ofHis disciples!”

6

Fearing for his life, Peter became evenmore vehement. “I don’t know what you’retalking about! I don’t even know this Jesuscharacter!” he insisted.

Peter had barely finished his third de-nial when a rooster began to crow. Atthat moment, Jesus, who was being ledby His captors through the courtyard toanother building, turned and looked di-rectly at Peter. Immediately Peter recalledJesus’ words, “Before the cock crows, youwill have denied Me three times.”

Overcome with remorse at what he’ddone, Peter stumbled out of the court-yard and into the night. Finally he sankto the ground and wept bitterly.

The promise of power

The next morning Jesus was led offand crucified.

His disciples, fearing for their lives,went into hiding. But three days after Hiscrucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead andreappeared to His disciples in their hid-ing place. Lovingly, He forgave Peter andthe others for their fears and denials, andHis words f i l led them with renewedstrength and faith.

Fo r f o r t y d a y s f o l l o w i n g H i sresurrection, Jesus continued to appear toHis disciples, to encourage them and ex-plain the mission before them. On thefortieth day, just before ascending intoHeaven, He instructed them to return toJerusalem and wait for “the promise ofMy Father.” (See Luke 24:49.) The great-est transformation of their lives was aboutto happen.

The apostles returned to Jerusalemand, with over 120 other followers andtheir wives and children, prayed andwaited together, as Jesushad ins t r uc ted . T he i rprayers were answeredten days later, with a sud-den and awesome mani-festation of God’s power.Saint Luke later wrote: “Asound like the rushing ofa mighty wind filled thewhole house where theywere, and they saw thea p p e a r a n c e o f m a n ytongues of fire that restedupon every one of them.And they all were filled

7

with the Holy Spirit, and began to speakin other tongues [languages] as the Spiritenabled them” (Acts 2:2-4, NIV).

This was it! This was what they’d beenwaiting for—supernatural strength fromthe Lord to empower them to continueHis work, now that He had departed!Suddenly, the fear, worry, and inabilityto act on their convictions was gone. Peter,transformed by the supernatural powerof the Holy Spirit, led the disciples inone of the most spectacular evangelisticexperiences of all time!

A miraculous change

The Jewish Feast of the Harvest, amajor religious festival, was being cel-ebrated in the streets of Jerusalem, andJewish pilgrims from many nations hadcome for the annual event. Peter steppedinto the street with the other disciples—having just been filled to overflowing withthe Holy Spirit—and they all supernatu-rally began to speak fluently in the for-eign languages of the multitudes visitingJerusalem that day, each in a languagethey had never learned or spoken before!As news of the miracle spread throughthe city, multitudes quickly gathered.Boldly, the disciples proclaimed to thecrowds the wonderful news of God’s loveand salvation through Jesus.

Peter climbed the steps of a nearbybuilding, raised his hands, and shoutedto the enormous crowd. A hush fell overthem all. He spoke to them with such au-thority and conviction that 3,000 not onlybelieved in Jesus and received Him as theirsavior, but committed themselves that veryday to become disciples of Christ!

Here was a man who had acted in socowardly a manner after the arrest of Jesusthat he had denied Him threetimes. Now he stood beforethousands, in the very citywhere Jesus had been arrested,tried, and executed less thantwo months earlier, boldly pro-claiming God’s message to all!

Peter had changed, just asthe Lord had prayed he would.(See Luke 22:32.)

What caused this suddentransformation? The super-natural power and might ofthe Holy Spirit!

Vocabulary List:

1. illustrious

2. proverbial

3. blunders

4. resurrection

5. crucifixion

6. deliberately

7. mission

8. manifestation

9. spectacular

10. proclaim

8

➠

➠

➠

➠

“

8

9

YOUR NEW

LIFE OF LOVEHoly Spirit Power—It Can Happen to You!

Be filled to overflowing!Everyone who receives God’s gift of eter-

nal life by praying to ask Jesus into their hearthas also received a measure of the Holy Spirit.But receiving the complete infilling, or whatthe Bible calls “baptism” of the Holy Spirit,is usually a separate experience that happensafter you have received Jesus.

A g lass of water makes a g oodillustration. A glass may not be full, but ifit even has some water in it, it’s still a glassof water. That’s how a lot of Christiansare. They have just a little bit of God’s Spirit.

Being baptized with the Holy Spirit islike filling the glass to overflowing. Jesus said,“He who believes in Me, as the Scripturehas said, out of his heart will flow rivers ofliving water” (John 7:38). In the next verseJohn explains, “But this He spoke concern-ing the [Holy] Spirit, whom those believingin Him would receive” (John 7:39).

Tap into the power!The primary purpose of the Holy

Spirit is to help you share God’s messageand love with others. Being filled with theHoly Spirit also helps you greatly in yourpersonal relationship with the Lord. It givesyou a stronger contact with Him and bet-ter communication through prayer, as wellas much deeper understanding when youread God’s Word.

And one of the most wonderful thingsabout it is that you, too, can be filled withthe Holy Spirit of God—right now!

All you have to do i s ask . Likesalvation, you can’t earn it or be goodenough to deserve it. It’s a gift. Then,whether you feel any change or not, youwill know that you have received it be-cause of His promise. (See Luke 11:13.)

Receive the Holy Spirit now by pray-ing this simple prayer:

“Dear Jesus, please fill me to overflow-ing with Your Holy Spirit so that I can loveYou more, follow You more closely, andhave greater power to tell others aboutYour love and salvation. Amen.”

9

10

11

Check out activated online at

www.activated-chinese.orgactivated

12

AN INSTANT

ANSWER!

13

14

“

15

Once upon a t ime

t h e r e w a s alittle girl whospent her dayssitting beside apond watchinga frog on a lilypad. Now thelittle girl knewthat the f rogwas probablya prince. Andthe frog, whowas indeed apr ince , knewthat the l i tt legirl could kissh i s nose andb r e a k t h emagic spell thathad been castupon him by awicked witch.But the little girlon the bank ofthe pond wastoo shy to be-gin a conversation with a frog,and the frog could simply notbring himself to tell her howbadly he wanted her to kiss hisnose. So the little girl went onsitting there watching the frog,and that is the end of the story.

16

--