Once, before the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, a great crowd of people, so great that they could not be numbered, gathered to see and hear Him. He taught them, and among other things told them that if they should ever be brought before the Jewish teachers and leaders and other officials and powers, they must not be anxious beforehand as to what they should say to defend themselves, for the Holy Spirit would teach them at the time what they should say. You may read about this in Luke 12:4-12.

In Acts 3 and 4, you will read of one of the occasions after the resurrection and ascension of the Lord, on which this happened just as He had foretold. Peter and John, going one day to the temple, saw in the gate a man about forty years old, who had been lame from the time that he was born. The two apostles, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, raised him to his feet and healed him. This caused the greatest excitement among the people. The lame man took hold of the two apostles and with them entered the courtyard of the temple. The people ran together to see the two apostles who had performed this astonishing miracle, and seeing this great gathering who looked with awe and admiration upon the two, Peter then preached to them telling them that they two did not have the power to heal, but that the power was from the Lord Jesus Christ whom the Jews had crucified. And he urged them to repent of the great sin they had committed. Many people did so, and became followers of the Lord, that is, Christians.

The excitement in the temple courts of course attracted the attention of the priests and the captain of the temple, and of the Sadducees (these latter were the sect who denied that man rises again after the death of the material body). They arrested Peter and John, and the next morning brought them before the high priests and priests. Among these were Caiaphas and Annas, the very men before whom the Lord had been tried, falsely accused, mocked and sentenced to be crucified.

You will remember that when Jesus had been arrested, Peter had followed him into the palace of the high priest, and there had three times denied that he knew the Lord. Then he became bitterly sorry for what he had done.

Now he was going to have the chance, in this same palace, and indeed before the high priests and all the priests, to make up for what he had done, and thus show that he truly repented. For it is not enough to be sorry when we have done anything wrong, we must stop doing the wrong when we have the chance of doing it again. Now, instead of denying, Peter would confess the Lord Jesus in the high priest's palace, just as he had done in the temple courts. How thankful he must have been to the Lord for this opportunity to repent!

While Peter and John spent the night in prison, it is very likely that they did not feel afraid, nor did they lie awake all night puzzling and studying out what they were going to be asked, or what kind of a speech they themselves ought to make; for the Lord had told them "not to be afraid of them that killed the body," and had promised that the Holy Spirit would teach them what they ought to say.

Probably the priests thought that the two apostles had performed the miracle by means of magic; for, while they denied the Lord and His power, yet they believed in the power of magic. And so, when the two apostles were brought before them, they asked them, "By what power" or "by what name," that is, by what kind of incantation, by calling up what evil spirit, they had done it.

According to the Lord's promise, Peter "was filled with the Holy Spirit," and boldly told them, and wanted "all the people of Israel" to know, that they had done this good deed "by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead."

Read the whole story. You will find it intensely interesting.

It is well for us to know that the Lord's promise was fulfilled literally. But the Lord's words are Divine and eternal. They apply all the time. Is, then, the Lord still with us at the present day? Does He help us and enable us to say what is necessary and right at all times? Yes. But we must be prepared for it. Remember that Peter had been with the Lord for three years, learning from Him all the time, seeing the wonders that He did; and, with the other eleven, he had even gone forth and preached and performed miracles by the Lord's command, while He was still with them on earth.

Peter had been on the Mount of Transfiguration. He had been in the garden of Gethsemane with the Lord. He had passed through the bitter experience of denying the Lord, thus seeing how weak he was of himself, and that he needed the Lord to make him strong.

In all these ways Peter had been prepared to do the Lord's work. He had good things in his heart and true things in his head. In other words, his will and his understanding had been prepared by the Lord, so that he could receive the Holy Spirit right, and then when the test came, the Holy Spirit could give him the right words to say.

The Holy Spirit is a Divine influence that goes into the will and understanding of men, just as the sunshine with its heat and light goes into the plants, be these plants grasses like wheat and rye, or bushes like the berry bushes, or vines like the grapevines, or trees like the apple and peach and orange trees. But grasses do not bring forth apples; nor orange trees, rye. The sunshine produces fruit in each according to the inner structure, or "form" of the grass, bush, vine or tree.

It is exactly that way with the heavenly sunshine; the good and truth coming from the Lord. This produces thoughts and words, or loves and deeds, according to the "form" of man's mind. For this reason we must all have our minds formed. And in order that your minds may be formed right, so as to receive the Holy Spirit in a becoming manner and bring forth good fruit, not bitter and poisonous fruit, the Lord has made you so that it takes you about twenty years to grow up, during which time you can be constantly trained to think what is true and love what is good - trained to look to the Lord in everything, and shun evils and falsities as sins against Him - trained, moreover, to love to be of use, and to know how to perform uses (or engage in business) sincerely, honestly, justly and well. Then you can perform spiritual miracles; that is, you can make slow and lame affections in you move in a healthy and quick manner.

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