No Other Rock

But Peter . . . lifted up his voice. ~ Acts 2:14

First, I have to ask the question: What is Pentecostal Preaching?

I did a quick search, and I found an interview with George Wood on the Southwestern Assemblies of God University in which he says: “The first Pentecostal sermon preached by Peter was one that initiated a response. I think that Pentecostal preaching speaks with passion . . . There obviously is an edge in Pentecostal preaching if we’re honest and humble about it” [source: sagu.edu].

In today’s devotion, Baxter talks about that sermon Peter gave. He mentions how Peter had very little in his favor in doing so. He was charging his audience with an awful guilt - that of having killed their Messiah. He was telling them the blood of the most heinous crime of all existence was on their hands.

And at the same time, he was championing a new faith - absent of secularized credentials. Peter had not been to seminary or prominent college. There were no traditions or “standards” to follow. At the same time, Peter was challenging a deep set prejudice - and all the fanatical Judaists were ready to sweep Peter away forever.

Finally, Peter appeared before his audience as an uncultivated and lesser civilized being at the risk of cheapening his message. He was not well groomed, nor did he don lavish attire. He was a simple man.

Yet Peter triumphed: “They were pricked in their heart . . . The same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (37,41).

All the way through, he was “filled with the Spirit.”

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will allow ourselves to be filled with the Spirit and be confident that even we - our humble selves - can triumph for God’s will.