Different But the Same

As I have mentioned before I am trying to read through the Bible in a year. I finally made it to the New Testament! One thing that excites me about this is that I think I can pronounce all of the names in the New Testament. No more Sennacherib, Jehoshabeath or Ahasuerus'! I don't get tongue tied with John, Paul, or Matthew. This morning I came across the following passage:

Matthew 26: 69-75 - 69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." 70But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." 71And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." 72And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man." 73After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you." 74Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man." And immediately the rooster crowed. 75And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus,  "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

It is a familiar story, Peter denying that he knows Christ. However, this passage combined with what my pastor spoke about Sunday caused me to think about another passage with similar phrases but a different outcome. Take a look:

Acts 4:8-13 -  8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you 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 is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

I mentioned some similar phrases in the two passages, take a look at what I am talking about: 

Matthew 26: 69-71 - 69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean." 70But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean." 71And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."

Acts 4: 13 - 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Both groups of people recognized that Peter had been with Jesus. However, Peter's response in each scenario was quite different. In Matthew he denied Jesus and even cursed at the thought. In Acts his boldness is mentioned. Why the difference? What would cause him to deny Christ in one passage and boldly profess him in another? In the first passage he was able to walk with Christ, talk with Christ, eat with Christ, sail with Christ and on and on. In Acts 4 Christ was gone - physically speaking. He had been crucified, buried, raised from the dead and was now sitting at the right-hand of God in heaven. I think Acts 2 gives us a clue to what made the difference:

Acts 2:1 - 4  - 1When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

I mentioned earlier that my pastor spoke about something last Sunday that coincided with this. Tommy said "the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you (us)." 

Romans 8: 11 - If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

This, I believe, is the difference between the Peter of Matthew and the Peter of Acts. There are a lot of people who know about Jesus. They might even try to talk to him, they might try to walk with him. But if they have not given their lives to him and had the Holy Spirit come into their lives and take control, they do not really know him.

So my question is this - Are we living like the Peter found in Matthew or the Peter found in Acts? The difference is the transforming power that can only come from the indwelling Holy Spirit.