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?Peter had followed the Lord Jesus for three years as his disciple, or special helper. During those years together, Peter had listened, learned, helped, and watched the Lord Jesus. After witnessing the many miracles that Jesus did, and hearing His wonderful words, Peter had believed on Jesus. In fact, he was much more bold than the other eleven disciples in declaring, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!"
??Sometimes, however, Peter would get so excited, he would speak before he really thought about what he was saying. Have you yourself ever done that？I have!
??One night the Lord Jesus and His disciples gathered in an upper room to celebrate a special Jewish holiday called Passover. After the special meal, they sung a hymn, and then all went out as a group into the night. As they walked toward the Mount of Olives, Jesus sadly said, "All of you will be offended because of me tonight." Jesus meant they would all turn away from Him and leave. Peter quickly responded, " Even though all men shall be offended, I never will." Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me, Peter." Peter still declared, "Though I should die with you, yet I will never deny you, Lord!" And all the disciples were saying the same thing. But who was telling the truth？Who is the only One Who really knows what is going to happen？??Jesus knew that in a few short hours, He would be arrested by the religious leaders. Sure enough this happened, and what do you think the very frightened disciples did？They ran away! However, Peter did come back and follow from a distance as they led the Lord Jesus to the palace of the high priest.
??As the religious leaders accused and abused the Lord Jesus, Peter waited outside in the courtyard with the servants. A young girl happened to notice Peter and said, "You also were with Jesus of Galilee!" But Peter quickly denied it, and said, "I don't know what You're talking about." He left that place and went out to the porch, but there another maid saw him, and said to the others, "This man was also with Jesus of Nazareth." Using a swear word, Peter denied Jesus again, saying, "I do not know the man."
??It wasn't long before another person said to Peter in front of everyone, "Surely you also are one of Jesus' followers; I can tell by the way you talk." The Bible says in Matthew 26：74, "Then Peter began to curse and to swear saying, "I do not know the man!"
??Peter was scared, and angry. Even though Peter believed in the Lord Jesus, was he allowing the Lord to control his words？Do you ever get angry and say things that aren't right？And then you wish with all your heart you hadn't said them？If you have believed in the Lord Jesus, do what's right by letting God control your words! Words have such strong power! When they are used in the right way, they can be so helpful and encouraging to others. But used in a wrong way, words have strong power to hurt others deeply.
??Gossiping is one of the wrong ways we use words. Gossip can be telling the truth to someone who doesn't need to know it."Megan failed her math test and I made a perfect score. Megan always makes a lower grade than me." That may be true, but is it kind？Is it something you should be saying？??Swearing and cursing, and using God's name in vain are other ways to use words in a wrong way. God's Word tells us never to swear because we don't know what is going to happen. You can say, "With the Lord's help, I will try my best to do what I？ve said." One of God's commandments is, "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain." Do you ever hear people say God's name or Jesus' name, and they are not talking to Him, they are not praising Him or telling about Him？They use the name of the true and living God as a byword. God and His Son Jesus are so holy and pure, we should use their names very reverently and carefully.
??James 3：10 says, "Out of the same mouth proceeds blessings and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you should not be saying wrong words one minute, then right ones the next. Let God control your words!
??Peter had said, "I will never deny You, Lord, " but what had happened？He was denying He even knew the Lord Jesus. Immediately after the third denial, a rooster crowed nearby in the darkness of early morning. The book of Luke tells us at that very moment Peter looked up into the palace where the Lord Jesus was standing, and their eyes met. As Jesus looked at him, the memory of Jesus' words cut like a knife into Peter's heart："Before the rooster crows, you will deny that you know me three times, Peter." The Bible tells us that Peter went out and cried bitterly. He had failed the Lord Jesus so terribly, and now it was too late to tell the Lord Jesus how sorry he was.
??By noon the next day the Lord Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross, dying. Neither Peter nor the other disciples understood it at the time, but Jesus had come to earth for that very reason：to take the punishment for sin for the world.
??Are you in the world？Then you know you are one of those for whom Christ Jesus died.
??You and I have sinned and broken God's laws in many ways. One of those ways is when you use words the wrong way. Lying to your parents, bragging, complaining, gossiping, and saying unkind things about others are all ways we sin with our tongue. Romans 3：10 says ？There is none righteous, no, not one." God is perfect, and He is a perfect judge. As the Judge of all the earth, He says that sin must be punished. As the Judge He has determined what that punishment will be. The punishment for sin is that we will never be allowed in Heaven, but instead must suffer forever apart from God in hell.
??I am so glad that the Judge of all the earth also loves us very much! Because of His great love, He sent His perfect Son Jesus to take our punishment for us! We will never understand how much pain and sorrow our Lord Jesus endured as wicked men slapped and beat Him, and then nailed Him to a cross. Jesus Himself said before He died, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected...and be slain, and be raised the third day." Luke 9：22. Jesus took that suffering willingly, gave His precious blood willingly, and then willingly gave up His life. Kind friends took His body down from the cross, wrapped it, and put it in a tomb. Although all the disciples grieved, Peter must have felt especially sad because he had denied Jesus.
??But something wonderful happened, and have you guessed what it was？Early on the third day women came running to Peter and the other disciples with the news："Jesus is alive!" The women told of angels, and an open, empty tomb! Peter jumped up and ran. He had to see for himself. The Bible says Peter ran to the tomb and stooped down, looking inside. Sure enough, the tomb was empty, and the strange thing was, there were the linen cloths that had been wrapped around Jesus, but no body was in the cloths!
??Peter went away wondering, but he did not have to wonder long. Soon the Lord Jesus appeared to the disciples, and they saw their precious Lord, with the nail prints in His hands and feet. During the times that Jesus appeared to them, Peter realized Jesus had forgiven him. Jesus told the disciples that although He was going back to His Father in Heaven, He would soon send the Holy Spirit to be with them, and live in them. The Holy Spirit would give them power to tell others about Jesus. Then about 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, He went back to Heaven.
??Ten days later it happened, but probably not at all as the disciples were expecting! During the special Jewish holiday called Pentecost, Jews from all over the known world had come to Jerusalem to celebrate. Although these people were all Jewish, they spoke many different languages. Peter and the other disciples were gathered in a room still waiting for the Holy Spirit to come. Acts 2 tells us that on the tenth day, suddenly there came a sound from Heaven like a rushing mighty wind and what looked like tongues of fire appeared above each of their heads. Verse 4 tells us ？And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues." The people in the streets of Jerusalem heard the disciples speaking, but what each one heard, he heard in his own language! They listened in awe to the words! What were the disciples speaking？??The Bible says, "the wonderful works of God." Everyone was amazed!" Isn't this group of people from Galilee？How can they be speaking all these languages？" Others mocked and accused the disciples of being drunk. Then Peter stood up to speak. Peter's words were bold and clear as he told the huge crowd that God's promise through the prophet Joel was being fulfilled! God had promised to send His Holy Spirit down, and now His Spirit had come and brought this amazing miracle. Peter began to preach about the Lord Jesus, how He had died for sin, and how God had raised Him from the dead. Peter was letting God control his words now!
??If you know Jesus as your Savior, do what's right by letting God control your words!
??Through God's power, your words can be clear and bold and right. Ephesians 4：29 says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying." Edifying means building up？or helping people do the right thing. Remember four ？power？words：Think："Would God want me to say that？" Say：Say Ephesians 4：29 to yourself. Pray：Ask God to control your words. Obey：Speak those words you know God would approve. You can do it, with God's power! With God's power, Peter was letting God control his words!
??God's Holy Spirit was working two ways that day：giving Peter the power to preach, and also working in the hearts of the people to show them their sin and their need of Jesus! As Peter preached, many believed on the Lord Jesus and then were baptized.
??Do you want to guess how many？Acts 2：41 tells us the number was about 3, 000!
??Peter was changed that day through the power of the Holy Spirit, and for the rest of his life, Peter spoke boldly for Jesus. Two of the letters Peter wrote to encourage Christians are in our Bible today. Take time to read I and II Peter in your Bible! Peter's life is a great example for us to show us the importance of letting God control our words.
??If you know the Lord Jesus, will you remember our four power words？Think：Would God want me to say this'say：Ephesians 4：29 to yourself. Pray：Ask God to control your words. Obey：Say only what you know would please the Lord. Remember the Lord is right there listening to all your words!
??If you are not a child of God, you cannot ask Him to control your words until He controls your life! Will you go to ？How to Be a Child of God？and follow those steps？
