Peter's
Shadow by Bill Britton
Peter fairly glowed with radiating joy as he
stepped out of the house and walked down the stone steps. In fact, there seemed
to be an aura of soft light that encircled him, not visible to the natural eye,
but rather sensed by the Spirit. The glowing joy was recognized not by an outward
smile or jovial appearance, but from an inward radiance.
He blinked
his eyes as he stepped out into the bright sunlight. Looking up, he saw that the
sun was directly overhead. It was high noon. Where had the morning gone? He had
been in earnest prayer since daybreak, and in the glorious presence of the Lord,
the hours had just slipped away. But his face still shined with the memory of
that shekinah glory.
The crowd along the road began to stir as someone
noticed the big fisherman, and passed the word that he was coming. "Get ready,
here comes the man of God!" Peter started down the hot dusty road, the dust swirling
around his feet, mixing with the spot of shadow made by the noonday sun. But as
he passed a group gathered around an old man on a bed by the side of the road,
a voice suddenly cried out- "Praise be to the Almighty, something touched me,
I can walk!" And the old man jumped up from the bed, ran into the road and fell
on his knees before Peter. The Apostle gently but firmly reached down and took
the old man by the shoulders and raised him to his feet. "Don't fall down before
me, dear brother, I am just a man like you. It is Jesus Christ who has healed
you, by the power of His resurrection life." He looked around him at the crowd,
his eyes begging for understanding. But the people drew back in awe at what they
were seeing. No one crowded in upon him.
He walked on down the road,
occasionally stopping to lay hands on some cripple, or some weeping child. But
as he walked, the sick and lame on both sides of the road, some laying on beds
or couches, began to praise God as the power of healing went through their bodies.
There was a radiating presence of God that emanated from him, that began to touch
and electrify the people before he got within 20 yards of them.
"THE EFFULGENCE?"
You see, dear ones, I learned from a great Greek scholar more than 12 years
ago that the word "shadow" in Acts 5:15 does not, in the original Greek, mean
a dark spot made by the sun. It is a word meaning an effulgence, a radiance, a
shining forth of divine energy. And for the past 12 years I have checked this
out through the other scriptures, and have come to know a glorious divine mystery.
If the word translated "shadow" simply means a dark spot caused
by sunlight, then on cloudy days there would be no healing. And when the sun was
overhead, Peter would have to stand on top of the sick ones in order for his shadow
to touch them. And in early morning or late evening when the shadows were long,
only one side of the street would receive healing. But oh, beloved, there is much
more to it than that. it was soon after Pentecost. In chapter two of Acts, it
tells us that many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles. In chapter three
an outstanding miracle took place with a man lame from birth. In chapter four
the place where the saints were meeting was shaken by the Holy Ghost.
And now here in chapter five, in the case of Peter, we see that it was as
though these men of God had been dipped in a tub of raw nuclear energy, and went
around spinning all the "Geiger counters" out of control. Except that it was "divine
Holy Ghost energy," a carry over from the anointed life of Jesus. One of the dictionary
definitions of radiation is "propagation of radiant energy." And this is exactly
what was happening in the case of the Apostle Peter. Don't be afraid that I'm
going to deify Peter, or you or me.... for it was not Peter's power or holiness
that was radiating. It was the presence and power of Christ. And it is Christ
Jesus our Lord that is going to be glorified by the revelation of this truth.
Hallelujah!
THE RADIANCE OF CHRIST
Most people know that there is
a life force in each of us that gives off "rays" of energy. This life force can
be strong or weak, positive or negative, good or evil, depending upon the experience
and relationship of that person to God. This is not supposition, it has been scientifically
and medically proven. Medical science has developed a machine that can measure
this life force in a patient on a positive or negative scale. People who have
a large or heavy radiation of life force, be it for good or evil, are said to
have "charisma." When they enter a room, their presence immediately demands attention,
many times without a word being spoken. You know this is true.
Finney
had such a passion for lost souls, that he could walk through a factory and great
conviction would grip the hearts of workers as he passed by. Back in the 1930's
I attended a great healing revival under a tent in the school yard across from
the Central Assembly here in Springfield. I saw many people falling under the
power of God, many times before the evangelist could reach out and touch them.
One dear saintly sister from our little church was healed of cancer in the revival,
and lived for more than 30 years after that. But she told me later that as she
stood In the prayer line, the closer she got to the man of God, the more it seemed
like waves of glory, like breakers rolling in from the sea, pressed against her
until she could hardly move forward. Finally she went down. The preacher never
did touch her, but the cancer was gone. What was it? It was the radiation of the
power of God for healing, a modern day "Peter's shadow," and I was there to see
it. Glory to God!
FOR GOOD OR EVIL
Everyone knows that there are
people whose very presence will change the atmosphere about them. They can enter
a room, and suddenly the joy and peace seem to leave. Children stop laughing.
A darkness seems to invade the very air. If you want to test this, go directly
from a worship service where saints are singing in the Spirit, and enter a dance
hall where sinners are drinking, cursing, laughing, singing, and the difference
you feel in a very real way, is the difference between the positive and the negative
life force.
Satan and all the powers of darkness are aware of the
presence of God in a saint or a man of God. Back in 1942, as a young man, I was
passing out tracts and witnessing to people, along with a friend of mine. We met
two men who turned out to be spiritualists on their way home from a seance service.
As my friend was talking to them, I stood to one side, praying silently. Suddenly,
one of the men whose back was to me, turned and gave me a dirty look, then moved
around so the others were between us. Again, in St. Louis in 1948 1 attended a
spiritualist church, incognito and prayed up. During the service, one of the mediums
came to me to tell me what the "spirits" wanted me to know. But I resisted the
evil powers, and tho he took much time and tried hard, he could get no word from
the "spirits." Finally he opened his eyes, looked down at me where I was sitting,
and said simply: "You're a Christian!" What was it? The radiating power of Christ,
going forth from a Spirit-filled man of God, was too much for Satan to cope with.
He could not operate in the atmosphere created by the presence of God that dwells
in
and around a child of God.
There have been many other instances.
One time I attended a UFO or "Flying Saucer" convention where people from all
over the country came to tell of their experiences and contacts with the "Space
brothers." It was Satanic from beginning to end. I examined the book racks, and
saw books of spiritualism, black-magic, voodooism and Occult space travel, hypnotism,
and bibles from a number of Eastern religions. But no Holy Bibles or Christian
literature whatsoever.
As we listened to different ones testify and
lecture, another brother and I found. ourselves standing behind a young man who
was sitting on the ground listening intently. He had a peculiar "twitch" every
once in a while, and we both sensed that he was filled with demonic powers. As
we stood there, we joined hands and began to silently direct a prayer toward him.
Suddenly, he turned and looked at us, then got up and moved around to the far
side of the large crowd. We knew that Satan had felt "Peter's Shadow." And it
terrified him.
In like manner, we have seen strangers come into a service,
and immediately we felt a radiation of the negative powers of darkness. We did
not have to know his history or wait until he spoke, to know that the anointing
he had was from the pit. And it always proved out to be so. Sometimes folks are
slow to recognize that this discernment is from God. They are prone to think that
it is just their "suspicious nature," or reluctant to accept such a thought against
a brother. But when we move in a high realm of the Spirit, God is faithful to
let us know the difference between the real anointing of Christ, and the false.
PAUL'S CLOTHING
Saul of Tarsus had met with the Man of Galilee on
the road to Damascus in a blaze of divine light. The light brighter than the noon
day sun hit him, and the radiance and reflection of it never left him. Everywhere
he went, that divine life of Christ radiated out from him to people in need. Demons
reacted violently whenever they came into his presence.
"And God wrought
special miracles by the hands of Paul. So that from his body were brought unto
the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the
evil spirits went out of them (Acts 19:11-12)." What was happening? What caused
this? Was there some special quality or fetish power in the clothes that Paul
wore? Of course not! I have seen tent evangelists who took an old ripped up gospel
tent and cut it up into little squares to sell at $5 per piece, and made more
money than it cost new. And thousands of people support such as this, because
they feel the need for something tangible that they feel has a quality of holiness
or power. This verse in Acts is the basis for the practice of sending out "anointed
prayer cloths" for the healing of the sick. And we do it because it has scriptural
foundation. But there is a special mystery about why it works. Just buying a piece
of material in the store, stamping it with a rubber stamp and mailing it out,
is not the answer. These handkerchiefs or aprons were taken "from his body."
These are articles of clothing that had been on Paul's person, and had been
saturated with the flow of divine life that was in him. You see, that radiance
of the substance of God that radiated out from him like "Peter's shadow" had an
effect on his clothes. So that when his clothing came in contact with evil spirits
or sickness, the devil fled the scene.
The simplest way I can illustrate
this is from the negative side. There are no ash trays in our house, no one smokes
there, and the air is fresh and clean. But when I take a trip on a bus or airplane,
1 come home reeking with the stench of cigarette smoke. It clings to my suit,
shirt, even my hair. I can wash my hair and bathe, but if I hang up my suit in
the house, the whole room is filled with the odor of tobacco. In houses where
people smoke constantly, even the wall paper radiates this smell. But it is far
more noticeable when the normal atmosphere of the room is clean and pure. Now
that illustration is natural. But there is a spiritual and invisible force, in
both the positive or Godly realm, and the negative or Satanic realm.
Paul was so filled with the power of God, so yielded to the flow of the Holy Spirit,
that the outflow of the presence and substance of God saturated his clothing.
This is why we take a piece of cloth and pray over it, sometimes keeping it on
the altar or in the pulpit at church during anointed services, before cutting
it up into small pieces to send out to those who write in for healing or deliverance.
We believe that the anointing of that church will saturate that little cloth,
and that the devil will recognize it and flee. That sounds juvenile and superstitious
to the modern intellectual mind. But they are the ones who are in the most trouble
and needing help desperately. And if it didn't work, I'd quit doing it, but we
have many many testimonies that have been sent in to praise God for the healing
and deliverance that came.
ON THE HOLY MOUNT
Let us read the account
in Matt 17:1-2 of the transfiguration of Jesus: "And after six days Jesus taketh
Peter, James and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain
apart. And was TRANSFIGURED before them; and HIS FACE DID SHINE AS THE SUN, and
HIS RAIMENT was white as the light." Notice the order of these three things: 1.
He was transfigured. 2. His face shined. 3. His raiment was affected. In that
order. It was not something that came upon Him externally, from without. It was
a revealing and unveiling of the radiating glory of the Father that was within
HIM. It is recorded in Luke 9:29 that "as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance
was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering."
Notice
that when His glory was revealed, it first of all caused his countenance or face
to be altered. It shined as the sun. What was invisible became visible. The vail
of flesh was drawn back, and the radiance of His glory that had caused the cripples
to walk and the blind to see, was seen here by the disciples. "We beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father" (John 1.14). The Apostle Peter
says that they "were eyewitnesses of His majesty" (11 Pet 1:16). "For the life
was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness." (1 John 1:2).
This glory radiating out of the life and body of Jesus was there all the time,
but the natural eye could not see it. The sick were healed, the dead were raised,
and demons were cast out. The Pharisees said it was by the power of the devil,
but we know that it was the works of the Father being manifested in Jesus. It
was the outflow of divine life, it was the radiating power of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus came on the scene, the whole atmosphere was changed. When Jesus passed
by, joy replaced grief, pain fled away, death retreated, devils screamed in terror
and frustration. The radiating glory of God was felt everywhere he went.
And finally, His clothing was so saturated by this radiating glory, that
it was seen as white and glistering. I know that fictional books have been written
about His robe, and some religious people have almost deified certain relics such
as splinters of wood supposedly from the Cross, or the bones of Peter, etc. But
the fact is, that His clothing was affected by the radiation of the glory from
within Him. One woman merely touched the hem of His garment, with faith in her
heart, and was made whole of her affliction. There were many who touched Him,
pressed around Him, but they were not in the realm of faith where the glory resided.
"THE WORKS THAT I DO"
Yes, Jesus said (John 14:12) that we would
do the same works that He did. And they must be done with the same power, with
the same compassion and love, for the same reasons. There was an outflowing of
His life for the deliverance of a lost and dying world from its sin, sickness,
sorrow, pain, death, and demonic bondage. And if a believer has other selfish
reasons for wanting the power of God, he is in trouble.
You see, God
is going to have a body of people in the earth, a "church" if you want to call
it that, who will radiate with that same glory and life that Jesus had. They will
do the same works He did. They will reveal Him to a world lost In the darkness
of sin. In fact, Spirit-filled, consecrated children of God are already radiating
His presence, flowing out with "rivers of living waters" through the power of
the Spirit. But we are far short of His ultimate for us here on this earth. We
have not yet reached our potential, and He is still working on us through His
ministry gifts of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. I see
the day, very soon at hand, when the very least in the Kingdom of God here on
earth is flowing out with a ministry far greater than the greatest of the prophets.
Jesus said it, I believe it, that settles it!
"THOU SHALT SEE MY BACK
PARTS"
In chapter 33 of Exodus, Moses was beseeching God to let him see
His glory. And God told Moses that He would "make all my goodness pass before
thee" (vs 19). Also in verse 22 God said that His glory would pass by. "I will
put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass
by; and I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face
shall not be seen."
When God said that Moses would see His back parts,
He did not mean that He would pass by Moses in a nude body, as a human body 9
and that Moses would see the back of God's "body." Nor did he mean that He would
be in some beautiful robe, and that Moses would see only the back of the robe
and the back of God's head. What the language of this beautiful scripture is actually
getting at is that God's goodness, His glory, and His divine Presence would pass
by, and that the radiance of His glory and Presence would leave a glow all about
the rock where Moses stood. It was the result of His Presence, the residue of
His power and glory clinging to the earth where God had made a visitation. Moses
was allowed to see the "after-glow" of God passing through. But he was not allowed
to look into the source, or "face" of this glory. No man can look at the fulness
of God, the source of life. We can see the effects of His Presence, feel the nearness
of Him, but while we still bear the smallest degree of the image of Adam, we cannot
enter into the fulness of that Shekinah glory!
"THE SKIN OF HIS FACE
SHONE"
We see Moses back on Mt. Sinai in chapter 34, in the Presence
of God. "And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither
eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant,
the ten commandments. And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai
with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount,
that Moses wist not (did not know) that the skin of his face shone while he talked
with Him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the
skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him (vss 28-30)."
II Corinthians chapter 3 says that "the children of Israel could not stedfastly
behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance." He had to put a vail
over his face before they could hear what he had to say. Where did this glory
come from? From being in the Presence of God. Scientists working on nuclear devises
sometimes check workers with Geiger counters to see if they have come into contact
with any radio-active material. If a person were to handle or stay in contact
with dangerous nuclear material for any length of time, they would set off wild
clicking in the Geiger counters, by the rays emitting from their bodies. This
is what happened to Moses, except it was life shining from his face, not death.
Watch dials are treated sometimes with radium, so they will shine in the dark.
Then you will be able to tell the time without light. Moses shined, in the darkness
of their human nature, shining with the glory of the living God. But they could
not bear it. So there was a vail put over his face. Christ Jesus lived in a human
body, under a vail of humanity. But behind that vail was the Shekinah glory of
God. And the radiation of that glory flowed continually all about Him, healing,
helping, saving, loving.
THE BONES OF ELISHA
When a man
of God is walking in the Spirit, believing the promises of God, and speaking the
word of the Lord, you can feel the life of God flowing out of him. This is what
makes the laying on of hands so effective. Faith in Jesus, along with this physical
contact with one who believes, brings great results. But how long does this substance
of God remain in the body or in the clothing? This would depend, of course, on
how much exposure the believer had to the Presence of God. One who walks continually
with God, who lives in the Spirit, and who stays in His Presence, would have a
greater radiation of His power, more effective results, and longer staying power.
We have an outstanding example in the prophet Elisha. It Is found in 2 Kings 13:20-21....
"And Elisha died, and they buried him. And it came to pass, as they
were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the
man into the sepulcher of Elisha; and when the man was let down, and touched the
bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet." And there the story ends.
No more said about Elisha's bones.
Now why did God put those two verses
in? Here is a prophet who had received the mantle of Elijah, and who had asked
for and received a double portion of his spirit. Here was one who had recorded
twice as many miracles as Elijah, who had caused iron to float, made the widow's
pot of oil to flow until all her debts were paid, and who had raised the Shunamite
woman's son from the dead. He had lived and walked in the Presence of the God
of Heaven. He had healed the poison in the pot of food, fed a hundred men with
a handful of food, healed Naaman's leprosy, and captured an entire army single-handedly
by the power of God. That radiant power of God had flowed through him and out
of him for years. Now he is dead. But those dead bones still radiate with the
residue of God's power and glory that had once worked in him. Yes, it is the will
of God for Elisha to go home to be with the Lord. But when the dead man is thrown
into the sepulchre and touches Elisha's bones, the radiating life of God is still
active. Radioactivity? No, but the anointing is still active, even tho the man
of God is now in another realm. He is a very special man, a giant among the prophets.
We never read of this happening to any other man. And there is no reason to try
it today, to open some preacher's grave and try to get healing out of his dead
body. But this story points out this truth; that enough exposure to the glory
and power of God will impregnate your very body and clothes with enough power
to defeat the strongest devil, even death.
THE SUBSTANCE OF GOD
The
young people today speak of "vibes." What they mean is that they can feel certain
vibrations around certain people. Somehow they are picking up the radiation of
these life forces, as they move up into a realm of the Spirit. Now this can be
a very dangerous thing. Without a solid grounding in the Word of God, a clean
life, and a total commitment to Christ, along with a submission to a local body
of saints (which gives a "covering" in the Spirit), getting into the realm of
"vibes" and spirit contacts can open the floodgates for occult spirits to move
in. No one can dare walk alone in this realm. If you are beginning to move in
the area of the supernatural, that is all the more reason you should have the
safe-guard of an anointed eldership and a local body.More and more our eyes of
the Spirit are being opened to the spirit forces around us. God is making us aware
of the evil forces that are trying to come in among us to steal, to kill, and
to destroy. The shepherds are no longer blind to the wolves that try to sneak
in. Likewise, we are also becoming more and more aware of those who have the true
anointing. We are finding that we don't have to know a man for years, or hear
him preach two or three revivals, in order to know what spirit he is of, and how
great his anointing. I have met some men for the first time, and as I shook their
hand, I knew that this was a chosen and anointed vessel of God.
Our
little church would not long have survived in this place in the heavenlies had
the wolves been allowed to sneak in unawares and scatter the flock. But God has
been good to give us the "eye of the eagle," with discernment of the negative
forces of death. One time a preacher, talented in music, began to attend our services.
He tried to preach a couple of times, but in spite of our prayers for him, it
seemed that the Lord just closed his mouth. He couldn't get any anointing, and
couldn't get into the message. Had to quit and sit down. One day one of our elders
began to talk to him, and the Lord opened up the man's life to this elder. When
the elder challenged him with what the Lord was saying, he had to admit that he
had been married and divorced, not twice or even three times... but five times,
and was having trouble with the woman he was now living with. Most of these divorces
since he had been "in the ministry." Needless to say, we told him that he was
in no spiritual condition to minister to this people. And a few days later we
discovered a great deal more corruption in his life, but he had skipped town.
However, the church was spared, praise God! Similar things have happened a number
of times. But God always warned or protected us. On one occasion, a man and "wife"
came to us, with a tiny baby. They were supposed to have a great ministry of deliverance
and discernment and word of knowledge. But through a series of circumstances,
they never got into any of our services. Later we discovered that they were not
legally married, both of them had left families and children and gone off together.
I could tell you many stories of how we tried to ignore the "vibes" or radiation
of death forces, only to find out that God was warning us. It was His heavenly
"radar."
GETHSEMANE
In John chapter 18 we read of Judas and
a band of soldiers coming to Gethsemane after Jesus. He had just finished praying
until sweat ran down like great drops of blood. They met Him as He came out of
this last prayer. "Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him,
went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus saith unto them, I am he. Judas, also, which betrayed him, stood with them.
As soon then as He had said unto them, "I am he," they went backward, and fell
to the ground (John 18:4-6)." What kind of power was it thatknocked them to the
ground? It was the radiant power of His glory, and the powers of darkness in them
could not stand before it. When He said "I AM," a force of life and light issued
out of Him like a tidal wave. He could have destroyed them, but He would not.
He knew that this was part of that which should come upon Him. But veiled tho
it was, the light and life and glory and power of Almighty God still flowed out
from Him like a great underground river breaking forth in a mighty fountainhead.
Do you want this kind of power and life ? Then are you willing to go
to your Gethsemane? Are you willing to renounce all destructive forces of the
natural life ? It is here, it is for us, today. Peter's shadow was not for Peter
alone. The transfiguration of Jesus is something we can participate in. The same
identical word used in Mark chapter nine, translated there as "transfigured,"
is used two other places relating to us. Romans 12:2 says "And be not conformed
to this world, but BE YE TRANSFORMED..." This is the same Greek word. And in 2
Cor 3:18 that word is used again when it says: "But we all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are CHANGED into the same image from glory
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. " Paul says in 11 Cor 4:7... "But
this treasure we have in earthen vessels." Praise God that the treasure is there.
And radiating. Rest in Him. Know what there is and who there is within you. "He
that is in you is greater than he that is in the world." We are more than conquerors.
We are commanded to resist the devil. He will flee. Recognize the radiant glory
that is vibrating or radiating from your being, and seek His Presence, that the
glory and power might be greatly increased for the sake of His Body as well as
a lost world. Release the Christ within!
Glory to God, what a day! You
can change the atmosphere about you, regardless of how dark or depressing it may
be. You can radiate with His power and glory, like a blazing light where darkness
covers the earth and gross darkness the people. Your light has come! The glory
of the Lord has risen upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon thee! (Isa 60:1-2).
Bill Britton
Bill
Britton "Writings of his Unlimited Glory" 