In episode 155 of the “No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe” podcast, Greg Ryan continues his “Mountain of God” series, focusing on stop 6 – Proclaiming, symbolized by the “fishers of men” box on his map. He uses the Pentecost event in Acts 2 to illustrate the transformation of the Apostle Peter from a fearful denier to a Spirit‑empowered preacher. Greg reads Acts 2:1‑12, highlighting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the sound of a rushing wind, and tongues of fire that fill the believers. He then recounts Peter’s bold sermon, the call to repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38), and the resulting conversion of about 3,000 souls. Greg connects Peter’s personal failure—denying Christ three times—to the necessity of divine refinement, using a blacksmith analogy to describe how God’s “heat” shapes believers into effective witnesses. He emphasizes that the Holy Spirit’s empowerment enables believers to fulfill the Great Commission, quoting Mark 16:14‑15 and Matthew 28:17‑20, and stresses that discipleship involves three progressive stages on his mountain map: follower, believer, and disciple, each required before making new disciples. Throughout, Greg interweaves personal testimony of being “broken” by God, practical exhortations to pray for empowerment, and a closing prayer for listeners to become witnesses. The episode ends with a preview of the next stop on the mountain.
Welcome to episode 155.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Spending time in the Word of God is the best way to spend time with God. Welcome to No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast, where we will encourage, inspire, and empower you to live your best life in Christ. Here's Greg.
Welcome to episode 155. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am continuing up the mountain, taking you step by step or stop by stop. We are going to stop number 6 on the mountain of God, and it is proclaiming. And in the little box there, if you have the handy-dandy map that I have yet to post, it is fishers of men. And if you follow this podcast long enough, you know that one of my favorite, or my favorite apostle, is the the Apostle Peter. I want you to see the transformation that he went through on the day of Pentecost when he was in the upper room and the Spirit fell and the fiery tongues. And that all came about in chapter 2, and let's just read that real quick. And it— let's start in Acts 2:1. And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And we've already talked about being endued with power. Jesus told them to wait until they become endued with power, and then they will be my witnesses. Well, I want to take you to where Peter went after this, where the crowd heard it. You know, the, the crowd is everybody outside of the upper room, or everybody outside of where you're currently living is probably the crowd. But Jesus told his disciples when they were baptized, or when they were endued with power, they would be witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world. But they started in Jerusalem, and they were in Jerusalem when this happened. And notice that this word is fulfilled when Peter stands up and starts preaching. And it goes on in Acts 2:12, so they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what could this mean? Others mocking said, they are full of new wine. But Peter Standing up with the 11, raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judah and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words. So Peter stands up and starts proclaiming the word of God, and he starts telling the people that all the things that they needed to hear, and 3,000 of them were saved. Since this is a Bible study podcast, I don't want you to take my word for it. Let's go to Acts 2 38. Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation, Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Right after Peter was baptized or endued with power, step 5 of our mountain adventure, he goes to step 6. Probably didn't even walk very far, walked outside of the building or stood up. I got him on a balcony. I really honestly don't know. But he stood up and he talked to the people. 3,000 gladly accepted Jesus on that day. So I want you to see the transition from Peter being scared, denying Christ. He denied him at his crucifixion, and he denied him 3 times. You, you probably know the story where the rooster crowed. Jesus told him that he was going to deny him. And I just think this shows a perfect example of what we do in our flesh versus what we do in the spirit. Because Peter denied him, he said he wasn't going to and said that he would die with Christ, and he denied him and then took off running like a little baby and cried. I don't know if you remember that story, but he, I mean, he crushed him. Jesus told him that Satan had asked to sift him, and God said, when you return— I mean, it's brutal when you read about what Jesus told Peter. In the Gospels and said, you know, Satan has asked that he sift you, and God didn't say no. I mean, I just want you to think about that for a minute. Sometimes God allows things to happen in our life to strengthen us, and it's things that we don't actually want to have happen. And it's not a line that most people are going to stand in and say, oh, by the way, turn the heat up in my life and start pounding me, God. I'm making me a wonderful weapon in your hand. I want it to be sharp. I want it to be long, I want to be strong. Well, you know, if you start making a sword or you start making metal, you know what has to happen. We may have talked about this, and if we haven't, we're about to, but you have to get that metal hot. You have to turn up the heat, and then if you're a blacksmith molding this into something that you can use, into some equipment that can be used for God, We got to then bring out the hammer and the anvil, and we got to start pounding you. And that is just not a line most people want to stand in. Unless you just fully commit to the Lord, you're probably going to just keep avoiding that line. You're going to say, "No, not today, not today." But when you pray that prayer, "Lord, use me, send me, break me"— we talked about that in a previous episode. I've told you, I'm kind of ready, fire, aim, and not that smart a lot of times. And I just— I prayed that prayer thinking, "Now, what's that big deal?" And then God broke me, and that's a big deal. And it happened in the Pep Boys bathroom. It was embarrassing, and I thank God that no one walked in. I couldn't control it. God just broke me, and it's changed my life, and it's helped me to better relate to people. I still struggle driving my car. I'm getting better, but when I'm driving in traffic, people are not acting like they ought to act, in my humble opinion. It just fires me up, and I got to get over myself. I understand that, but I'm still— I mean, I'm not perfect. If you think that I'm perfect, you, you've got another thing coming. I am an imperfect person following after a perfect example, and I make mistakes. You make mistakes. The best thing that we can do though when we make the mistakes is just learn from them or ask for forgiveness, get back up, dust yourself off, and let's go it again. But Peter denied Christ. He wept bitterly. He was pulled back in. Jesus told him, you know, feed my sheep. He asked me, do you love me, 3 times. And Peter got all bent out of shape when he was asking, you know, why are you asking me this? You know, he asked him 3 times because he— I think because he denied him 3 times. But there's probably a better theological answer than that. But he, he denied Christ 3 times. Jesus said Peter, do you love me? 3 times. And so Peter answered, yes. Jesus said, feed my lambs, feed my sheep, tend my sheep. But when the Holy Spirit comes upon Peter, he becomes a new and powerful being, and he starts proclaiming the word of God. He starts changing lives. He starts with 3,000, and Peter no longer is worried about what other people think. He is going after it. He's doing God's will. There is a difference to Peter, and it is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. And I just want to remind you back in John 16:7, one of our favorite scriptures— we say that a lot— but he said, "It's to your advantage that I leave you, because if I don't leave, I will not send the Comforter or the Helper. But if I go, then I will send the Helper to you." And Jesus left Peter is changed when the tongue sat down on him. Peter is baptized by the Holy Spirit, and he's baptized with spirit, with the fire, and with power. And he proclaims the gospel, and it changes 3,000 people just like that, in an instant. Peter proclaims and changes. And I want to remind you, I'm going to read the Great Commission in Mark and in Matthew, but I want to remind you that Jesus, before everyone got baptized in the Holy Spirit gave his disciples a commission, and he told them, look, I'm sending— I'm going to send you out into the world. In Mark 16:14, later he appeared to the 11 as they sat at the table, and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Now let's go to Matthew 28, and we'll start at 17. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things that I've commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Well, there you have it. That's the two places where the Great Commission is specifically mentioned. I think he says it again in Luke. This is the Great Commission where Jesus sends his disciples out And I want you to notice in Matthew 19 where he says, "Go and make disciples of all nations." He doesn't say to go and make babies. And I've mentioned this on a previous episode. I'm not even going to try to figure out what episode it was on, but it was where I talked about the body of Christ, the churches. A lot of us are counting salvations, and I believe— and that's why I did this Mountain of God— there is a point A and a point B. Nowhere, nothing happens without the birth. Nothing happens without the rebirth. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it doesn't matter what you're trying to walk up this mountain, you're not going to get to point B. There's going to be people in the church that try to get to end to point B without dying at point A, and it's not going to go well. And we've talked about that on— in Matthew 7, Matthew 7:21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. I want to encourage you that you're going to have to not try to do this on your own. You're going to have to die to self. You got to take the first step. And we're going to summarize all this, but this is for disciples we are to make disciples of nations. And if you look at the map— and I want to encourage you to go get the map, I'm going to have that up and ready— but there's 3 different levels of this mountain. And the first one is a follower, the second one is a believer, the second level, and that's where we're at. And then the third is a disciple. And I believe you have to be a disciple before you can make a disciple. You got to follow Jesus You've got to believe the things that he says, and you've got to become a disciple. So those are the 3 different steps on, on this mountain climb, and there's just 9 different stops that we're going to. We're on stop 6, and we're going to continue this stop on the next episode. But let's pray. God, I thank you so much for your word. God, I thank you for your Holy Spirit. I thank you for sending your spirit, and he will never leave us nor forsake us.. And God, I pray that this person that's listening, I pray that they would, after they have been endued with power, Lord, that they will become a witness for you, Lord, that they would sacrifice all that they've got to help build your kingdom. And God, I thank you. We love you. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, thank you for being a part of this, and I look forward to visiting with you on the next episode.
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