Jump Start # 1582

Acts 4:13 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”

  Peter had changed. Instead of being the timid disciple who allowed a servant girl to run fear through him at the trial of Jesus, he was now boldly proclaiming the name of Jesus in the public. Our passage reveals several interesting thoughts about Peter and John.

First, they were known as uneducated and untrained men. This is not to mean that they were simpletons. They were not dumb. They were fishermen. Their living was made through their hands. They knew their jobs. But they were not teachers. They were not ones to stand up in a crowd and say anything. They were not university men. No one would confuse them with a rabbi. They knew Jesus. They had been with Jesus. They understood the Lord. With the Holy Spirit in them, they were teaching God’s word.

Can a man be like that today? Does a man have to be “educated and trained” to preach? Not in the formal sense. He does need to know the Bible. He does need to know how to communicate. Education can help some. But some of our forefathers were farmers by day and preachers by night. They spent hours pouring over the Biblical text. They knew the Bible. Many leading universities today have long left the Biblical concept of inspiration, authority and God’s way of doing things. Liberal theology would probably do more harm and waste more money than it would be helpful. Peter and John were common men who told the story of Jesus. That can be done today. That is still needed today.

Second, Peter and John had a certain confidence or assurance about them. It was obvious. It was easily seen. They were not shaking in their boots. They were not going to back down from what they knew. They were sure. This is where we need to be today. We need to have such confidence. A person will never be bold until this confidence is in him. The confidence comes from knowing the Bible is right. It comes from study and study of God’s word. It comes from realizing that there is no other possible way. Doubters will throw arguments to disprove what we believe. They will mock creation. They will call you names if you do not accept their sinful choices. They will point to the abuses in religion and the hypocrisy of others to discredit you. Stand confident. Speak boldly. Know the Bible.

Boldness was a trademark of those early disciples. Being bold has nothing to do with volume. A person can be loud, obnoxious and shout and still be dead wrong. Boldness is that courage to speak what needs to be spoken. It is to be done in kindness and gentleness. It is not afraid to call sin, “sin.” It is not afraid of consequences. It will not put up with spiritual bullies, those in the church or outside of the church. It stands with the word of God. It is confident because of God.

I have heard people say, “What if when you die, you find out that the Bible was not true?” The common answer is, “Well, I would have still lived a good life.” Wrong answer. First, if the Bible is not true, you won’t be finding out anything after you die. Dumb question! But the correct answer is, “It’s impossible for the Bible to be wrong.” There is just too much evidence and proof. I won’t even consider that notion. We could waste an hour talking about what if I had three legs. Well, I don’t. I won’t. The Bible is right. I may not understand the depths of sciences, but I know God created the world. He said so and the Bible stands behind that. I may not fully understand all the notions of modern theology, but I know God’s word is complete and He doesn’t speak to people today like He once did. I may not understand fully what happened, but I can know for sure that no one in our times has died, gone to Heaven and came back to retell what they saw and heard. I don’t care if a gullible society has purchased dozens of books that claim that. It can’t happen. It didn’t happen. How do you know? The Bible. I can read God’s word and understand fully what a church ought to be doing today. I can know why same-sex marriage is wrong. I can say it is wrong. The LBGT movement wants to put guys in girls bathrooms and girls in guys bathrooms. Wrong. How can you say that? The Bible. Well, what if someone says, “God made me this way.” Wrong. How can you be sure? The Bible. When people say, “Jesus never said anything about homosexuality,” they are wrong. He did. How do you know. The Bible.

Confidence. Confidence recognizes poison in religion. It recognizes wolves who want you to believe that they are one of us, but they are not. Confidence will allow you not to be afraid to say what needs to be said. This is not justifying rudeness. This is not being offensive. But in plain, Biblical speech, we can and we ought to be saying just what the Bible says.

Third, they knew that Peter and John had been with Jesus. What a great tribute. What a great reflection of influence. We can only hope that others can see that in us. It is compassion, boldness, truth, love that would be noticed. It wasn’t the outfits that they were wearing. It wasn’t a special handshake or code words that they were using. They noticed character. They noticed godliness. They noticed these simple, common men were so sure about Jesus. They were speaking as if they knew Jesus. They did. They were speaking as if they had been there. They had. The influence of Jesus was upon them.

You are one of them, was first spoken to Peter during Jesus’ trials. Peter denied it. He cursed. Now, changed, he is boldly professing and confessing Christ.

Jesus can have the same effect upon you. Open the Gospels. Read. Drink it in. Think about it. Put yourself there.

They had been with Jesus. Have you?

Roger