THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS

Peter and John had had a very good day.  As they were going to the temple to pray, they had encountered a man who was lame for 40 years sitting at the gate.  The man asked for a handout; but they gave him the gift of healing and salvation and he went about walking and leaping.  Seeing what had happened, a great crowd gathered; and Peter, seizing the opportunity, preached to them about Jesus Christ.  Five thousand men believed and were converted to the faith.  It was a very good day!

 

Some of the religious leaders were grieved, however, that the Apostles taught the people about Jesus, and so they took them and cast them in prison.  The next day, they were brought before the rulers to answer for their actions.  When given the chance to speak, God anointed Peter again with words of salvation.  Scripture records, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13).

                                               

It is my hope that every child of God would desire to be bold for Him, and would always wish to have the right words to speak to those who need to hear about Him.  After all, the great Commission wasn’t intended for the apostles only, but for every Christian man and woman.  Jesus tells us, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”  We may not all be preachers or evangelists, but we certainly are all gifted by God in some way that will both edify the church and reconcile the sinner.  "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 Peter 4:10). 

 

The secret of those who possess and exercise this boldness is simply this: they have been with Jesus.  Spending time every day in the presence of the Savior is how we gain power and anointing.  There is no other way that we can achieve this.  It is a personal relationship with Christ that is at the very heart of our walk and witness for Him.  People recognize this vitality in us, this essence of Christ; and it draws them to the Savior that they see in us. 

 

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3 that we are living epistles, or living letters, and that we are known and read of all men.  People are constantly reading our lives.  Whether what they read is good or bad depends on what has been written in our hearts.  As we spend time with Jesus, His Spirit writes the Word in our hearts and it translates into our lives – the things we say and the things we do.  It is not just filling our heads with the letter of the Word, but it is the spirit of the Word being sown in our hearts that truly transforms us.  Any unbeliever can use the Word of God to beat down and destroy folks – even the devil uses the Word at times, twisting it to his own devices; but the Word that the Holy Spirit ministers to our hearts brings peace and hope to a lost and dying world.

 

When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments of stone, he spent considerable time in the presence of almighty God.  When he returned to the camp, his face shone so brightly from the encounter that the Israelites could not bear to look on him for the glory of his countenance.  He had to put a veil over his face so that they could look at him.  How much more glorious is it when we spend time in the presence of the Messiah, the Alpha and Omega, and the King of kings?  There should be something different that men see about us after we have been with Him.  We should come away with some of the glory of His brightness.  Moreover, we should not have to veil our witness for the Lord, but, instead, we should let our light shine brightly for all to see. 

 

Before I was converted to Christianity, a young believer was placed beside me on my job.  My supervisor asked me to work with him and teach him the job.  It turns out that he was going to college on the West Coast and had come back home to Ohio for the summer to earn some money before he went back in the fall.  He was a member of Bill Bright’s organization, Campus Crusade for Christ, and was not shy about sharing his faith.  We ended up doing a lot of talking about it as we worked together.  The thing that had the most impact on me, however, was something that happened one evening when I had gone to the cafeteria for lunch.  I sat down with several other guys that worked in my department, and my young friend came and sat down with us.  As he began to eat his meal, one of the other workers grabbed the pepper shaker and began to dump it on the young man’s food.  I was immediately offended by this unprovoked action, but I was also curious to see how this man of God would handle such an offense.  This young Christian showed no anger or indignation toward the offender.  His demeanor was calm and his normally cheerful outlook did not shrink in the least; instead, he reacted with grace and patience.  I don’t remember him saying a word in his own defense, but I’m sure there were others beside me who also were offended for him.  What I was left with from this episode was that this man’s faith was real.  It was not just doctrines and platitudes, but it had become translated into his real life; and I was struck with the notion that it was because he knew and spent time with Jesus, the Son of God!

 

As we spend time daily before Jesus Christ, speaking our hearts to Him and letting Him speak His heart to us, we will find ourselves changed into His likeness from one glory to another as we yield our will to His.  The more we are changed, the more men will marvel at our witness.  Though we are unlearned and ignorant, they will take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus!

 

“Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:3).