Being With Jesus Series

Being with Jesus

Acts 4:13-22

Intro: Matthew 19:26 says, “With God all things are possible.” The disciples spent 3½ years with Jesus, the very Son of God. Jesus told them, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus had always accurately represented His Father to the disciples. So, in a very real sense, the disciples had been “with God” for 3½ years, and had seen the impossible become a reality on several occasions. So, when Peter and John found themselves in difficult situations, facing threats and opposition, the one thing that kept them going was the fact that they had been with Jesus, and now Jesus was with them, through the HS. This is a word for us today, even though we are not able to see Jesus physically in the same way the disciples did. The main truth for us today is this:

Prop: If we will spend time with Jesus, we can boldly go and do His will, facing anything that comes our way.

Interrogative: How does spending time with Jesus help us?

TS: Let’s look at four ways we can benefit from being with Jesus.

I. Being with Jesus Gives Us Courage

“They saw the courage of Peter and John…” (13).

-Peter and John had spent considerable time with Jesus and saw Him heal many sick people, raise a few people from the dead, cast out evil spirits, and perform many other miracles. They knew that Jesus had the authority to do whatever needed to be done. However, before Jesus left them, He told them that they would do even greater works than He had done, because He was returning to His Father. Jesus gave them a commission: Your assignment (should you choose to accept it) is to make disciples throughout the entire world. Jesus said, “Teach them to observe everything I have commanded you.” Let me read you something that Jesus commanded them to do: Matthew 10:7-8 "And as you go, preach, saying, ’The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”

-Well, Peter & John had courage, because they had been with Jesus.

-Now, how does this apply to us? We have not had the opportunity the disciples had to hang out with Jesus personally. What does it mean for us to be with Jesus? Here are a few ways we can be with Jesus:

1. We can walk with Him by reading the Gospels (and the rest of the Scriptures). Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give us eyewitness accounts of what Jesus did while He was here on earth. We can be with Jesus and see how He treats people and how He did the will of His Father above all else. We can see what made Him weep and what made Him angry. The Scriptures show us what is important to Jesus, so that helps us gain a sense of His values. How else can we be with Jesus?

2. We can spend time with Him through prayer. Praying should not be a one-way conversation, but involves both speaking and listening. It is talking with the Lord.

3. We can spend time w/ Him through praise & worship. God inhabits the praises of His people. When we come to the Lord with praise in our hearts & mouths, He shows up! When we worship Jesus in spirit & out of a sincere heart, we are spending time w/ Him.

4. Another way we can be with Jesus is to understand that He is with us all day long, wherever we go. You might call this “praying without ceasing.” This is where we talk to the Lord throughout the day. It is where we acknowledge Him in all of our ways, allowing Him to lead us in the right direction. We can be with Jesus throughout the day because He is with us. In fact, when Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every person, He also said, “I will always be with you.” If Jesus is with us, then our lives should show that we have been with Him.

-Coming back to the idea of courage, how does being with Jesus give us courage? Just knowing that we are not alone, and that the Lord is for us should give us boldness to do His will. God told Joshua, 9”Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Jesus Himself has promised to be with us as well, through the HS, who lives in us.

-TS: Well, not only does being with Jesus give us courage, but it makes us more than we are.