If You've Been With Jesus

If You’ve Been With Jesus

Acts 4:1-13

This morning I want us to examine a statement which is made in V 13 concerning Peter, and John.

......."they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

There was something about Peter, and John that showed that they had been with Jesus. What was it ?

Are there any indications in our lives that we have been with Jesus ?

I believe that if we have been with Jesus.......if we have trusted him as Lord, and Savior.........if we are spending time with him in fellowship, and prayer, then there will be some characteristics in our life to indicate that.

This morning I want us to look at some of these characteristics.

I. If We’ve Been With Jesus, We Will Be Changed.

Peter, and John were just ordinary men. They were common men. They worked hard as fisherman to make a living. They were uneducated. They were untrained. They didn’t have alot of influence, nor power, but yet were able to help transform the lives of millions. They were able to make a difference in the world, and for the Kingdom of God because........they had been with Jesus, and their lives had been changed !

To meet Jesus Christ........to trust him as Savior.......to spend time with him in prayer is to experience change.

Illustration: Sheep Thieves

II. If We’ve Been With Jesus, We Will Be Compassionate.

Look back to Acts 3:1-8

As Peter, and John went into the temple for prayer meeting, they encountered a man who had been crippled for 40 years. The only way that he could provide for himself was through begging. Peter, and John could have side-stepped him, and ignored him like so many others had day after day. But Peter and John had been with Jesus. They had seen the compassion that he had for the sick, for the poor, for the needy. They had witnessed him taking care of the sick, and having compassion upon the sinful, and feeding those who were unable to provide for themselves.......and because they had been with Jesus.......they were compassionate to this man. They had no money to give to the man, but they gave him something much more precious....they provided him with a miracle !

If you and I have been with Jesus.......we will be compassionate. If we have been with him, then we will no longer be able to look at the suffering of humanity in the same way. Our hearts will be changed, and we will live a life of compassion.

Illust.

Agnes Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in Macedonia to Albanian parents. At the age of 18, she went to Calcutta India to teach in an affluent school. All around this school.....outside it’s windows, and in the streets of Calcutta there was poverty, there was suffering. And after 17 years of looking out her classroom at the human misery, Agnes left her classroom for the slums. We know Agnes as Mother Teresa. Those in Calcutta called her "The Saint Of The Gutters". Mother Teresa once said "the other day I dreamed that I was at the gates of heaven, and St. Peter said, Go back to earth, there are no slums up here ! Mother Teresa would spend the rest of her life taking care of the unloveables, and the untouchables. She lived among those with leprosy, and aids. She fed the poor, and took care of the needy.

Why ? What compelled Mother Teresa ?

She had been with Jesus !

III. If We Have Been With Jesus, We Will Be Courageous.

Look at Vs 1-2 of ch 4.

As Peter, and John preached to the people, the religious leaders, the priests, and Sadducees became angry, and had them arrested. They were put in jail over night for preaching the gospel. The next day they were brought before the Sandhedrin which amounts to the Jewish Supreme Court. These are the same people who just two months earlier delivered Christ up to be crucified. The Sanhedrin questions Peter, and John V7 "By what power, or by what name, have ye done this ?

Notice Peter’s response.........he responds to them by doing the same thing which had led to his arrest to begin with. He preaches the gospel to them, and reminds the court that they are the very ones who had delivered Christ up to be crucifixion ! Talk about boldness and courage !

Where did Peter, and John find their courage ? How could they stand up for what they believed in the midst of such persecution ?

Peter, and John had been with Jesus !

It was their courage, and boldness that caused the Sanhedrin Court to come to the conclusion that they had been with Jesus !

You have probably heard of, and perhaps read "Pilgrim’s Progress"........but chances are that you might not know much about the personal life of the author or where he wrote the book. The author’s name is John Bunyan. John was born in Bedforshire, England in 1628 in utter poverty. In 1656 several years after he had come to Christ........John answered the call to the ministry. He begin to preach the gospel everywhere, and to everyone. He was a unorthodox preacher. He had no formal training. It is said of him....