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....
"He himself ... went out to preach the Word in the open air on village greens, in barns, in private houses, and sometimes even in parish churches. Bedfordshire and neighboring shires are full of traditions of his preaching, and several Congregational and Baptist churches claimed to have been founded through his preaching."
In 1660 Anglican Royalists began to crack down on non-conformist preachers, and on Nov 12 th of that year John was arrested for preaching in a field near a farmhouse. At the time of his arrest, he was told that if he would apologize to the magistrates, and refrain from preaching that he would be released. Bunyan replied that such a promise was not possible. John Bunyan would spend 12 years in prison in spite of the fact that he had a wife, and seven children. After 12 years in prison, he was released for a short time, but then re-arrested for not conforming. It was during those long years of prison that John Bunyan wrote perhaps the greatest piece of Christian literature known......Pilgrim’s Progress as well as several other books !
John Bunyan had been with Jesus !
During China’s Boxer Rebellion of 1900, insurgents captured a mission station, blocked all the gates but one, and in front of that one gate placed a cross flat on the ground. Then the word was passed to those inside that any who trampled the cross underfoot would be permitted their freedom and life, but that any refusing would be shot. Terribly frightened, the first seven students trampled the cross under their feet and were allowed to go free. But the eighth student, a young girl, refused to commit the sacrilegious act. Kneeling beside the cross in prayer for strength, she arose and moved carefully around the cross, and went out to face the firing squad. Strengthened by her example, every one of the remaining ninety-two students followed her to the firing squad.
Those students had been with Jesus, and possessed the courage to take a stand for Christ.
Have we been with Jesus ?
IV. If We Have Been With Jesus, We Will Be Committed !
After being questioned, the Sandhedrin commands Peter, and John to quit preaching.......V18
Notice their response.......V19
Now turn with me to Acts 5:28-29
Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach.........V29 Response: We ought to obey God rather than men.
Peter, and John were committed to Christ.....they were committed to his calling, and to his cause !
Peter, and John were committed because they had been with Jesus !
If you, and I have been with Jesus, if we are being with him daily in prayer, worship, and fellowship, then we will be committed !
On Feb 19 1812 Adinirom Judson, and his bride of seven days Ann set sail for India to be missionaries. Upon arriving in India, they were denied entrance. A short time later, they received a open door to the country of Burma, and went there instead. Burma was a country of millions of people, but not one known Christian. Judson would spend 38 years in Burma. Over these years there would be much hardship, and difficulty. He, and his wife would have one child Roger, but would bury him when he was only 8 years old. Judson would be imprisoned as a British spy, and spend 21 months in jail. Ann became so violently ill that she had to return home for two years. The work of the ministry was extremely slow, and difficult. No Christians when they arrived.......after one year......none...........two years.......still no one.........five years.........not one Christian..........In fact they were there 6 years before seeing one person saved. Adonirah once wrote in his journal.........Everytime I see a ship set sail for home......I want to jump on it, and go.
Why didn’t they ? Why did they stay in Burma ?
Why do our SBC missionaries go to foreign land today ?
It is because they are committed !
And such commitment comes from having been with Jesus...........
As I said earlier........when the Judson’s arrived in Burma.......no Christians...........took 6 years before one person was saved.....but after Judson’s death........a government survey recorded that there were 210,000 Christians in Burma !
This morning......have you been with Jesus ?
For forgiveness........for fellowship..........in prayer ?
