Acts 4
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (v. 13)
In this passage we see a remarkable thing, namely that those around the apostles knew immediately, (not having seen Jesus), that these men had been around Him. This was a “new generation” and Jesus had been gone for quite sometime, yet these people recognized that the apostles had spent time with Him. What impressed the leaders of the synagogue that day in Jerusalem? It was their boldness; the assurance of their message; they taught without hesitation or reservation because they had a message and they had been with Jesus. When we spend time with Jesus, others will know it; not because we are cocky, or aggressive, but because we speak with authority, and we believe what we are saying. Self confidence is not a good thing really, it can lead to many problems, but confidence in the fact that Jesus loves us, and that we have been given a message of Truth, and a responsibility toward that Truth, is a blessed thing, and worthy of attention. These ignorant men, (compared to the world’s ideals) were empowered with great wisdom—supernatural wisdom, and everyone knew it. These men also knew that their sins were gone, and it showed by their actions and their words. This is having confidence in Christ. Oh, but we must strive not to appear as arrogant or better than any other, but we can walk with the confidence of faith in a Living, Loving Savior, and of His free grace.
When we have spent some time with Jesus, we also will know it. It will change our lives. We cannot hope to accomplish anything for the Lord until we have spent much time alone with Him, and we will never amount to much without it. The Lord has promised us that when we pray in secret, He will reward us openly. We ought to have a time, every day, that we can get alone with Jesus and talk with Him, and allow Him to talk with us, whether that be in early morning or any time during the day. David rose up early in the morning and praised the Lord, and I believe he was a good example for us to follow. The wise spend time with Jesus, whether that is what made them wise, or they were wise enough to listen to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and sought out Christ, we do not know, but we do know that the wise gains more wisdom, and gets the attention of others when he spends time at the feet of Jesus. The apostles were made wise because of their time with the Lord and their wisdom was detrimental in spreading the Gospel throughout the land.
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