Been With Jesus Lately?
Acts 4:13-22
The Sanhedrin
were the supreme court of Jews in those days…but they were unspeakably
corrupt…they had passed on their offices thru the family regardless of
qualifications…were money-hungry/power-hungry.
These also are
the ones who had Jesus crucified…and now the apostles are preaching that
He’s alive!
The Sanhedrin are threatened, and declare war on Christianity.
Here is the 1st persecution of the apostles, as they
are jailed…later they will suffer many beatings and executions…
Here in the
middle of this story, a statement is made that we cannot pass up:
v. 13
last phrase is profound!
They HAD been
with Him, walking and talking and learning from Him for 3 years!
Saw Him heal blind/deaf/lame…Lazarus!/heard the
sermon on the mount live!
Took His rebukes and learned/felt His comfort when scared/…they
saw the crucifixion from a distance…and in a deep way, they too, died on
that day/…and these 2 in v. 13 had a footrace to the tomb when they
heard He was alive!
And having been with Jesus, they would never be the
same! It should be the same
for us! Could v. 13 be said
of you? Do others take
knowledge and marvel and know that you must have been with Jesus?
Ill.—they
say we become like those we are around:
man/dog—man/wife [be
careful!]
II Cor. 3:18
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory
of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even
as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Every day the child of God looks into the Word of God, has
intimate fellowship with the Son of God, and is changed by the Spirit
of God into the glory of God in the likeness of Jesus Christ!
Can people tell
that you’ve been with Him?
Being with Jesus will change…
1.
Your Love
Having been
with Jesus: You will love
the people of God/Word of God/things of God
What’s important to Him is now important to you…you love what He
loves! [for
His church/for His people/for His Word!]
2.
Your Loyalty
v. 13b-20
Their loyalty is put to the test, and they ace this test!
And you and I are tested every day, every hour, whether we’ll be
loyal to our God, do what’s right…a
faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted
Back to
beginning of v. 13—unlearned and ignorant:
doesn’t mean they were stupid, rather that in the eyes of the Sanhedrin,
they hadn’t been educated in the accredited schools of that day.
Unlearned=unlettered
[no PhD!]
Heard about a guy named Tweedle, didn’t want a divinity degree,
he said it’s bad enough to be Tweedle, without being Tweedle D.D.!
Notice in v.
15—conferred among themselves [put them out of the room!]
I’ve got to believe that the devil is having some special called
meetings. [Satan’s
special-called business meeting: “What to do about Grace Baptist!”]
v. 17a
Their concern is that it not spread any further!
The devil
doesn’t mind what goes on in here, as long as we don’t take it
out there! He
won’t oppose us kindling a fire in here as long as he can succeed at
“dousing it at the door!”
We’re the salt of the earth, and as long as we keep the salt in
the shaker we’re no real threat to him!
We're the light of the world, and as long as we hide it under a
bushel he considers us a bunch of hayseeds!
So,
the Sanhedrin
decide to threaten/intimidate Peter and John.
“Let’s just scare them…frighten them into keeping their mouths
shut!” So, they
outlawed
soulwinning. [much like it is now hate speech to repeat what the
Bible says about homosexuality or salvation]
v. 17-18
Question: would that
bother you if it happened here in Decatur?
Would it affect you?
Ask yourself this
question: When did I
break the law this week?
Some here would
say they love Jesus, they’re loyal to Jesus…but you never talk about
Him! That should bother us:
for it’s human
nature to want to talk about people that are important to us.
Before you leave, just ask one of these grandparents about their
grandkids…if you have an extra hour, that is!
[easy to
overestimate interest! “Have
I shown you a pic of my grandkids?”
“No, and I really appreciate it!”]
joke—had
a friend once who moved away/fell in love/told me about her/over and
over/built her up/wanted me to meet her so badly/I could tell he was
head over heels, gaga in love!/finally got to meet her…I must tell you
-- I’ve seen 2 truly ugly women in my lifetime…and she was both of them!
She could make a freight train take a dirt road!…but he genuinely
loved her for who she was [he must’ve!]…point is:
since he really loved her, she was all he talked about!
We sing how we love Jesus, but if we REALLY love Him, we’ll talk
about Him!
[There’s no greater thrill than leading another to
Christ…and there’s no way to do that unless we speak!]
v. 18-20
This is the same man who denied he knew the Lord to the young
maiden prior to the cross, but now he’s standing eye to eye with these
officials/not backing down a bit!
“I can’t help but tell people about Jesus!”
Being with
Jesus will change your love/loyalty…you’ll think about Him, want
to learn about Him, you’ll talk about Him!
3.
Your Life
The idea that
you can meet Jesus and it not affect your very lifestyle is completely
foreign to what the Bible teaches!
Scripture
makes 2 things clear:
1.
You don’t have to change your life in order to get saved.
2.
If you truly get saved…you’ll have to change your life!
[you’ll want
to!]
If you’re
sick…You don’t try to get better so you can go see the dr…you go see the
dr. so you can get better!
Ill.—Henry
Holmes in NM, dad worked with in the mines, played with his kids, I
noticed for some time he always smelled kinda funny…not bad, but
different, not quite what you’d expect from a miner, it was like
perfume…women’s! Like roses
or something…honestly, he smelled good enough to take to the movies!
Anyway, one day I asked him about it, and he said, well I should,
since I started in the greenhouse business!
OHHHH!!!!
Then I started
working for him at his nursery and then I smelled like flowers!
Now, that’s a perfect example of what I’m talking
about…if we spend time with Jesus…you can’t spend time with Him and it
not leave an aroma [not physical aroma, though some people sometimes
leave their mark on a room]
Joke—I was on an elevator once and a lady said,
"Someone’s deodorant is failing"…I said, "It’s not mine, I’m not wearing
any!"
You spend time
with Jesus and it will affect your spiritual aroma!
II Cor. 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
II Cor. 2:14 Now
thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and
maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
15 For we are unto
God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish: 16 To the one we are
the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto
life.
Ec 10:1
-
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth
a stinking savour: so
doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
If we’ve truly
been with Jesus we won’t have to wear a sign to tell people/take out an
ad in the paper…the
change in our life is the neon sign that will make people
take knowledge that we’ve been with Jesus!
H.A. Ironside
pastored the Moody Church in
Chicago.
He had to deal with a well-known atheist one day, trying to
contradict the Bible. The
atheist challenged him to a public debate.
“I’ll agree to the debate if you’ll follow one
condition: I’ll bring 300
people who claim their life is better because of Jesus and you bring 300
who say theirs is worse!
The man said, I can’t do that/ok,
200/nope/100/huh-uh/50/sorry!/10!!!…needless to say, the debate never
took place! [people are
better for spending time with Him!]
Joh 10:10
-
I am come that
they
might have
life, and
that they
might
have it more abundantly.
How do you smell?
Have you been with Jesus?
In prayer/daily Bible reading?/meditation?/In church?
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