Greg Laurie - They Had Been with Jesus

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What we need today are Christians that walk and talk with Jesus, people that radiate God's love. It's been said, "Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by men". You're the only Bible some people are ever going to read. As I've said before, there are actually five gospels in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and you. You, I, us, we're the fifth gospel, simply meaning people are watching us. Well, before us, in this text that we're gonna read in a few moments, are these individuals, Peter and John in particular, who walked with Jesus. And it was said of them that they had been with Jesus. It was noticed by nonbelievers that these men had been with Jesus. You know, let's say you laid out in the sun for too long and you got sunburned.

Someone might say, "Hey, you've been in the sun". How do they know that? Because you're as red as a lobster, right? When you've been with Jesus, other people are going to know. In fact, we read here in Acts chapter 4, "The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus". I love this, ordinary men with no special training, but they reflected Christ, they radiated Jesus to others. And this is really what happens when we become a Christian. Christ comes to live inside of us. It's not like we're just trying to imitate Jesus. This isn't about imitation. This is impartation. And by that, I mean this is Christ coming and living inside of us.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in me. And I live this faith by the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me". But there it is, Christ lives in me. And if you're a Christian, listen, Christ lives in you as well. And when you've been with Jesus, people will know. Let me ask you this, do you think people can tell you're a Christian, not by what you say, but by how you live and what you do? As it has been said before, if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? By evidence, I don't mean how many Bibles you own, or how many Christian bumper stickers are on your car.

By the way, you can overdo it with bumper stickers. I've seen some people, they have like 25 stickers on their car. That's just too many, just take them off now. One or two do the trick. But anyway, that's not the evidence I'm talking about. I'm talking about the way you treat your family. I'm talking about the way you do your work. I'm talking about the way you treat your neighbors, real evidence that shows you are a true Christ follower. People should be able to see that. People should be able to say, "You've been with Jesus".

Peter and John, along with the other apostles, were there at Pentecost. The power of God had fallen on them dramatically. We read that there was a sound of a mighty, rushing wind filling the room and divided flames of fire rested upon each disciple as they received that supernatural power. But now Pentecost is over, and the little flames are no longer visible. But they had been replaced with burning hearts. Their hearts burned for Christ because Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you to be witnesses unto me".

So, as we come now to Acts chapter 3, we have the first miracle of the early church. It happened one afternoon when Peter and John were headed to the temple to pray. It was a day like any other day. We don't read that an angel said, "Go to the temple, and there will be some guy that God wants to heal today". Nor do we read that there was a pillar of fire guiding them to the temple. It was just a day like any other day when they were going to pray. By the way, that's a good discipline to say, "I pray at this time in the day," or "I always start my day with study of this scripture". These are good habits, and so this is what they did, a day like any other day, doing what they always did. They went to temple to pray, but there was a great opportunity waiting for them right there. And we don't always know when those opportunities are going to open up. That is why the Bible says that we should be instant in season and out of season, or as another translation puts it, we should be on duty at all times.

So, a good thing to pray in the morning is, "Lord, I belong to you and I'm available. I'm available to be used by you today. I am available to speak for you today. I am available to be led by you today". So, Peter and John go into the temple to pray. And here is a man who was sort of a fixture there at the temple who would ask for money. You've seen people like this out on the streets, maybe in your city, holding little signs, "Homeless, please help". That's what this guy was like, but this man had not been able to walk, 40 years old, never had the use of his feet. And he was just waiting there. And the supernatural invaded the natural. So, as they're walking by this guy, he's looking up for money. And Peter, loose paraphrase, says, "Buddy, I don't have any money for you, but I have something far better. Look at me right now". And then he says, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk".

And now he takes it to the next level. Peter reaches down, takes the guy by the hand and pulls him up to his feet. Oh, man, that could have gone south so quickly because if that guy wasn't healed, he would have been pulled up, and he would have crashed on the ground. And everyone would have said, "What are you doing? Who do you think you are"? That was such a bold step of faith that Peter took, but the man was healed. And the Bible tells us that this man was walking and leaping and praising God, he was so excited. We read in Acts here, in Acts 3:12 that Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the people. See, it wasn't about the miracle. It was about the opportunity. Oh, the miracle was glorious, but the miracle set the stage for the gospel.

So, Peter preaches the gospel to this crowd of people. He tells them that Christ died on the cross for their sin. And don't forget, the crucifixion was not that far in their past. It had happened recently, so this was an event they were aware of. Many of them were eyewitnesses of it. He said, "Jesus Christ who you crucified, who is your Messiah, he rose again from the dead". And then he told them something that's very important. And I would say this thing that Peter told them is something that is missing in a lot of preaching today. And I would take it a step further and say, because this ingredient is missing in a lot of preaching, you may have a lot of people that think they're Christians, but actually are not. Let's identify what that ingredient is.

It's found here in Acts chapter 3, verse 19. Peter says, "Repent, therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out, so times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord". The secret ingredient, the thing we don't hear enough about, repentance, he told them to repent. I bring this up because sometimes you hear sermons where people are told they're loved by God, that's true. They're told that God has a plan for them, that's true. They're told that Christ died on the cross for them, that too is true. They're told that Christ rose again from the dead, yes, that's all true. They're told they must receive Jesus into their life as their Savior and Lord, absolutely true. But they're not told to repent. And here Peter says, "You must repent and be converted".

Okay, wow, this was a powerful message. Five thousand people believed as a result of it. "Oh, well, there's these religious leaders called the Sadducees". By the way, the Sadducees, were always fighting with the Pharisees. They're all in positions of power and the one thing they had in common is they were against Jesus, and they were against Christians. But they were also against each other. The Pharisees were very conservative theologically. The Sadducees kind of had their own take on things. For instance, the Sadducees did not believe there was a resurrection from the dead, well, the Pharisees did. So, the Sadducees did not believe there was an afterlife. Maybe that's where they got their name, "Sad-u-see". If you don't believe there's an afterlife, you're sad, you see.

So, the Sadducees, they're upset by this, and so they bring Peter and John before the Sanhedrin, which is sort of the religious Supreme Court of the day. So, this is a big deal to be brought before the Supreme Court. Here's what happened next, Acts chapter 4, verse 7, "And they brought the two disciples and demanded, 'By what power, whose name have you done this?' Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Leaders and elders of our nation, are we being questioned because we've done a good deed for a crippled man?' Peter asked, 'Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to you and all the people of Israel, he was healed in the name of, and the power of, Jesus Christ from Nazareth. This man, you crucified, and God has raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the scriptures where it says, the stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone and their salvation, and no one else.'" Peter says, "There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call upon to save them".

Now, the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and they could see they were ordinary men who had no special training. They recognized that they were men who had been with Jesus. And since the man who had been healed was standing right there among them, the council had nothing to say. Okay, let's see if we can identify some earmarks, some ways to identify a person who has been with Jesus, a person who is walking with Jesus. If you're taking notes, here's point number one. A person who has been with Jesus will boldly share their faith.

Let me say that again, a person who has been with Jesus will boldly share their faith. Let's not forget, this is the same Peter that denied his Lord, not once, not twice, but three times. And now here he is preaching in front of religious leaders, calling people to Christ, seeing 5.000 come to the Lord on this occasion, another 3.000 a little bit earlier on the day of Pentecost. Where did Peter get this courage? It came, of course, from the Holy Spirit, and it came from his relationship with Christ. And when you're walking with the Lord, sharing your faith will come rather easily. It will be the overflow of a Christ-filled life. Peter certainly had that.

You know, I've heard people say, "Oh, it's so hard to be a Christian, I tried and I failed". Let me say something that might surprise you. It's not hard to be a Christian, it's impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. See, with God, all things are possible. He can give me the strength and the power to live the life he has called us to live. Apart from him, the Bible says, I can do nothing, Jesus said that. But then scripture also tells me, Paul speaking, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". So, stop trying to live the Christian life in your own power. Stop trying to do it in your own strength. And instead say, "Lord, I need your help each and every day". I'll talk about this and a lot more in my message this weekend at Harvest, which is titled, "What The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ Means To You".

Number two, a person who has been with Jesus will know their Bible. A person who has been with Jesus will know their Bible. It's clear from this message that Peter gave, he knew scripture. He quoted it from memory. He didn't have an iPad up there. He wasn't googling this. This was coming to him from the Holy Spirit because he spent time in the Word of God. Listen, if you want a closer relationship with God, you need to spend time with God reading his Word. Jesus said, "Lo," in the volume of the book, "I have come". This will give you a burning heart, Peter certainly did that. So, he was a bold witness for his faith. He knew the scripture. And here's another thing. We don't like this one as much. If you have been with Jesus, if you're walking with Jesus, you're going to be persecuted. The religious leaders read the riot act to Peter and John and tell them to cease and desist from spreading this message about Jesus.

Look at Acts chapter 4, verse 17. To keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, that's how they viewed what Peter and John were doing. Peter and John were preaching the gospel, but the religious leaders perceived it as propaganda. "To stop them from speaking this propaganda, they warned them not to speak to anyone in Jesus's name again. So, they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus," wow. This is 1st-century cancel culture, isn't it? What is cancel culture? It's when you are told you cannot hold that opinion, and you cannot express that opinion. And if you do, we'll remove your social media account. Or if you do, we'll attack you on social media. Or if you do, we'll protest you or we'll do something to stop you. We'll cancel you. This was cancel culture. We had it then and we have it now.

But listen to this, the gospel cannot and will not be canceled or silenced in the 1st century or the 21st century. Oh, people will try, but they will ultimately fail. Notice that the name of Jesus was the issue. "Stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Stop praying in the name of Jesus". Why is that such a big deal? Because there's power in the name of Jesus. The Bible says at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Why is it that people use the name of Jesus to make a point? They'll say, "Oh, Christ" or "Jesus" this, it's crazy. And sometimes these people are atheists. Why do they invoke the name of someone they don't even believe in? You'd think the last name they'd ever want to utter is the name of Jesus.

I was pumping gas not too long ago and some guy, I don't know what caused him to say it, he said, "Jesus Christ". I said, "Hey, careful, he might answer you sometime". There's power in the name of Jesus and in a backhanded way, a nonbeliever, by using that name as an expletive or to punctuate a point, is acknowledging the power of the name. Stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Listen, never stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Never stop praying for people in the name of Jesus. But when you do that, be forewarned you will be persecuted. Jesus said in John chapter 15, "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they're gonna persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. The people of this world will hate you because you belong to me".

Hey, let's be honest, this is one of the hardest things about being a Christian, especially if you want to be liked and you want to be popular. People will hate you simply because you believe in his name. And by the way, if everyone likes you, I don't know how well you're communicating your faith because the Bible says, "Beware when all men speak well of you". Because that's how the fathers treated the false prophets there in Luke 6:26. So, the fact is, if and when you are persecuted, insulted, made fun of, marginalized, or even canceled for your faith in Christ, wear it as a badge of honor.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 as he wraps up the Beatitudes, "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all kinds of evil and things against you because you are my followers". And he says, "Be happy about it. Be very glad, for a great reward awaits you in heaven". That's awesome, isn't it? "Oh, man, I'm being persecuted. What should I do"? Rejoice, rejoice because it sounds like you're doing your job. Let me just add this caveat, make sure you're being persecuted for the right reason because the Bible says we should rejoice when we're persecuted for righteousness's sake. Don't be persecuted because you're mean or impatient or rude or overbearing. I pray that that persecution comes because you're a righteous man or woman.

One more point and this is the last one. A person who has been with Jesus will be a person of prayer. After Peter and John were told they could no longer speak about Jesus, they decided to get together with the other believers and have a prayer meeting. Look at your Bible again, Acts chapter 4, verse 29. Here's our prayer, "Now, O Lord, hear their threats and give your servants great boldness in their preaching. Send your healing power. May miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus". And after this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they preached the Word of God with boldness.

So, here's just a closing few thoughts about this prayer. They prayed together. Hey, you know when something bad has happened, or something hard is happening, or you have some challenge, get together with your Christian friends and pray. Don't isolate, the Bible says, "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ". And these people prayed together. Look at Acts chapter 2, verse 23. "After they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. And all the believers lifted their voices together to prayer in God". There's power in united prayer. Jesus said, "If any two of you will agree together here on earth, concerning anything you ask of my Father in heaven, it will be done for you".

So, pray with other believers. Number two, I love this one, they acknowledged the sovereignty of God. Verse 24 they said, "O, Sovereign Lord, creator of heaven and earth and the sea and everything that is in them". You know, it's really important to remind yourself of the greatness of God. In the Lord's Prayer, which is really the template for all prayer because one day the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Lord, teach us to pray". They didn't say, "Lord, teach us a prayer," though you can pray the Lord's Prayer verbatim. It's a beautiful prayer, but it's a template. It's a model for prayer. "Lord, teach us to pray". He says, "After this manner therefore you should pray, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," and so forth.

But notice it starts out with an acknowledgement of the greatness of God. And that's what the apostles did. That's what the believers did. "O, Sovereign Lord". The word "sovereign" means God is in control. And then they pray for the will of God. Look at verse 29, "O Lord, consider their threats and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your Word". You would have thought they would have prayed, "O, Lord, make them stop, make them stop harassing us". No, they said, "Lord, we want to just make you aware of this. Be aware of what they're saying and give us even more boldness to preach your Word". They did not pray that they would have a break from persecution, but rather that they might have more boldness while being persecuted. The book of Acts is about the work of the Holy Spirit through ordinary people that change their world. It was the Spirit of God working through the Word of God in the hearts of the people of God. And this still happens today. The Spirit of God wants to work through the Word of God in your heart and mine.