18

Acts 4:13 MEN WHO HAVE BEEN WITH JESUS

Introduction:

In our previous text the Apostles Peter and John have been arrested and

kept in jail overnight. The next morning they were brought before the Sanhedrin

Council for a hearing. They were asked in whose name and by what power they had

healed the lame man.

The Apostle Peter responded boldly, telling them that it was by the power

of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, that the lame man had been

healed. He told them that God the Father had raised Jesus from the dead and

that Jesus had healed this man and made him to walk. Furthermore, Peter told

him that Jesus is the only way that any man can ever get to heaven. He said

that there was no other way under heaven whereby a man could go to heaven, but

by Jesus Christ. That is, one would have to repent of his sins and trust in

Jesus Christ to save his soul in order to get to heaven. John, of course, was

agreeing with everything that Peter was saying.

I. The members of the Sanhedrin Council marveling at Peter and John

V. 13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived

that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled...” I want you to

note what the members of the Sanhedrin Council observed about Peter and John.

The first thing that struck their attention was that they were bold. They could

not help but notice that they were bold. They spoke up quickly and emphatically

in behalf of Jesus.

Last Sunday in the message I called it to your attention that the Apostle

Peter had not always been bold to speak on behalf of Jesus. When Jesus was

arrested he had run like a scared rabbit. In fact John had done the same thing.

All of the Apostles had done the same thing. Then the Apostle Peter had denied

Jesus three times during the time when Jesus was on trial before this same

Sanhedrin Council.

The Apostle John had also been present at that trial. He had not outright

denied Jesus, but neither had he spoken up on behalf of Jesus. He, too, like

the Apostle Peter, was scared. That is the reason that he did not speak up for

Jesus then. Neither of these men had been bold. But now both of them were very

bold to speak out for Jesus even though it was Simon Peter who had done most of

the talking. That was not really because he was bolder. It was just that it

was his nature to be outspoken and it was the nature of John to be rather quiet

and stand-offish.

Our text also says that they perceived that they were unlearned and

ignorant men. This does not mean that they thought that these men were stupid.

Rather it means that they knew that these men had not been to the school of the

rabbis. If they had been to the school of the rabbis, some of the members of

the Sanhedrin Council would have been their teachers. They would have trained

them. They would have known them.

Neither does this verse mean that they had no schooling at all. They had

most certainly been taught to read and write. These men were very familiar with

the Old Testament scriptures indicating that they had been taught to read and

that they had read the Old Testament frequently. In addition to this each of

these men would later write two or more books of the New Testament. So they had

not only been taught to read, but they had also been taught to write. They did

have the normal school learning that most of the Israelite men had, but they

did not have the special training which the rabbis had. They had never been

trained in speaking or explaining Scripture like the rabbis had been trained.

Yet these two men spoke with such great knowledge and such depth of

understanding of the meaning of Scripture and with such power of persuasion

concerning the Scriptures that it astounded the members of the Sanhedrin

Council. Even them members of the Sanhedrin Council, who most certainly did

not agree with what Peter and John were saying about Jesus could not help but

admire their ability to speak with such knowledge and power. In fact, they were

bitterly opposed to what these men said about Jesus. Yet it was impossible for

them not to marvel at these men and admire them for their knowledge of the

Scripture and their power of persuasion as they spoke.

II. The conclusion that the Sanhedrin reached

“...and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” The

conclusion about Peter and John was that they had been with Jesus. Jesus,

Himself, had never been to the school of the rabbis and yet it was said, “Never

a man spake like this man.” I am sure that the apostles did not even come close

to speaking like Jesus spoke, but they came much closer than anyone the

Sanhedrin members had ever heard. The only logical explanation they had was

that these two men had been with Jesus.

Furthermore, these two men had been involved in the healing of this lame

man who had been born lame and had been lame all of his life. This, too, was

something that would cause them to conclude that they had been with Jesus.

In addition to all of this, they both spoke so favorably about Jesus.

They both had so positively affirmed that Jesus is the Son of God, the promised

Christ of God, the promised Savior and Redeemer. It was impossible for them not

to conclude that these men had been with Jesus.

And indeed, they had been with Jesus. They had been with Jesus from the

early part of His ministry. They had apparently not been with Him when He was

baptized. Neither had they been with Him when He was tempted by Satan. But

them had been with Jesus from the time that He called upon them to leave their

fathers fishing nets and to follow Him and become fishers of men.

They sat at the feet of Jesus when Jesus delivered His first sermon, “The

Sermon On The Mount.” They were with Him in all those occasions when He taught

the people publicly. They with Him when He had those private teaching sessions

with only His disciples present. They had been with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee

when they were caught in a great storm and Jesus spoke to the storm and calmed

the winds and the waves. They had been with Him later when He walked in the

water during a storm. In fact, the Apostle Peter had joined Him out on the

water. Jesus had enabled him to walk on the water out to where Jesus was.

They had been with Jesus when He had healed all manner of sickness and

physical ailments. He had healed those who had the dread disease of leprosy.

They had been with Jesus when He took five loaves of bread and two little fishes

and fed a multitude of 5,000 men plus women and children.

They had been with Jesus when He stopped a funeral procession and brought

the corpse back to life again. They had been with Him when at Bethany He had

raised Lazarus back to life even after Lazarus had been dead for four days.

Peter, James and John had been with Jesus when He was transfigured before them

so that His face did shine as the brightness of the Sun and Moses and Elijah

appeared and spoke with Him.

They had been with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He had been

arrested. They had been with Jesus when He had been crucified and taken down

dead from the cross.

They had been with a group of disciples in a house with all doors locked

when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst. They had been with Jesus again at

a later occasion when Doubting Thomas was present and Jesus had invited Thomas

to thrust his hand up in His side where the spear had made a hole.

They had been with Jesus in Galilee when He had given the Great Commission

to His church. They had been with Jesus on the Mt. of Olives when Jesus had

lifted His hands and ascended upward into the clouds and went away to heaven.

III. Getting to see Jesus again and spending all eternity with Him

In John chapter 14 Jesus had assured Peter and John and all of His

disciples that when He would return to heaven He would prepare a place for them

and that some day He would return to earth and get them so that they would be

with Him again. Peter and John, of course, would be in that group. That

assurance must have meant a great deal to them as they lived out their lives

here on earth.

Peter and John were able to look down the road and know that they, too,

would some day die. They must not have known the details at that time, but they

knew they would die. What they did know was that whenever that time would come

when they would draw their last breath, their spirits would go out to be with

the Lord. Just as Jesus had promised the thief on the cross, when He said,

“This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.” So it would be with them. It

must have meant a great deal as they lived out their lives to know that when

they would die and their bodies would be left behind that their spirits would go

out to be with the Lord.

In I Thessalonians chapter 4 the Apostle Paul wrote about that time.

He said that when Jesus returns He would raise all of the saved dead and that He

would rapture up all the saved who are alive at that time and that He would

bring them up to meet Him somewhere in the air. He further said that all the

saved would be with Him forever from that point forward. That means that Peter

and John would be in that group just as Jesus had earlier promised. It must

have been a great deal of assurance to Peter and John as they lived out their

lives here on earth to know that one day their spirits would re-enter their

bodies and that their bodies would be raised from the grave and changed into an

immortal body that can never die again.

In later years this very Apostle John, who was now on trial before the

Sanhedrin Council, would write the Book of The Revelation. In that book John

would tell about the the time when a new earth would be created. He would write

that the Holy City New Jerusalem would come down from God out of heaven and rest

upon the ground in that new earth. John would write that the very throne of God

would be in that Holy City and that God Himself would sit upon that throne and

be with His people. Let me tell you that Jesus Christ the Son of God will have

a place on that throne. Furthermore, two of the people who will frequently come

before that throne and spend time with Jesus will be the Apostles Peter and

John. It must have meant a great deal to those apostles as they lived out their

lives here on this earth to know that some day they would get to appear before

the throne of God in their glorified bodies and spend time with Jesus. It must

have meant a great deal to them to know that they would get to spend all

eternity with Jesus. They had spent three marvelous years with Him in this

world. They were looking forward to spending all eternity with Him in a better

world.

IV. What it will take to spend eternity with Jesus

It will take the new birth. Jesus said, “Except a man be born again he

cannot see the kingdom of God.” That means that if a man is not born again when

he dies he will not get to enter into the Paradise of God where the thief on the

cross who trusted in Jesus went when he died. It means that if a man has not

been born again when he dies he will not go to be with Jesus as the Apostle

Peter and John went when they died. It means that if a man has not been born

again when he dies he will go where the rich man in Luke 16 went when he died.

The Scripture says that in hell he lift up his eyes. It means that if a man has

not been born again when he dies, he will not be in the resurrection of the

saved, which will take place prior to the millennial reign of Christ. Instead,

he will be raised after the millennium has ended and he will be judged before

The Great White Throne of God and will be cast into The Lake of Fire and

Brimstone.

In order for one to be born again so that he will spend eternity with

Jesus he must repent of his sins. Jesus said, “Except ye repent ye shall all

likewise perish.” This means that except a man repent he cannot ever deserve to

go to heaven. Instead he will remain an unworthy sinner, unworthy of heaven.

If a man will see himself as a lost sinner unworthy of heaven and headed

for the fires of hell then he must see Jesus as his only hope of getting to

heaven. But I am here to tell you that Jesus is not only man’s only hope of

heaven, but He is a sure hope. Just as surely as a man will call upon Jesus and

ask Jesus to save his soul and place his destiny in the hands of Jesus, just

that surely he will be saved. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon

the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Acts 16:31 says, “Believe on the Lord

Jesus Christ shall be saved.” In John 6:37 Jesus said, “...him that cometh unto

me I will in no wise cast out.”

Now every man, woman, boy and girl will some day see Jesus. But not all

who will see Him will spend eternity with Him. The unsaved will appear before

Him in judgment and then be cast out into The Lake of Fire and Brimstone. Only

those who have repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation get

born again and saved. Only those who have been saved will spend eternity with

Jesus.

Today I am not concerned about Peter and John. I am confident that they

will spend all eternity with Jesus. I am not concerned about where I will spend

eternity. I know for certain that I have trusted Jesus as my Savior and I

believe the promises which God has made in the Scriptures that whoever would

trust in Jesus would be saved. What I am concerned about today is those who

have not repented of their sin, they have not trusted in Jesus as their Savior

and they have not been saved and born again. The reason I am so concerned about

them is that I can very distinctly remember the time when I was unsaved. I

remember the great concern that I had for my soul and my destiny. I remember

what a great relief it was for me when I finally turned to Jesus Christ and

asked Him to save my soul.

I pray that if there is anybody here in this service today who has never

trusted Jesus to save your soul that you will turn to Him now and cry out to him

for mercy and salvation.

Conclusion:

Nobody but you can make the decision to trust Jesus. But I earnestly call

upon you to make that decision and call upon Him now while our musicians come

forward and our congregation sings an invitation hymn. While they sing, you

come forward trusting in your destiny into the hands of Jesus Christ, the Son of

God.