The Spirit Filled Witness (Part 2)...Acts 4:13

Our text says, "Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus." The Sanhedrin was amazed at the confidence of Peter and John, especially since they were "uneducated and untrained men." Peter and John were uneducated and untrained in the rabbinical schools of these men, but they were not uneducated and untrained! They had been with Jesus! The confidence of these two men reminded the council of the boldness and confidence of Jesus, who by the way, also was not trained in their schools! What an awesome compliment, for others to recognize that as Christ followers, we're like Jesus because we have been with Him! It's good for every Christ follower to want to be like Jesus, but we can not have any misconceptions about what Jesus was like! I have had other Christ followers say to me, "You are too much like the apostle Paul and not enough like Jesus!" When I pressed for clarification, they said that apostle Paul was confrontational, but Jesus was not! The problem I had with that explanation was I was not sure what translation of the Bible they were reading! The Lord Jesus was very confrontational! In Matthew 23, Jesus confronted the scribes and Pharisees, calling them hypocrites, whitewashed walls, and a brood of vipers. In Luke 11:37-52, Jesus was invited to lunch at a Pharisee's home. Jesus deliberately avoided the pharisaical traditional washing before the meal, and when His host said something, Jesus pronounced woes upon the Pharisees for their hypocrisy! Another guest, a religious lawyer, pointed out that Jesus' words insulted them, too. So Jesus pronounced woes on them for their hypocrisy! Jesus was not what we'd call a polite dinner guest! On many other occasions, Jesus deliberately did something to provoke controversy (Like 6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-24; etc.). What's my point in this? The point is, if we're going to be like Jesus, we will be Spirit filled, bold witnesses who confront religious hypocrisy and false teaching. We won't be mean or rude. The Spirit filled Christ follower will have the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which includes kindness and gentleness! But we will have spent enough time with Jesus to learn from Him the importance of speaking out when God's truth is being compromised. We'll fear God more than we fear what culture says or what others think of us! We'll be like Peter and John who were bold witnesses because they spent much time with Jesus and learned from Him! Your move. Be encouraged!