WHO HAVE YOU BEEN WITH?
Acts 3:1-8, “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”
Continuing into the next chapter…
Acts 4:7-13, “And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
Here is one of the most familiar stories of the New Testament, the story of the healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple.
Peter and James had not long left the Upper Room where the baptism in the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 who were there praying. From this place of power and the manifestation of the very presence of the majesty of God, they walked out into the world of suffering and shame that they now lived in.
Oh how they longed to stay in the presence of the Holy Spirit in that place of blessing and power, but life does not always leave us in those places and sooner or later we must face the realities of everyday life with all of its struggles, troubles and strife.
God has called us forth to do a work for Him and to reach out to the lost souls of men at every opportunity.
It doesn’t take long, if you are truly living for Jesus, for the world to take notice of your life and then persecution will come. The world doesn’t want to be reminded that they need a savior. They think that they are fine just the way they are.
I have been listening to a sermon from a preacher from Australia for the past few days and I won’t relay his whole message to you this morning but I want to repeat just one thing that he said.
People who don’t know Jesus as their Savior, and even many who think they know Jesus as their Savior, are not saved at all, or should I say, are not really converted from their old life at all. They come to Jesus for the wrong reason because we promise them a life of joy, peace, love, fulfillment and healing – thus making life easier. The real reason we should see people coming to Jesus is because there is a judgment coming for sin and all sinners shall burn in the flames of hell eternally.
The scriptures say that not one of us is good within ourselves. We all need that Savior and there is no other way to Heaven except through the blood of Jesus Christ.
If we see people converted because they want a better life, they will “backslide” when troubles come and think that we have lied to them. But, if we see people converted in order to escape the judgment to come and eternal punishment, we will see far less “backsliders”. It has been estimated that as many as 90% of all conversions to Christ end up in a backslidden and lost condition. Why does this happen? It happens because people are converted with the wrong motive.
When we accept Christ as our Savior and then truly begin to walk with Jesus and build a strong and intimate relationship with God it won’t be hard for others to see Jesus in us.
We all pray, “Lord let people not see who I am or what I am but let them see Jesus in me.”
How can we expect people to see Jesus in us if we don’t spend time with Jesus in the first place?
This should be your number one New Year’s Resolution, and a resolution that you absolutely make happen – To Be More Like Jesus, To be With Jesus More in Prayer and Study Time and to allow Jesus to be the absolute center of your life, all of the time and not just at church time.
As Peter and John stepped out into the streets of Jerusalem that day and went to the temple, the realities of suffering and the power of sin in the lives of men was glaringly evident. They came to the very gates of the temple, the House of God, and there they say a pitiful sight. A lame man, crippled from birth, lay there begging for money to help him survive.
I know that there are many who stand on our street corners begging. I have noticed more during the past few weeks than ever before. In fact, I had not seen a beggar at a street corner for a long time until a few weeks ago and then they appeared out of nowhere. I dare say that most of them were fakes and only out to make a fast dollar and are willing to lower themselves to the lowest place in society to get a free handout.
But this man at the gate of the temple was for real. He was no imposter. He was a man in need of Jesus and of the healing power of God and that’s just what Peter and John gave him, Jesus!
My friends, there aren’t many of us who are rich by this world’s standards. There aren’t many of us who could afford to give silver and gold to any beggar. In fact, if we were to give to them, we would often take part of what we really need to help someone else who we think would need it worse only to learn that they weren’t in need at all. It tends to make us a little cynical and forces us to not trust anyone who begs anymore.
Illustration:
I remember an instance at a Taco Bell Restaurant a few years ago when I was approached by a man begging for money to buy food for his family. I was in my car in line at the Taco Bell. I would not give him money but I did offer to buy his family a meal. He then said that they couldn’t eat Mexican for it makes them sick. I then offered to follow him across the street to buy them a burger instead. He walked away and I never saw him again. Needless to say, he didn’t want food at all and there was no hungry family across the street like he said. He only wanted money to buy the very things that I preach against.
I also remember reading of the “homeless” woman who stood on a busy street corner in our capitol city begging for food or money. Whenever food was given to her she only threw it in the trash can and she was collecting nearly $2000 per week until she was caught. It is no wonder that we aren’t willing to help those who are in need any more.
When Peter and John saw this lame man, this is what the scripture says about what happened next.
Acts 3:6-8, “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”
The gifts that Peter and John gave that man on that day were far greater than any amount of silver or gold. They gave him Jesus. They gave him that same power that had changed their own lives and they knew that Jesus was his only real answer to his need. They could not heal but Jesus could. They could not save but Jesus could.
That man’s life was forever and completely changed through the power of God that was manifested in the lives of those disciples who had followed Jesus.
When you have been with Jesus everyone will know it. When you haven’t spent time with Jesus, we will all know that too. There is a difference in the attitude and mannerisms of someone who has spent time in prayer and in the presence of the Lord. There is a glow of the Spirit and a sense of the presence of God in them that is unmistakable. Have you noticed that in someone before? Have you experienced that presence in your own life?
The false followers of God, those who only claim to know Jesus, are suddenly exposed for who they are, imposters of Christianity. And they don’t like being exposed as fakes.
Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”
Yes everyone can tell whether we have “been with Jesus” or not by the deeds we do, the words we speak and the attitude we manifest. The problem with so many people in our modern churches is that if the Lord begins to move through them, they want to quickly get recognition and take some of the credit for what God is doing, and that’s when we start walking on dangerous ground for God will not share His glory with any man.
There are preachers who build an entire ministry by attempting to repeat one instance where blowing on someone was used to bring about a miracle of healing or deliverance. Now they go around blowing on everyone and many are so gullible that they will fall down just to see if something will really happen.
Then there are those who promise you a financial return on every dollar you give. God does bless and will bring you financial blessings for obedience but if we only give to get that blessing then our gift is for the wrong reason. Riches, wealth and prosperity are not a doctrine to build salvation upon. What happens to those whose entire salvation depends upon their prosperity when the hard times come? They backslide, if they were ever saved in the first place, because their whole foundation is wiped away.
Then there are those who will build a whole ministry on sending out prayer cloths to heal the sick. True, Paul sent out cloths that were worn on his body and some where healed by coming in contact with these cloths, but the cloth didn’t do anything. It was the power of God manifested in the life of a man that had been with Jesus. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that did the work, not Paul.
When men begin to look at you as though you had some supernatural power or special favor with God, its time to let them know that it’s really Jesus in you and not yourself. That’s what Peter did!
Acts 3:12, “So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?”
Acts 3:16 “And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
When you have been with Jesus, people will know it. God will perform miracles of healing, deliverance, and people will come to the know the Lord, if we will only spend time with Jesus.
Do you want your life to count for the Lord? Do you want this coming year to be a great year and a year when you win many souls to Christ? Do you want your life to reflect Jesus to everyone you meet?
The only way that can happen is if we truly spend time building a relationship with Jesus Christ. The power of the Holy Spirit will be with us. The love of Jesus Christ will shine through us. And the glow of the presence of the Lord will be with us if we learn to spend time with Jesus.
If we spend time with the TV people will know it because we talk about the programs we have watched.
If we spend time watching sports, that’s what our life will portray.
If we spend time at the movies, the same is true.
Whatever we spend our time doing, fun, work, or whatever, that is what will be seen in our lives.
Have you spent time with Jesus? Is Jesus what people see in you? Is that what you talk about?
I think that now is the perfect time to check up on your own life and see how much of Jesus is really being shown through your life. Let’s draw closer to the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to shine through us in everything we do and say.