Text: Acts 4:13
Introduction: This text says that when these men saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were ignorant and unlearned men, they marveled and took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus! Obviously their association with Jesus had made a huge difference in them and in the way others perceived them.
*They were becoming more like Jesus in:
1. Meekness
2. Holiness
3. Power
4. Knowledge
5. Speech
6. Love
* We need to be more like Jesus!!
*The words of an old negro spiritual says:
“To be like Jesus.To be like Jesus. All I ask- to be like Him. All through life’s journey, from earth to glory, all I ask- to be like Him.”
When the wife of missionary Adoniram Judson told him that a newspaper article likened him to some of the apostles, Judson replied, “I do not want to be like a Paul…or any mere man. I want to be like Christ…I want to follow Him only, copy His teachings,drink in His Spirit, and place my feet in His footprints…Oh, to be more like Christ!”
Source Unknown.
* The reason Peter and John were like Jesus is that they had been with Jesus! They had been with Jesus:
I In the place of Fellowship!
Mark 3:14
And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
1 John 1:3
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 1:9
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
II In the place of Prayer!
Luke 6:12
And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Acts 2:42
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
III In the place of Training!
Matt 5:2
And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Matt 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
IV In the place of Ministry!
Mark 3:14
And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
Mark 6:7
And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits
V In the place of Danger!
Luke 10:3
Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
John 15:18
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
1 John 3:13
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
Conclusion: There is a past, present and future tense to what God is doing in the life of every believer:
In their Past! Rom 8:29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
In their Present! 1 Thess 2:13
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
In their Future! 1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
In Discipleship Journal, Carole Mayhall tells of a man who went to a diet center to lose weight. The director took him to a full-length mirror. On it he outlined a figure and told him, “This is what I want you to be like at the end of the program.” Days of intense dieting and exercise followed, and every week the man would stand in front of the mirror, discouraged because his bulging outline didn’t fit the director’s ideal. But he kept at it, and finally one day he conformed to the longed-for image.
Daily Bread, August 8, 1990.