To Encourage You

Acts 4:13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

Have you noticed that sometimes you can just tell? I’m thinking of a pastor’s sermon, or a teacher’s Sunday School class. You can just tell the difference between someone that’s been spending time at Jesus’ feet and someone who has not. You can recognize it in the insights that they share from the Word of God. You can see it in their passion. You can see it in their eyes. It’s the mark of the Holy Spirit on a life. There’s not anything quite like it, for there’s nothing else quite like spending time with the Savior of the world.

That’s what the verse above is talking about. Here were Peter and John, common fishermen. They’d just been placed under arrest for preaching the gospel in Jerusalem. Here they are after having been dragged before the Jewish religious elite, namely the “rulers and elders and scribes . . . (along with) Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family” (Acts 4:5-6).  As these leaders set about to question them, they are utterly astonished by Peter and John’s boldness. There was something different about them. They just weren’t like everyone else. And then they recognized what they had in common. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. They had a fire in their presence that was a reflection of the glory of God. That’s what time with Jesus will do for someone.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is in Luke 24 where Jesus encounters two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. It was after the resurrection and these two men, although they had heard that Jesus had risen, were finding it hard to believe. Somehow, as Jesus spoke to them, they were kept from recognizing Him. Jesus asked them what they are talking about. They replied that they were talking about “Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” Then Jesus said, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And then we are told that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Then, as they reach the village, the men urge Jesus to stay with them, as it was at the end of the day. Then these words: “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’”

You see, that’s what it’s like to be with Him. That’s the effect of truly spending time in the presence of Christ. And, wonderfully, it’s an experience that is available to anyone. Jesus longs for us to spend time with Him. It’s the very meaning of His name “Immanuel,” i.e., “God with us.” It was as Jesus looked over Jerusalem sometime prior to his crucifixion that He said the following words: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

Do you realize that He’s saying the very same thing to the world today? Do you realize that He’s saying the same thing to you? But are you willing? Do you recognize the inestimable privilege it is to sit at Jesus’ feet? Do you realize how much He wants to reveal to you the infinite treasures of His excellent Word? Do you want your heart to burn?