Acts – GaryCombs.org

CAN PEOPLE TELL YOU’VE BEEN WITH JESUS?

June 6, 2023

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 NLT). Something extraordinary happens to ordinary people when they spend

“When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 HCSB).

June 6, 2021

CAN PEOPLE TELL YOU’VE BEEN WITH JESUS? Something extraordinary happens to ordinary people when they spend time with Jesus. When the former fisherman Peter stood to speak to the illustrious gathering of Jewish priests and rabbis they were shocked at his bold eloquence. So much so, that they asked Peter and John to leave the

“So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18 NKJV).

June 6, 2020

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE NAME OF JESUS? Peter and John healed a crippled man in the name of Jesus and began to preach in the Temple. A great crowd gathered to see the cripple now walking and to hear the preaching of Peter and John. The captain of the Temple arrested them for preaching

“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NLT).

June 6, 2018

NO OTHER NAME BUT JESUS!
After spending the night in jail, Peter and John were brought before the Jewish Council for preaching in the name of Jesus. The council asked them by what name and authority they had been preaching in the Temple. Peter’s answer was clear. He told them it was by the name of Jesus, whom they had crucified, but God had raised. He explained that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies in the Scriptures. And he further declared that salvation is found in no other name, but Jesus!

The name of Jesus means “God’s salvation.” This is the only name by which we may be saved. No other name is given. Yet, no other name is needed. Jesus.

‘who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’” (Acts 4:25-26 ESV)

June 6, 2016

With the filling of the Holy Spirit, the early church began to see the prophecies concerning Christ all through the Hebrew Scriptures. They were especially drawn to the Psalms of David. After Peter and John were held in custody overnight and instructed to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, they returned to their friends and joined a prayer meeting already in session. As they began to pray, they quoted Psalm 2:1-2, describing how the world’s kings and rulers would come against the Lord’s “Anointed,” in their prayers. This event never happened during David’s time. They rightly perceived that the Spirit had given David this prophecy to describe Jesus’ time. This newfound awareness of the Scriptures, perceived through the influence of the Spirit’s filling, gave the early church tremendous power in prayer and boldness in preaching. Do you ever pray the Scriptures back to the Lord as they did?

“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31 NKJV)

June 6, 2015

After Peter and John were threatened by the Jewish authorities for preaching in the name of Jesus, they gathered with the other believers and prayed. But they did not pray as one might expect. They didn’t pray for safety or protection. Instead, they prayed that the Lord would handle the threats while giving them boldness to preach in Jesus’ name. And the Lord answered their prayer, shaking the place where they met, so that they poured out like salt, preaching the gospel throughout the land. Oh, that our modern prayer meetings would be like this salt-shaker event again.

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13 NLT)

June 6, 2014

Something extraordinary happens to ordinary people when they spend time with Jesus. When the former fisherman Peter stood to speak to the illustrious gathering of Jewish priests and rabbis they were shocked at his bold eloquence. So much so, that they asked Peter and John to leave the room while they conferred. What gave Peter and John such authority? They didn’t have famous fathers or letters after their names. They didn’t study under Gamaliel or Hillel. They had spent all but the last three years as blue collar workers, as fisherman. But the last three years they had devoted to following Jesus and that changed everything. Others are able to “recognize” people who have “been with Jesus.”

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13)

June 6, 2012

Do others recognize you as one who has “been with Jesus?”

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John… they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13)

June 6, 2011

Peter and John were not wealthy and educated like the Jewish leaders, but they had something better. They had been with Jesus. Are others able to notice that you have spent time with Jesus?