Now when they saw the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and untrained in the schools [common men with no educational advantages], they marveled; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13, AMPC).*
Here they were, Peter and John, ordinary men filled with the Holy Ghost, telling the learned religious establishment of the day that not only was Jesus risen from the dead, but a man crippled from birth had just been miraculously healed by the power of His name. As if that weren’t enough, Peter tops off their defense by telling these Pharisees and Sadducees that Jesus is the Messiah and Savior of the whole world, including them. Bold words indeed, considering that the men to whom they were speaking had the power to stone them to death or turn them over to the Romans to be crucified as disturbers of the peace.
Bold words, bold deeds, bold men empowered by the Holy Spirit who knew their lives had been changed and gloriously transformed by the Holy Spirit of the risen Christ. These were ordinary people, nobodies really, in the sight of the world, but they had been with Jesus, and their Spirit-filled words and actions turned the world upside down.
In our politically correct, anything-goes, feel-good philosophy of modern life, this same Holy Spirit will embolden us to go speak good news to a lost world. Our message is the same one preached by Peter and John and believers all over the world. Jesus is risen, Jesus loves them, and He wants to give them a life worth living. All it takes is ordinary folks living ordinary lives, who have been with Jesus.
“And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race]. . . . And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it)” (Mark 16:15-20, AMPC).
* Scripture quotations credited to AMPC are taken from Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission.