Where Does Extraordinary Courage Come From?
For Peter to stand before the foremost religious leaders of his day and tell them that Jesus was the only way to salvation demonstrated amazing courage and conviction. Indeed, the high priest and the Council were “amazed.” Peter and John were untrained, uneducated in the formal sense, yet they spoke with great authority. Acts 4:13 says: “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”
Something about Peter’s confidence strangely reminded them of the teaching of Jesus. When Jesus began His ministry in Capernaum, “They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Mark 1:22). That was the connection! When the Sanhedrin saw Peter standing before them, they saw someone who reminded them of Jesus.
The only explanation for the courage and confidence the Council saw in Peter and John was their connection with Jesus. Peter’s courage couldn’t be explained by an elite education or some other variety of training. The religious leaders recognized something unique behind these ordinary men. The Sanhedrin wouldn’t characterize things this way, but we have the advantage of knowing this to be true: Behind these ordinary men was an extraordinary God.
The story of the church is the story of God using ordinary men and women to do extraordinary things. "They had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). It is association with Jesus that leads to imitation of Jesus. If we want to be courageous and impact our world for Jesus, we need to spend time with Jesus.
At the risk of seeming simplistic, let me give you a few practical steps in how to connect with Jesus. None of these will be new concepts but hopefully our passage in Acts 4 will fill you with a new motivation to do these things.
Spend time in God’s Word. This is the most under-rated discipline in the Christian life. There is nothing so transformative to a Christian’s daily life as spending time in God’s Word. Make a plan and just do it.
Obey the Lord. As we spend time in God’s Word, we have to remember the purpose is not to puff our minds up with knowledge but to conform our hearts in obedience.
Spend time in corporate worship. As God’s people there is something crucial and important about gathering for worship. If you attend a Bible-preaching, Christ-honoring church, you are spending time with Jesus in that worship gathering. Don’t miss out on that!
The first Christians didn’t have all the resources we have today. They didn’t have buildings. They didn’t have large budgets. They didn’t have books and study guides and all the materials we have today. They didn’t have blogs and podcasts. But they did have Jesus. They spent time with Him and they changed the world for the glory of God. Let’s make sure in all that we do that we prioritize being with Jesus!
If you want to learn more out the whole message here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIcC5k8As9Q