Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. {Acts 4:13}
Our intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is the most powerful weapon we have in this life. Whether it’s against the principalities and the darkness of this world, or our everyday problems (health problems, money issues, work issues, even our societal problems), you name it – having Jesus Christ and knowing Him is the greatest source of power we can ever possess. Why? Because Jesus is God in the flesh who made and created everything we see, hear, feel, know and understand in this life. Without Jesus this world would be non-existent. It doesn’t matter what your issue or problem or trouble is, if you know how to bring it to the Lord and connect with Him, He will solve it and take care of it for you.
The apostles of Jesus Christ hung out with Him for three years before He was crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended up to heaven. But this was not enough. Hanging out with the Lord for three years did not make the apostles completely bold. As a matter of fact, when Jesus Christ was taken from them on the night He was betrayed, every single one of them fled from the scene. So much so that even Peter denied the Lord three times when he was asked if he knew the Lord. So it’s not enough to know about Jesus Christ and even to hang out with Him really. What made the apostles bold was the receiving of His Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On the very day Peter received the Spirit of God, he stood up amongst the congregation that was outside wondering about the apostles and disciples speaking in tongues, and Peter told them what was happening. Right there and then he preached to them about Jesus Christ, the repentance of sins and being baptized in His name. He told them what they needed to do to be saved and have God. The Bible states,
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received His word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. {Acts 2:40-41}
When the apostles received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost they started preaching about Jesus everywhere, to a point where the elders of their city became grieved about it. The apostles were clearly telling the people that Jesus is not dead but alive – the Jesus that they had killed. Then they found Peter and John healing a lame man and preaching about the Lord and thousands of people listening to them. So they took them and asked them in what name they healed that lame man. So Peter and John told them it was through the name of Jesus Christ. They said,
“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” {Acts 4:10-12}
The scripture states that when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and knowing they were ignorant and uneducated men, they took notice that they had been with Jesus. Something about having Jesus changes you. It doesn’t matter if we don’t see Him anymore because He’s ascended up to heaven. He has come down and sent down His Holy Spirit now. Even as Peter and John became bold in their witness of the Lord, we too can become bold about our witness of Jesus Christ in our lives. The Lord wasn’t with them anymore physically, but He was pretty much alive in them.
If you don’t have His Holy Spirit living inside of you there will be no change. The only way to have power in this life is to have Jesus Christ inside of you, working through you. That’s exactly what happened to the apostles. They were changed men after that the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, went into them. They were no longer running away from the elders of their city, but rather confronting them and preaching to them. Nothing was going to keep them back from talking about the Lord, because the Lord Himself was inside of them now, working through them and they could not help themselves. When they were told to stop preaching about Jesus Christ, they responded with,
“Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” {Acts 4:19-20}
They cannot speak anything else but what they see in their heart and soul and in their spirit. They spoke exactly what Jesus Christ was showing to them, because He’s now living inside of them.
The very same thing can happen to you and me today when we have the Lord. We won’t have to cower in a corner when an evil spirit comes by in our room in the middle of the night to scare us in our dreams. We can stand up to him and rebuke him in the name of Jesus. We can lay our hand on the sick too and in the name of Jesus Christ they will recover. We can preach to anyone who wants to know about Christ, because the Lord in us will not only give us the boldness to preach about Him, but will also give us the words to say. Anything we can ever need of in this life, even paying our bills, solving our everyday problems, or whatever we are unhappy about, we can overcome when we know who Jesus is and when we have Him in our hearts and in our lives. The way to have Him is to do what Peter had said to the crowd on the day of Pentecost. He told them,
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” {Acts 2:38-39}
If you don’t know the Lord and you don’t have Him in your life, it’s very simple, just ask Him to forgive you of your sins. Confess everything you’ve ever done that you know of and can think of that was not pleasing before Him, and ask Him to forgive you of them. From the time you were aware of them as a child unto this moment you’re reading this blog post, tell the Lord everything you want Him to forgive you for and to take them away from you in your life. Tell Him that you want to repent and be right with Him, and He will help you repent and be right with Him. He will also forgive you and take away your sins. Ask Him then to come into your heart and soul and live inside of you, and be your Lord and Savior and God in your life. This is the beginning of your relationship with Jesus Christ, being open to Him about yourself and about your need of Him. It is important to keep this open communication as a part of your lifestyle and relationship with Him. It is important to always talk to Him. The more we are open to Him about ourselves, the more He will come and give of Himself to us. Then ask the Lord to show you where to go to get your sins washed away from you by getting baptized in His name, “Jesus”, as the apostles baptized people. Have “In Jesus’ name”, or “In the name of Jesus” pronounced over you so that there is power in your baptism. This what Peter told the crowd on the day of Pentecost, that they must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins. Jesus Christ, though He never sinned, got baptized to show to the world the importance of this act. This is a spiritual process of being born again. He told Nicodemus,
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” {John 3:5-7}
In getting baptized we are getting buried from the old life we used to live in, and are being reborn (resurrected) into the new life in the kingdom of God. But this is just the first step. This is the being born of the water that Jesus mentioned above. The next thing is to be born of His Spirit, the way the apostles and the disciples in the upper room got filled with His Holy Spirit. The people outside the upper room heard them speaking in tongues they couldn’t understand, and they accused the disciples of being drunk. That’s why Peter had to stand up and explain to them what was happening. He told them that this was the promise of God to those who believe in Him, that He will give them His Holy Spirit and the power that comes from God to overcome the principalities of this world.
Getting baptized in the water is the washing off of your sins from your body. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is Christ washing you from the inside of your heart and soul and your spirit, which He alone can do. It is important to have both baptisms to be truly born into the kingdom of God. He said to Nicodemus, that without being born of the water and of the Spirit we cannot enter into the kingdom of God. {For further reading on this subject please read How To Be Filled With The Spirit of God Part 1 and Part 2.}
Having Jesus Christ is the greatest thing we can ever possess in this life. He is the God of all creation. He is the Light that shines in the darkness of this world. He overcame death, hell and the grave. Without Jesus Christ we are lost forever from the life we can have with God. Our good works alone cannot save us because God judges the heart of men. Through Jesus Christ we can find that salvation. If our hearts are not right with God, we will never be able to have Him for eternity or be with Him when our life here is over on this earth. It is so important to have Jesus Christ in our lives so that we can be saved. Without Him we are lost.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. {John 14:6}
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You for being in my life. I thank You that with You all things are possible. I thank You that You are the same yesterday, today and forever. Please Lord, I ask for Your grace and mercy upon my soul today to forgive me of my sins and cleanse me of any unrighteousness. Please Lord, continue to work on my heart and change it for Your glory, that I may live to proclaim Your name in this life. Take away all fear from my heart to proclaim Your name. Help me to do what You desire for me to do in this life. I pray this Father, in Your most wonderful and lovely name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
#repost4/2019
