WHEN ORDINARY PEOPLE BECOME EXTRA ORDINARY

How can we faithfully serve the One who saved us from sin's penalty? Satan hinders our service with the lie that we are not really good material, not smart enough, not ready enough to serve our God. Many have gone on to do great exploits for Christ, but when you look closely at them, they were ones who recognised that ordinary people can become extraordinary. "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. Acts 4:13" About the religious authorities, we see that: THEY WERE AMAZED AT PETER AND JOHN'S BOLDNESS. THEY WERE ASTONISHED AT PETER AND JOHN'S ABILITY. THEY WERE AWARE OF PETER AND JOHN'S ASSOCIATION WITH JESUS ||||
What made these ordinary people so extraordinary? Their UNION AND THEIR COMMUNION WITH THE LORD JESUS: The authorities recognised that they had been with Jesus. Mat 4:17-22 tells us how they first became disciples, called to be fishers of men. After that, they were present with Jesus all through His ministry and they saw the risen Lord and were present even till the Day of Pentecost. Having been in the presence of Jesus so long, their lives had been transformed by Him. Matt 16:24-26 tells us what it means to follow Jesus. In this world of ordinary people, we find many extraordinary people who follow Jesus in this way. These are new creatures, not born of the will of man but of God. ||||
THEIR COMMITMENT TO THE STUDY OF THE WORD OF GOD: We read the proclamation of Peter and John in Acts 3:12- Acts 4:12. Here we see how these ordinary men were declaring the truths of holy scripture. Acts 4:5-7 tells us that they were asked by what power they were doing what they were doing. It is amazing to see how Peter and John could speak so boldly from the scriptures in the presence of religious authorities. This was because they were students of God's word, these ordinary ex-fishermen with no formal education. 2Tim3:14-16 tells us what the scriptures are profitable for ... that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. In 2Tim 2:15 we see that Timothy was encourage to be someone who rightly handles the word of truth. In Acts 17:10-11 we read about the Berean Jews who were commended for receiving the word eagerly and then for examining the scriptures to see if these things were so. Many today are undiscerning because they do not know what the Bible says. You do not need to be a great intellectual to be a minister of God's word. But one must spend time studying the scriptures. Peter and John were committed to this study.||||
THEIR CONSTANT DEPENDANCE UPON THE HOLY SPIRIT: In Acts 4:7, we see that Peter does not answer the authorities with his own strength and wisdom but with the help of the Holy Spirit. Later in this chapter in Acts 4:31, we see that the very building shook as the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. We read several times that Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit. It is not a one-time event but ongoing. We too need the aid and help of the Spirit if we are to be able to effectively give an answer for the hope that is within us. In 1Cor 2:1-5, Paul says that he did not come to the Corinthians with lofty speech and wisdom. He was with them in weakness and fear and much trembling, not with plausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the power of God.||||
In conclusion, we are not called to be apostles like they were, but all of us are called to be ambassadors of Jesus to share the good news. Let the evil one not tell us we are no good. We are ordinary people called to be extraordinary.