Acts 4:13
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.
Truth: Those who believe in Jesus can be bold in this world
Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
In the first chapters of Acts (the entire book, really) we have the resistance of the Jewish leaders and others, to the thought that Jesus rose from the dead and to the power of the Gospel. It is this power that is visually seen by the religious leaders in the above verse. The disciples were not "educated" men ... they were "common" men. Yet, with boldness, Peter and John delivered the message of a resurrected Savior. They had just said, in the proceeding verse:
Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Think of the power of that statement, but also the risk of those words coming from a uneducated and common man, as it is spoken to the learned and intellectual. It is almost insulting. Hence our struggle today. The lowliest of all believers can be bolder than any Phd. certified scholar when the come to know that truth and spend time in prayer with Jesus and reading the Scriptures about Him. Jesus is the powerful name that began this section of reading as Peter spoke the name of the Jesus, the risen Lord, and healed a lame man. Our boldness is NOT In our education. Our boldness is NOT in our skill-sets. Our boldness is NOT in our networking, legacy, connectivity, competency, or logical reasoning. Our boldness is in the Name of Jesus and when we spend time with Him we can have the boldness of a lion. We are the children of God and as children we can call on the name of His Son, Jesus. Be bold!!! Notice what Peter and John eventually pray after they are released that day and they return to the other disciples:
Acts 4:29-31
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
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