TITLE: How to Wow the World for Jesus

CIT: Confidence in your faith in Jesus goes further to help you with telling others
about Him than all your training, social contacts and special abilities.
SO: Spending more time with Jesus allows the Christian to have more confidence to
telling others about Him.
SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:13
DATE: Oct. 7 Grace Family Fellowship
Oct. 14 Uniontown GBC

Introduction
I. A great tragedy of our modern church is our inability to spread the good
news. We all read of those times in church history where men and women
of great faith and endurance spent much energy and time to spread the
gospel. We look on them desiring to do our part and to emulate them, but
something gets in the way. If you look into yourself, you will see that block
that has been created that prevents us from shining the great light of Jesus
in the world. Some might say that they don’t want to offend. Other might
tell us that living a good life is enough of a gospel presentation. Or we
might hear that fear actually just speaking of these things. We can’t think
of the right words to say or the setting isn’t just right or whatever.
II. The multitude of reasons that we can come up with exert a force on us that
says that it is easier to just say nothing than to say something and sound
foolish.
III. vv
IV. 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. (Acts 4:13 nasb)
V.
VI. From this passage we need to understand what it is that we need to wow the
world for Jesus
Exposition
I. We wow the world for Jesus with more than just our education
a. EXP
i. they were uneducated and untrained men
ii. ἀγράμματος agrammatos, unlettered.
iii. Apparently this is a specific charge that they were not trained in
Jewish schools though some say that this is more general and
means that they were illiterate.
iv. Actually, my kids get this regularly. Because they have been home
schooled, we’ve actually seen people who think that they didn’t
know how to read and write. It surprises people that not only can
they read and write, they can do so better than many kids who go
to public school.
v. All the expectations that the Jewish leaders had was that these men
would be inarticulate and unpersuasive. They had no expectations
that they would be able to speak with authority and conviction..
vi. Note this example in Mark 1, They went into Capernaum; and
immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began
to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching
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 them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Mar 1:21-
22 NAU)
vii. This idea of “amazed” is a little different than our word in Acts
4:13. There is the idea of panic or astonishment in the word. But
also notice that they saw that Jesus was teaching with authority,
and not as the scribes. Generally, the scribes would teach by
quoting great Rabbis, not on their own authority. This wasn’t
Jesus, through. He was teaching with authority.
b. APP
i.
c. ILL
II. We wow the world for Jesus with more than just our social training
a. EXP
i. they were uneducated and untrained men
ii. ἰδιώτης idiotes
iii. You’re going to like this word. It is literally, idiot. But it is not like
we would understand it. It has more to do with a person’s ability
than their intellect. It is translated as ungifted, unskilled or
untrained in the NASB.
iv. The other par tof this word is that they were private… not as in
private vs. public, but as in private vs. aristocrat. They we’re social
men, having made the rounds of society and were not articulate in
presenting themselves. They were the lower class. Peter and John
were fishermen! Loners and losers. They were nothing.
v. And yet, they spoke with great confidence, confidence to amaze.
b. APP
c. ILL
III. We wow the world for Jesus with more than just our special abilities
a. EXP
i. The whole context, of course, is the healing of a man in chapter 3.
Peter and John ended up in a trial for performing a miracle. But
this isn’t what amazed those who were questioning them. It seems
that they accepted the miracle at face value. More importantly,
Peter and John used the miracle as an opportunity to preach the
gospel.
ii. But Peter said, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do
have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--
walk!" And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and
immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap
he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple
with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the
people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking
note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate
of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and
amazement at what had happened to him. While he was clinging to
Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called
portico of Solomon, full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he
replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this,

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 or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had
made him walk? (Act 3:6-12 NAU)
iii. Of course we see that they were amazed at this miracle, but that
isn’t what Peter wanted them to focus on. His sermon brought
them to the place where they needed to be: READ ACTS 4:1-4.
What message? Go back to 3:19, “Repent and return, so that your
sins may be wiped away.” This is what they believed. The miracle
gave them the right to speak and the audience to speak to.
b. APP
c. ILL
IV. We wow the world for Jesus with our confidence
a. EXP
b. APP
c. ILL

Conclusion