Hope for the Unschooled and Ordinary

{sidebar id=1}They were “unschooled, ordinary men.” That’s what the Jewish leaders said about Peter and John.

“Look at them,” they said. “They’re so…ordinary.”

“And unschooled.”

Yet they were raising a ruckus in Jerusalem.

It started on the day of Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter preached to the gathering crowd, and three thousand came to Christ. Then Peter and John healed a crippled man in front of the temple, which drew another crowd. Peter preached to them, and many more came to Christ.

Meanwhile, the Jewish leaders had had their fill of these Jesus people, and they arrested Peter and John. After a night in jail, Peter and John were called to appear before a committee of Jewish leaders. They made the mistake of letting Peter speak. See, by now, Peter was just on fire. I mean, he was so full of the Holy Spirit that the fire of God just flowed out of his mouth. If ever a preacher had “the anointing,” it was Peter.

And look at his fruit. When he spoke, people were cut to the heart. They wanted to get right with God and they put their faith in Jesus. Peter was bearing good fruit, and lots of it. But now he was speaking to a bunch of hard hearted, crusty old men. And don’t miss the significance of this meeting. Just a few weeks before these same Jewish leaders sentenced Jesus to death. And just when they thought it was over, here came Peter and John, yapping about Jesus, drawing a crowd, and for crying out loud even healing in Jesus’ name!

So they let Peter speak, and the Bible says they were “astonished.” That’s when they said, “Gee, these guys are just unschooled, ordinary men.”

Now here’s the thing. Peter and John were far from unschooled. Oh, they didn’t have any college degrees, or whatever they were handing out back in those days. They had no diplomas. But they were far from unschooled.

Think about this. They had just spent three intensive years learning from the Master Teacher Himself. They lived with Jesus and learned from Jesus. They heard the public teaching and enjoyed private tutoring. I’m telling you, Peter and John had the ultimate schooling – from Christ Himself!

And as if that wasn’t enough, now they were filled with the Holy Spirit. In John 14:26 Jesus said, “…the Holy Spirit…will teach you all things…”

So not only did they have the teaching of Jesus, but now the Holy Spirit was teaching them “all things.” If there was ever anyone who had a proper education, it was Peter and John. No wonder the leaders were astonished.

And you know what? I think this same education is available to us today. The Holy Spirit is still teaching, providing us individualized lessons and tutoring. You may not have a college degree. Maybe you never did that well in school. But that’s no excuse for not growing in wisdom and knowledge.

Listen to this little phrase: “Walking with Jesus.” Just as those disciples physically walked with Jesus, now we all have the opportunity to spiritually walk with Jesus. That’s what happens when we live by the Spirit, when we invite the Holy Spirit to teach us in every area of our lives.

A lot of kids think their education is over when they get out of school. Not so. Our education never ends, and that is especially true spiritually. We never stop growing in our Christian faith. We never stop learning more from the Lord. As we walk with Him, He will continually reveal new things to us.

This message is for those of you who feel like the world looks at you as “uneducated and ordinary.” Forget about what the world thinks. They thought the same thing about Peter and John. Yet with the Lord in their lives they were wiser than all the others.

Take time to draw near to God. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. And everyone will be astonished to discover that you aren’t so “unschooled and ordinary” after all!

Comments?

E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

The Bible story is found in Acts chapters 3 and 4.

This article originally published on August 9, 2007.

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