God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Unschooled ordinary men can spread the Gospel according to the Bible. We do not need a degree from a theological seminary to do it. If God calls us to spread the Gospel- we can do it through preaching, writing, handing out booklets of Scripture or standing on a street corner evangelizing.

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”(Acts 4:13)

The key part of this verse is: “these men had been with Jesus…” They were unschooled ordinary men who decided to follow the Lord and this nearness and desire to adhere to His teachings gave them the same power to do miraculous things.

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.”(Ephesians 1:19-21)

Now that Jesus has left the earth for a time and is seated in heaven with God the Father, we can come into the presence of Jesus through Scripture. If we sit with the Lord, daily reading His Word, we too can be thought of as “having been with Jesus.” And this time spent with Him will allow the Holy Spirit to interpret the Scripture we read. This is how unschooled ordinary men and women can spread the Gospel.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”(John 1:1) 

We can discern from this verse that the Word- found in the Bible, are Jesus’ words to us. We are hearing His side of the conversation. Prayer is our side of the conversation.

Peter and John- the apostles in the opening verse of Scripture- healed a man. Believe it or not, God offers that same ability to all followers of His teachings. If we are clean vessels- much like a clean pipe that easily carries water without hindrance- we can carry the power of the Holy Spirit through our hands. This power is realized the more we spend time learning, believing and trusting the words that we read.

“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.”(Ephesians 3:7)

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”(Ephesians 6:10)

For more on how we can be used by God, see Pastor Jentzen Franklin’s sermon here

Food For Thought,

Lisa