The Smartest Unlearned and Ignorant Men in Town!
Series: Acts
Chuck Sligh
September 21, 2014
This sermon was inspired by and adapted from a skeleton outline in “The Most Valuable Men in Town” on page 71 of Preach for a Year.
(NOTE: There is a PowerPoint presentation for this sermon available upon request by emailing me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.)
TEXT: Acts 4:8-14 – “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. 14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”
INTRODUCTION
The title of today’s message is “The Smartest Unlearned and Ignorant Men in Town!” In our text we see that the priests and scribes had witnessed the miracle that Peter and John had wrought on the lame man in chapter 3. So verses 1-7 record how the Jewish leaders took Peter and John into custody, and the next day they questioned them about the healing of the lame man and their preaching of Jesus and His resurrection.
And what was their evaluation of Peter and John? Look with me again at verse 13. It says that they marveled, because they “perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.”
That was their evaluation, but the truth of the matter is that these men, along with the other apostles, could do more to change the world than anybody in the world at that time! These apostles were twelve men who LITERALLY turned the world upside down!
One of them, LUKE, was an educated doctor. Another one, MATTHEW, was an intellectual. But the rest were not trained in the refined skills of the priests and the scribes.
Now, that doesn’t mean they had no education or that they were ignorant about life in general. Probably all of them received the standard schooling given all Jewish boys to teach them to read the Old Testament and to get about in life with life skills, including the Torah and basic science and arithmetic.
But they were not what people expected of religious leaders. They had not spent years in seminary—training and preparation for the ministry. They were, for the most part, simple, everyday, ordinary people with average gifts and abilities—and yet they turned the world upside down.
Why were they “the smartest unlearned and ignorant men in town?” The answer lies in the fact that their knowledge was in the things that really matter. There IS a place for scholarship and study and preparation and education. But the Bible also says, “knowledge puffs up.” You see, the important thing in life is not HOW MUCH you know, but WHO you know and WHAT you know best.
So today let’s take a look at these apostles and learn some things from these supposedly unlearned and ignorant men.
I. FIRST, NOTE THAT THEY WERE NOT UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT OF THE SAVIOR – Verse 10 – “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.”
These men had been with JESUS!
Note the end of verse 13 – “…and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
They had known and walked with and talked with and learned from Jesus.
The world needs people who have been with Jesus.
• Many people know about SCIENCE, but few know the SAVIOR.
• Many know about MATHEMATICS, but not enough know the MASTER.
• Many know all about the MILITARY, but don’t know their MAKER.
• Many know POLITICS, but few know PEACE.
• Many know about SPACE, but few know about GRACE.
You know, it must have been a baffling mystery for these priests and scribes. The educational background of these fishermen was minimal at best—but suddenly they were public speakers and theologians who drew crowds many times the size of the priests and scribes. And what was even more confounding was that their preaching produced real and definite CHANGE in the lives of their listeners!
It seems amazing to many that God could use people like these simple fishermen. But, you know, that’s usually the way God works, isn’t it?
Look with me at 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 – “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.”
The key for these men in Acts 4 wasn’t their ABILITY, but their AVAILability!
Illus. –D.L. Moody was one of the greatest evangelists of the 19th century. Only Charles Spurgeon matched Moody in his influence, preaching abilities and accomplishments for Christ in that era.
But Moody himself only had a third-grade education. When he came to Christ, he was just a simple shoe salesman!
After his salvation, he began ministering and had so-so success. Then one day he read this statement: “The world has yet to see what God will do WITH and FOR and THROUGH and IN and BY the man who is fully consecrated to God.”
When Moody read that he said to himself, “I’LL be that man.” And, of course, history bears out the extraordinary achievements for Christ in his life because of his TOTAL commitment to God.
What could God do with your life if you were 100% totally surrendered to Him?
• You might not have a lot of EDUCATION, but do you know the SAVIOR?
• You may not have great ABILITIES, but how well do you know JESUS?
• You may very well be just an average person, but I want you to know something: If you know Jesus, and you give your life in 100% surrender to Him, you can be used in a most remarkable way by the Lord…because God delights in taking little nobodies and using them for His glory!
But the kind of person that God uses like this is the surrendered one. Can you say with absolute truthfulness that you’re 100% surrendered to God?
Paul said in Romans 12:1 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
• Are you A LIVING SACRIFICE for God?
• Are you HOLY for God?
• Are you ACCEPTABLE unto God?
If not, then what are you waiting on? Now is the time to give yourself in whole-hearted surrender to God in your life.
These men were NOT unlearned and ignorant about the SAVIOR.
II. SECOND, THEY WERE NOT UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES – In verse 11 Peter says “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.”
This was a direct quotation from the Old Testament, and there’s no indication that they had time to prepare a sermon and look up this verse. So from all appearances, Peter quoted this verse from memory. These men didn’t know much, but they did know the Scriptures!
Folks, we’re living in a knowledge explosion, and yet our increased knowledge has only deepened the world’s confusion. These men did not know BOOKS, but they did know THE BOOK! Abraham Lincoln said, “Better to have a knowledge of the Bible than all other books.”
Did you know that the great universities in the U.S. and England, and I presume here in Europe as well, were founded primarily to teach the Bible? Think about it—Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Yale—all started primarily to prepare people for the ministry and to advance the knowledge of God.
But people foolishly began to think they were too smart for God’s Book. Look at those universities today. All too often they are the hotbeds of every weird and evil philosophy that rears its ugly head against God and morality and decency and right. Man thinks his high and mighty thoughts in which he lifts himself up above God Himself, but Psalm 2:4 says “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.”
Now these disciples in the book of Acts had a knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. Their knowledge of the Bible helped them to know what was going on in the world and to understand God’s plan and purpose for their time—something that eluded all the erudite and learned men in Jerusalem.
And so it is today in our lives…
• How can WE understand our OWN times?—By looking in the Word of God.
• How can we discover God’s plan and purpose for our own lives?—By examining God’s Book.
• How can we learn how to deal with the problems we face in this life?—By studying and knowing God’s Word.…
• How can we determine the proper priorities for our lives?—Through God’s Word.
• How can we know how to rear our children properly?—By following the principles of child-rearing laid down in the Bible.
• How can we know right doctrine so we are not led away into cults and false teachings?—By studying the Bible.
• How can we learn about the FUTURE, about the SECOND COMING of Christ, the last days events?—By studying what God’s Word says about these things.
God help us who claim the name of Christ to know and live out God’s Word in our lives like these men who were thought to be unlearned and ignorant, but really were wise and learned about what is really important, because they knew the Savior and the scriptures.
III. FINALLY, NOTE THAT THEY WERE NOT UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT ABOUT SALVATION – Verse 12 – “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
SALVATION—What an important word! The word salvation and the different variations of the word saved are found 518 times in the Bible. It is the major theme of the Bible. The purpose for which Jesus came to this earth was to provide for us SALVATION.
Sometimes people think the church is just a big self-help organization. They think it exists for a bunch of losers who need a support system. They think the Bible is a crutch to help people get through life.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible is not a book to help us cope with life or to make the world a better place. No, the Bible is first and foremost about salvation, and EVERYONE needs salvation whether he’s a winner or a loser; / whether she’s got it together, or is a psychological wreck; / whether he’s rich or poor; / smart or not-so smart.
We need salvation FROM our guilt before an all-righteous God because of our sin, and it’s penalty—death and hell. But salvation is not just FROM certain things. We’re also saved TO some things: Saved to serve God; saved to be whole again; saved to be forgiven; saved to be the special object of God’s love and grace and mercy; saved to have special significance because you belong to God; saved to have a loving family in the people of God called the church, both universal and local; saved to become holy; saved to an eternal destiny with God in heaven.
But there’s only one way to salvation—through Jesus Christ: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Not through your good deeds; your church; or religious sacraments or rites. Nor through any other name, whether it be Buddha, Allah, Muhammad, Krishna or Sun Myung Moon.
Dear friend, come to Jesus and be saved this morning.
You might already possess salvation through believing in Jesus Christ. Do you know how to tell someone how to be appropriate salvation; that is, how to be saved; how to have their sins forgiven; how to go to heaven? Here were Peter and John—two simple, everyday, average men who, though they were unlearned and ignorant in men’s eyes, they could tell people how to be forgiven of their sins, to know God and to make heaven their eternal home. Could YOU explain to someone how to find Jesus? Every Christian should know how to tell someone else how to know Jesus. May God help you to learn the way of salvation so thoroughly that you could lead someone to Christ.
CONCLUSION
Well—you may not have much EDUCATION; you may not be a person of GREAT INTELLECT; and your ABILITIES may be limited and your talents few; but YOU CAN BE USED OF GOD! YOU could be the smartest unlearned and ignorant person in YOUR neighborhood—if you know the SAVIOR; if you know the SCRIPTURES; and if you know about SALVATION.
Christian,…
• Take the time to know the SAVIOR—in prayer; in daily quiet times; in church; in a homegroup; in a Ladies Bible Study or Men’s Fraternity; in uplifting Christian music; and in good, wholesome Christian books.
• Saturate your mind and heart with the SCRIPTURES.
• And carry the message of SALVATION to others. – God could use YOU to change somebody’s life for all eternity!
“The world has yet to see what God will do WITH and FOR and THROUGH and IN and BY the man who is fully consecrated to God.”
Will you be that man, woman or young person?
Closing Illus. – of Uncle Bud Robinson who won the college professor to Christ who was married to a member of the church where he was holding a revival. (He had a lisp and only a 6th grade education, but he knew the SAVIOR; he knew the SCRIPTURES; he knew about SALVATION.)
