Acts 4:23-37 6.24.07
When we left Peter and John last week, they had just emerged from a face-to-face showdown with the religious authorities, having spent a night in prison and, upon their release, having been threatened never again to speak in the name of Jesus. But in an unmistakable challenge to civil and religious authorities alike that should remain until this day, these men made clear their primary allegiance, and ours, and it is to God. Above country, above denomination, above civil authorities, above all: our first allegiance is to God. I was listening to C.J. Mahaney this week, and he pointed out a neglected truth, and that is that the thing that the Bible warns us against most frequently—bet you won’t get it! Idolatry. Placing something or someone else in the position that only God can occupy in the mind, the heart, the affections and the priorities of the believer. For Peter and John, the answer was clear: we can’t stop talking about Jesus! Let’s read this morning’s text, Acts 4:23-37. A Spirit-filled church is
I. A Praying Church - :23-30
Toward God: Dependence
And one of our 7 Pillars, our Core Values, is that we will be a Prayer-Powered church. Prayer Team will be leading us in a special time of prayer in a couple of weeks.
First response of the apostles was to go back to the church and give a report on what had happened. This wasn’t particularly unusual; it’s human nature to resort to friends, and to tell the story of “what happened”, in such a situation as this. But it’s not human nature to respond with prayer; this is “Christian nature”, or should be. There is a place, of course, for private prayer; Jesus, in warning His followers against showy, performance-oriented “worship”, had instructed His followers to go to a solitary place, into the closet, to pray to God. But there is also a place for joint public praying, and that’s what takes place here. John Piper said, “This prayer is relevant to us because it is prayed not by someone with special rights and privileges, but by Christians. It is the church gathered, not just the apostles, that pray for God to give boldness and to heal and to do signs and wonders.” Sometimes I get requests to pray for people, and that’s perfectly fine, of course, but I do think that there are people who believe that somehow, pastors have a special line to Heaven in ways that laypeople do not. Peter and John went to their friends, the church, their own, and together, the church prayed.
I don’t know exactly how this happened, that they “raised their voices together and said”. We can imagine something like a Hollywood musical where all the performers spontaneously burst into song, complete with choreography and the like—but I seriously doubt that that’s what took place here, right? Rather, what we have is Luke’s encapsulation of many such prayers which were made to God publicly upon the news that Peter and John reported to the assembled church.
Lloyd John Ogilvie said, “Much can be discerned about people in the way they address God in their prayers.” There is truth in this; while we can and should come to God with the intimacy of a child speaking to a Father, so much so that Paul uses a term equivalent to “Daddy” in encouraging us to this kind of familiarity, it is nonetheless true that there must be a profound respect and a thoughtfulness in our approach to God our Father.
“Sovereign Lord” – Despotes is the Greek word here, a term used of a slave owner (not a pretty thought!) or of some ruler with unchallengeable power; we get our word “despot” from this word, and in our parlance, again that’s not a particularly pretty word. But it signifies a ruler whose authority is utterly absolute.
And it’s perfectly fitting here, and indeed everywhere. Here were some little quasi-authorities, the Sanhedrin, who threatened the apostles not to speak any more in the Name of Jesus—but Peter and John, and all of the early church there in Jerusalem, rightly recognized their authority to be dwarfed by the supreme authority of a holy God.
Now, the people did get around to asking God for some things—but prior to this, they spent time praising God for Who He was. Further, they spent time reciting His Word to Him, grounding their own situation in the grand plan of God’s outworking of history. In Psalm 2, David had foretold the response that the Messiah would receive from so many, with the powers of the world plotting against the Lord’s anointed (:25-26).
But notice: God’s sovereign power is seen in the fact that He caused the enemies of the gospel to do exactly what was necessary for the accomplishment of His plan of redemption. The cowardice of Pilate, the whimsy of Herod, the opposition of the Gentiles and the people of Israel who cried out “crucify Him”—all of these things worked together to produce the exact result that God had determined in advance would happen.
Read a novel, or watch a movie, and you’ll see this in action. I was watching “From Russia with Love” this week, a James Bond movie, of course, with Ernst Stavro Blofeld as the mastermind behind the evil empire known as S.P.E.C.T.R.E. How was S.P.E.C.T.R.E.’s plan foiled? Well, by James Bond, of course. But James Bond is nothing but a fictional character, imagined and controlled by Ian Fleming. So how was the plan foiled, by James Bond or by Ian Fleming? Yes! Similarly, how is it that Christ was put to death? By the hands of the authorities, both Roman and Jewish, certainly, but also by the hand of God, ultimately.
Now, once they’ve recognized God’s power as Creator, His revelation of Himself in His Word, and His mighty hand in history, the church is ready to list its prayer requests. They take 5 verses to tell God Who He is, and then, only 2 verses to ask for things! And of course, first off, they pray, “Lord, sic ‘em!” Or not…
Actually, they pray three things:
• “Look upon their threats”
• “Grant boldness for witness”
• “Stretch out Your hand to heal, and to do mighty signs and wonders”
It had to be tempting to pray for ease, didn’t it, to pray that God would remove all of their obstacles, clear their paths so that there’d be no opposition to them or their message. But it is a remarkable evidence of maturity to realize that this is not what they prayed. Yes, they asked God to take into account the threats made against them—but having acknowledged God’s sovereign power, they didn’t sweat the opposition, trusting God to handle their opponents as He saw fit, confident that He had a way of making the opposition do His exact and perfect bidding.
That’s perhaps a word for us today as Christ-followers, both as individuals and as the church. There are people who will oppose us; this is promised by Christ, but He also tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted for His sake, and that of the gospel (Matthew 5). Paul tells us that those who live godly in Christ will suffer persecution (II Timothy 3:12), but he also reminds us that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8). We will face opposition as Christians.
Recently, for instance, atheists have become emboldened. Third on the current NY Times bestsellers list is God is Not Great, by atheist Christopher Hitchens, and twenty-sixth is The God Delusion, also by an atheist, Richard Dawkins. Sam Harris’ Letter to a Christian Nation spent some time on the list recently as well; all three of these are atheist manifestos on how God doesn’t exist, and how believing that He does messes things up royally. And some Christ-followers are tempted to “fight fire with fire”, condemning Misters Hitchens, Dawkins, and Harris with decidedly unChristlike words. No…the early church had enemies, enemies in high places with power to do some terrible things to them merely for the fact that they followed Jesus and proclaimed His message. But they only ask God to note the threats of these religious rulers, and they move on.
Next, they asked for boldness for witness. It was their concern that they not be intimidated by the threats of the religious leaders, kept from their God-given mission as a result of fear of persecution. They were focused on the mission—more on that later—and they prayed that it wouldn’t be derailed because of their timidity or fear.
We find ourselves sometimes, honestly, derailed by fear over non-existent “threats” when it comes to sharing a witness of Christ. We face little today, honestly, by way of real persecution, and yet the idea of speaking about Christ with another person unleashes in some of us a torrent of fear. Of what are we afraid?
• Inadequacy to really explain our faith in Christ
• Fear that they’ll ask a question we can’t answer
• Concern that folks will think less of us if we admit that we are Christ-followers
• Reality of our own sins and shortcomings, and fear that we’ll be seen as hypocritical, because others are aware of our sin as well
Perhaps the word for you today is this: pray for boldness!
Third, they prayed that God would continue doing these miraculous things, continue touching and healing people, continue exalting the Name of His Son, Jesus, through miracles and healings and the like. As J.A. Alexander put it, “their demand is not now for miracles of vengeance or destruction, such as fire from heaven, but for miracles of mercy.” They prayed that God would continue to show Himself strong through miracles.
Table Talk
At the table, compose a prayer that we might pray together corporately for Red Oak.
A Spirit-filled church is
II. An Evangelistic Church - :31
Toward the world: Witness
And one of our 7 Pillars, our Core Values, is that we will be a church with a Missional Mindset.
Look at the results of their prayer, at God’s response:
• The place was shaken
Pentecost was not the only time a supernatural display attended the heartfelt prayers of God’s people. In some way that’s hard to fathom but is true because Luke recorded it here, the building shook—as a result of God’s power in response to prayer.
• They were filled with the Holy Spirit
The filling of the Holy Spirit corresponds to His control of individuals as they willingly relinquish themselves to Him. I suggest a regular, daily if not twice or thrice daily, prayer whereby we ask God to fill and control us, that our words and thoughts and motives and deeds each day might be pleasing to Him because His Spirit fills us and lives through us.
• They spoke the Word with boldness
Ah, here is the evangelistic part of things: they spoke the Word of God, the gospel of God, boldly to others. This happens when God is controlling us; we are not ashamed of Christ, but are open to, indeed looking for and praying for, the opportunity to share with others something of what God has done in our own lives, and what He can do for them in Jesus.
Third, a Spirit-filled church is
III. A Caring Church - :32-37
Toward each other: Compassion
And one of our 7 Pillars, our Core Values, is that we will be a church that is Relationship-Based.
This is a bit of a restatement of the remarkable things we read in Acts 2, regarding the organic togetherness of the early church. These weren’t people who were merely dispassionately attending a worship service once a week, and then who went on their merry ways; these folks had a spirit that defied their personal interests for the sake of others within the body. They had a
• Radical attitude
Their hearts were knit together, and this expressed itself in an uncanny way: “no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” Once again, let me remind you that we’re not talking about socialism here, which involves the coercion of the state to force people to do something that in their hearts they do not wish to do. No, this is a willing sharing, involving an interior change of their hearts, which prompted them to look at others with a spirit that said, “what’s mine is yours!” Notice: private ownership is not dismissed here; there were still things that “belonged” to individuals. What is in view here, though, is an attitude that was more concerned that everyone in the body have what they needed, than that the owners of those things could keep them for their own accumulation of wealth. And we are introduced for the first time to the “son of encouragement”, Barnabas, who is listed as one who does this very thing, selling some property and giving the proceeds unreservedly to the leaders of the early church, that they might use them as they saw fit to meet the needs of others in
• Sacrificial action
There existed both famine and political unrest in the Palestine of these days, and to boot, some of the new followers of Christ faced economic sanctions merely as a result of being Christ-followers. This provided plenty of opportunity for the fledgling church to demonstrate the Christian grace of hospitality toward others. They gave in a way that cost them something!
• Proportionate distribution
They made sure that those in need received what they needed.
What we can do is to seek to emulate this example in spirit and in action. What we can do is to say that Red Oak is going to be, by God’s grace and in the power of the fullness of the Spirit, the kind of place where we freely place at one another’s disposal the goods with which God has blessed us for the use of others in need within the body. Paul reminds us, in Galatians 6:10, that “as we have the opportunity, do good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of faith.” We are part of God’s household; “brother” and “sister” aren’t just idle terms, but they have meaning as being part of the family of God.
And let me tell you, that will have an impact upon the people who come and worship with us. There is something mightily attractive about a group of people who are genuinely concerned with the welfare of each other, who take a real interest in what is happening in each other’s lives, and who are there to help when there is a need.
When I was in need of a vehicle several years ago in Mercer, a couple who had themselves received a car from another Christian gave us their old one, which got me by for awhile. Last year, then, when we were going to buy a car, we were able to do the same for a couple in our church who needed one, giving them our old minivan. That’s nothing special; we had been given to in our time of need, and were privileged to be able to do the same for others when they had need. Sometimes when we think of giving, we think only of putting money into the offering box or plate, but in reality there are other ways we can directly bless others who might be in need. Are you aware of needs within the congregation here? How might God be challenging you to reach out and help meet those needs that others have? Perhaps that’s something you’d like for me to help you with; let me know if you’d like to bless others this way, and maybe I can be of help.
Table Talk
When it comes to getting beyond good intentions, and to becoming a truly caring church, what does it take? How can Red Oak “walk the walk” in this regard?
