Praying through problems Acts 4:23-31 WBC 26/5/02pm
Problems
So- what’s the problem, here?
- it’s not a problem, unless you’re a Saducee!
- = brilliant for the 5000 Xians!
40+ yr old man healed at Beautiful gate
no one could deny it. Even priests, Saducees
- but tragic that chose to stick to blindness, prejudices rather than face up to what God had so obviously done! Because challenged:
- ‘an issue dear to them’: resurrection (Saducees =no resurrection)
- their concept of Messiah
- quoting Ps 21 about how nations peoples and kings will oppose messiah
- = true! Okay to mention God, church… but “JESUS”?
- Sparks fly!! Why AC 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
- He is the cornerstone, capstone that folks love or reject. Most important person of history
so conclusion is (as Isaiah puts it) “leave this way, get off this path and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel”
….. or you’re dead meat”
- that’s the problem: “Something bad is going to happen if I do this, or don’t do this. The threat of these folks is TRUE”
- sound familiar? Personally
Well- if you’re anyone like me you’ll find a good way of dealing with these things is to worry about them.
= true! It works! 90% of the things I worry about never happen!!
- so it must work!
- Or, another good reaction is to wallow in it. “why soar like an eagle when you can wallow like a hippopotamus?!”
- Or another god reaction is to follow the thereat and MAKE it happen (Job “what I feared most has happened to me”
Mrs. Monroe lives in Darlington, Maryland. She’s the mother of 8 children. And except for a few interesting experiences, she’s just like any other mother across America. One experience was so unique that John Haggai put it in his book: "How to Win Over Worry."
She came home one afternoon from the grocery store and walked into her home and everything looked pretty much the same, though it was a little bit quieter than usual. She looked into the middle of the living room and 5 of her darlings were sitting around in a
circle, exceedingly quiet, doing something, with something in the middle of a circle. So she put down the sacks of groceries and walked over closely and looked and saw that they were playing with 5 of the cutest skunks you can imagine. She was instantly terrified and she said, "Run children, run! Each child grabbed a skunk and ran, in 5 different directions. She
was beside herself and screamed louder, more frantically, with great gusto. It so scared the children that each one squeezed his skunk! As the writer put it, "Skunks don’t like to be squeezed!"
These guys faced REAL problems. Real threat. Life or death
- sometimes we face real problems. Illness. Job threat. Relationship problems. Exams, and the life that lies after them
Note how these guys respond
People
“on their release, Peter and John went back to THEIR OWN PEOPLE”
This is interesting!
- I would have sat on the street ‘thinking deeply’ about it all
- Or asked the saducees to clarify the boundaries, exactly “how far can I go before you’ll kill me?”
But note: they go back to their people
Now: you know me. I, personally, am just as happy with pre-Christians as I am with Christians. I can’t go for any of this isolationalist ‘come ye out from them and be ye separate stuff’. I don’t believe Christians have a monopoly on niceness, truth… and certainly not objectivity! They just have a monopoly on Jesus (and there’s nothing mote important than that)
- but watch who you get advice, encouragement (or discouragement) from
- watch the company you keep (at particular times), as ‘company influences’
- when it’s a SPIRITUAL issue, and discovering whether/how you should please God not man- where are you going to go?
- To those who know, love God… Jesus and have FAITH in Him
- I believe in REALITY… but even going to those who are believers but have reality but not FAITH in a REAL big God, when you’re facing problems, can be an unwise move!
- = easy to get pulled down.
So: watch the company you keep (when you’re low/suggestible)
- go to those balanced with REALITY and FAITH
- - note the reality, here. To God and man.
- V23 ‘they reported all they had said to them’
- Wasn’t “oh man we kicked their butts, and we’re walking in victory!!”
- It was REAL: “God did this” They threatened this”
- But they went to those with faith, too.
- ? Are you susceptible… suggestible at the moment? Who’s influencing you?
- Needing guiding? Go to those with the Spirit of God & FAITH
They went to their OWN people
Praise
The other thing they do is go to God.
Not with the problem, first, but with praise.
- to the God who is OVER it all.
Now- why is this?
- because, first and foremost, God is worthy of our praise… even if He lets us be SLAYED?
- Yes! Certainly! That MAY be what God allows for you
- He’s still worthy of praise
- But also because only in praise do we see… gain… the right perspective on problems
- God’s perspective. And PERSPECTIVE is everything
OUR nature is to fill our minds with the problems- but here they filled their minds of the divine sovereignty
- and you know that’s true. Though we often don’t feel it
They magnified God- not that he could be made any bigger
- but that they might see Him truly as He is
- so much of what we sing is ME centred rather than GOD centred
- get your eyes on GOD and you’ll find things will slot into place. Into right perspective.
Note how they begin their praise to God: ‘sovereign Lord’
= one word ‘Despotes”
- sounds familiar? Despot.
- = term used of slave owner and a ruler of unchallengeable power
- which is what God is
- the sanhedrin’s authority and power is subject to a higher authority and power
- “they did what YOUR power and will had decided beforehand would happen” v28
- I LIKE THAT! That’s truth!
Truth is: we ARE in enemy occupied territory. The world can be a dreadful place. It can be a dreadful place for Xians because we are out of place, enemies to this territory, sojourners… people who live by the rules of another kingdom.
- dreadful things can happen. The missionaries don’t always see anyone saved before they die. Some die before arrival!
- Christians nil, lions one!
- There’s much we don’t understand- and we must be honest about that
But GOD is over it all. Working out His will. Bringing His kingdom. And I believe that one day there will be a sorting out, balancing of the scales, a viewing of the children of faith as they actually are
- a showing of the true perspective
- and then it will all be worth it.
Because our God is the ‘sovereign Lord’
Note how they ‘extol his attributes’… praise Him… magnify Him
1) v24 “You made”
- = a good place to start. Puts things in perspective instantly
- He made everything. And I’m not talking about just a few little planets, and lights in the sky for our sake
- EVERYTHING! Billions of light years of space. Trillions of solar systems. To me this magnifies God!
And you even made these people. These examiners.
PS 35:11 Ruthless witnesses come forward; they question me on things I know nothing about.
The authorities. My spouse. The devil, even. (Yes! He did!)
- so get things I perspective
- Illustr: time bandits. Tanks, arrows etc against devil. God appears. Pfaff! Nothing left. (God was in control all the time)
I love singing praise songs about God as creator, don’t you?
- well, that’s because they put things in their proper perspective
2) v25 “You spoke”
He’s God of creation. He’s God of revelation, as well
- and Christianity is a revealed religion.
- God foretold that the messiah would be rejected… and be the source of much uprising etc
- = consolation in the troubles of Bethlehem!
3) v28 “You decided”
God of creation, revelation… and He’s the God of history, too
- YOU DECIDE, Jesus… YOUD DECIDE!
- PR 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- oh yes!
Get the picture of who’s in control, here? Get the right perspective?
- this should happen in our praise!
During Gladys Aylward’s harrowing journey out of war-torn Yang Chen during the Communist take-over, she faced one morning with no apparent hope of reaching safety. A 13-year old girl tried to comfort her by saying, "Don’t forget what you told us about Moses in the wilderness," to which Gladys Aylward replied, "Yes, my dear, but I am not Moses." The young girl replied, "Yes, but God is still God."
All this should make us Christians the boldest and most positive people in the whole wide world. That perspective is a choice based on our faith in the facts about God
Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and
always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
"Yeah, right, it’s not that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life."
I reflected on what Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious
accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied. "If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon to be born daughter, "Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or ...I could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
Michael continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read "he’s a dead man. I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. "Yes, I replied." The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, "Gravity." Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."
Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
They get God’s perspective through praise. Some of us this works slowly with because of the way we’re wired up. But praise takes us a step in the right direction. To the God who is OVER it all.
Prayer
The boldest people on earth. But the most humble as well. We know God has it all sorted… but we certainly don’t. And we’re careful to remember that He’s God and we’re not.
You see it in their prayers, here. They pray
1) V 29 Consider their threats
They’re not dictating how God should sort it. It’s not a prayer for these folks punishment… or for the disciples protection, safety. They’re not pretending they aren’t real threats.
- they’re just saying “consider their threats” (“keep them in your mind, God”)
2) V29 enable your servants
- literally ‘enable your slaves’
- in other words: dunno about these circumstances, Lord, and how you’re gonna change THEM- but change ME… use US… enable US. Make us BOLD.
- Really: that is so often the truthful answer to prayer. God often does not change circumstances. He changes US.
- - the breakthrough comes when we look for what God is wanting to do IN us and THROUGH us… rather than in DELIVERING us
3) v30 “Stretch out your hand”
– yes, please Lord. In any way you want. DO the things that will glorify the name of Jesus so others will praise Him.
