The title of this morning's message is The Church's First
Persecution, Acts chapter 4. Philip Brooks, a great Bible
commentator, wrote Do not pray for easy lives.
Instead pray to be stronger. Men and women.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers
equal to your tasks. As you we gather this morning
and we teach through the Word of God, I pray that the Holy Spirit
will get a hold of your heart and get a hold of your mind and
he will reset it. And you will then be in line
with the moving and the power of God as he speaks to you.
Because what happens is we go out into the world and the media
and the fashions, you, your, your people, you work with
people, you go to school with people in your sporting clubs.
They reinfluence you to to have to think, to try and fit in, to
think and go along with them. And so often we as Christians,
we pray incorrectly. We pray God stop them from doing
this. God Get Me Out of this.
And God says no, Grow up. Be salt.
When is salt used? Salt is used to stop the rot.
You're in the sporting club, you're in the classroom, you're
in that work location where there's no other Christian.
You ought to be the salt. I want you to get salt here.
You're in a dark place, families going through a dark area or a
dark place, dark situation, he says.
I want you to be the light to bring light where there's only
darkness that they're they're they're stumbling around.
What are we to do? How's this going to work out?
Everything's falling apart. Do not pray for easy lives.
That's not the gospel of the Bible.
That's not the Church of the Bible.
Instead, pray to be stronger, men and women.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers.
Pray for powers. Lord, help me to overcome this.
Help me to deal with that guy that's always abusing me.
Help me to deal with that bully at the school.
Give me powers equal to the task.
So the promise of the Holy Spirit has come.
Day of Pentecost that fell just as Jesus had said.
On the day of Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit fell
and the church was born. Peter preaches his first Holy
Spirit powered message 3000 souls.
That's just the men they didn't count the women and the
children. So there was many more were
added to the church and I said and the Lord added daily such as
should be saved. Peter and John Acts chapter 3
are on the way to the temple. They prayed 3 times a day.
They still have the Jewish Jewish clock.
They went to the temple, didn't do the sacrifices.
Jesus had sorted all that out, but they went to the temple to
pray. On the way, they come across a
guy. He's been lame.
He's over 40 years of old. He's never walked in his life.
Peter grabs hold of his hands. He says silver and gold, have I
none? He's a beggar.
He doesn't give them money. I want you to go back Wednesday
night. What I dealt with about this is
not a bank. This is not an ATM.
This is a church that gives the gospel of Jesus Christ.
People don't need more money. There's a social welfare,
there's there's Salvation Army, there's everything out there now
you can get the food bank. What they need is the bread of
life and the church needs to turn back from being a social
welfare place to the place where you hear the gospel of Jesus
Christ. So on the way to the temple to
pray, Peter is given a burst of faith by Jesus.
Peter tells us that he grabs hold of this guy.
He's on the ground. He grips his hand.
The guy had nothing to do. He had no faith.
He had nothing. He had no his feet couldn't
stand. He never stood.
Peter grabs him and jerks him up in the air.
Doctor Luke tells us that as Peter grabs him and jerks him in
the air, that instantaneously his ankle bones, his sinews, and
all those things that had been deformed from birth all came
back into place. Medically beautiful and he
stands first time and then he jumps and runs and he holds
Peter's hand and John and they go into the temple.
A crowd gathers as this guy is just going ballistic. 2000
people come to know Christ because as the crowd comes,
Peter preaches the gospel. He says, hey, this is no big
deal and look at us. They had nothing to do with us.
It's Jesus, the resurrected Jesus.
He straight away goes to the gospel.
He straight away goes to the empty tomb and he gives them the
gospel. That's what they needed.
Wasn't a miracle. Crusader is about to start the
crowd gather. Peter preaches 2000 more men
only not counting the women and the children come to Christ.
So now there's 5000 men plus women and children in the church
and now the first persecution hits.
Peter and John will read or arrested.
They gaoled overnight, they questioned threatened.
Jesus says in John chapter 15 verse 20.
Jesus said, remember the word I said to you, he said to the
disciples, a servant, that's what we are is not greater than
his master. If they persecuted me, they will
also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will
keep yours also. And so the reward for living a
Christian life in a in a fallen world.
And you're not going to hear this in many churches because I
want to just keep keep them. But backsides on seats and
people coming. The reward for living the
Christian life in a fallen, sinful world is not adulation
because you're always such a nice person.
Oh, yeah, yeah, you're. Oh, wonderful.
We got we're a Christian here. He's joined with us.
We got a Christian playing in our footy team.
Isn't that awesome? Hey, guys, we got a Christian
playing in our footy. Oh, yeah.
Awesome, great, great. They're they're really nice
people. It's not fame, Judy.
Good works, man. You're a Christian.
Oh well, go on Twitter, tell, tell people what the things that
you do, you know all the great, wonderful things you do.
You can be an influencer famous. How many people are following
you on Twitter? Or X what it's called actually,
the reward for living the Christian life in a fallen
sinful world is persecution. And we don't like to hear that.
We want to live a happy life. And here's the thing, joy is
found in serving Christ and it comes with persecution.
And that doesn't take away the joy.
Paul wrote to Timothy Young pastor and said this yes and all
who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus is that you do you
desire to live godly life Christ Jesus.
Here's the next step will suffer persecution when your kids come
home from school and you know the only Christian kid in school
they mocked by the teacher and they mocked by their classmates.
You don't go well, let's get the kid out of the school.
Let's go and sack the teacher because that's, that's, that's
just, that's not the way it works.
That's what we normally do. No, we pray for the teacher.
We pray for the kids and we pray for our son and our daughter.
We give them the strength of the word of God.
We send them back off into school and they grow because the
Bible says greater is he that is in you than he is in the world.
Because they're learning to become a disciple of Christ and
to live godly comes with it. Persecution, yes.
And all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution. But evil men and imposters will
grow worse and worse. The world's not going to get any
better deceiving and being deceived.
But you, Paul says, must continue in the things which you
have learned. Mum and Dad, you're teaching
your kids through the word of God, the things that they need
to learn. Continue on in them.
Now the Boy Scouts have a mass of merit badges for their
progression to leadership, don't they?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, before he died under the Nazi treatment,
wrote from his cell in the Flossenburg concentration camp.
These words he said, Suffering is the badge of the true
Christian. Suffering is the badge of the
true Christian, Martin Luther said.
The marks of a true church are those of a community of those
who are persecuted and martyred not for being religious idiots,
but for the gospel's sake. Because they share the gospel
and they live by the gospel. Not by being some religious
crank, but because they live of Christ and they share the love
of Jesus Christ and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That Jesus died on the cross. He died for the sins of the
world. That he rose from the dead on
the third day, that he ascended into heaven.
That he's seated at the right hand of the Father, and that
he's coming back again. And unless you receive Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Saviour, your eternity, you will go to
hell. Can't say that.
Shouldn't say that. Now you need to hear that.
That's why parents tell you kids when you go out.
And when you have little kids and they've got a screwdriver
and they're going near an electric socket, you don't go
stop. I'd like to tell them off, but I
always want to speak positive. So now the church will read
praise together for the first time collectively under the
power of the Holy Spirit, and it's recorded.
And their prayer releases the power of God in such a way the
very ground shakes. We'll see that in verse 31.
But for some of us, we will never know or sense or taste the
power that is released through prayer.
Why? Because we never pray.
We're Christians, We don't read the Bible, we don't pray, but we
go to church, we're saved, and we live the saddest lives of all
sinners. Enjoy living in sin.
Believers who love Christ, love serving God.
But those who are saved but just have enough to come to church,
they're the most unhappy people in the world because they
they're kind of like living like the world, but they know that
that's not right. And so they dance between the
two. For some of us, we'll never know
the power released through prayer also because every prayer
that we pray is misguided. It's only when I'm in trouble,
when I'm lost at sea and I pray. I've been lost at sea, man
didn't have any problems with praying.
God save us. We're going to drown.
I've been the most terrified in all my life.
When I'm surfing, I'm thinking I am going to drown.
This is fun. This surfing, it's really good.
You go out there and commit suicide and go, man, that was
that was really cool. Nearly drown.
It's awesome. Do it again.
Some of us will never experience the power of prayer because even
when we pray, we don't believe it's going to be answered.
Yeah, OK, Yeah, let's pray. Lord, help us through this
situation. It's not going to work, but we
prayed. But listen, it's not all bad
when the first martyr of the church, Stephen, was being
stoned as he preached his first recorded sermon under the power
of the Holy Spirit. In Acts Chapter 7 verse 55, it
says Stephen being full of the Holy Spirit is the key, gazed
into heaven as the stones were thumping down on him, saw the
glory of God, Jesus standing at the right hand of God and said,
look, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the
right hand of God. They were his last words near
the last words before he died. And then he said these words.
He fell to his knees and said, Lord, don't charge the men who
were throwing the stones with this sin and he died.
But Stephen would never have seen or experienced the welcome
to heaven unless he had preached the power and the wonder of God.
And then because he did on his only ever first recorded sermon,
he's killed. It's a different life, the
Christian life. Let's read verse one.
You go, oh thank goodness he's finally going to get to the book
of Acts. Now as they spoke to the people,
the priest, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came
upon them. That's Peter and John standing
with the lame man, being greatly disturbed that they taught the
people and preached in, preached in Jesus, the resurrection from
the dead. There's the key.
And they laid hands on them. They arrested them, put them in
custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
That's why they locked them up overnight.
We'll read about that. However, many of those who heard
the word believed, and the number of the men only, we're
told, came to be about 5000. So Peter has preached standing
next to the Lane guy who said another 2000 people have come to
Christ. Now the Sadducees, not the
Pharisees, were the other religious group of the day.
And when I mention and go through what these people are
like, Gee, they remind me of a certain group of people today.
The Sadducees oppose the church mainly from political motivation
are into politics. We'll see that most of the
coming persecution through the rest of the book of Acts is from
the Sadducees, not the Pharisees.
Quite a few of the Pharisees came to Christ.
The Sadducees denied the supernatural.
They didn't believe in the supernatural.
They said there's no such thing as evil spirits, no such things
as angels, and there is definitely no resurrection.
That doesn't happen. So to the Sadducees, Jesus was
simply an ideal, a fad. And the messianic age, it was a
process. They were the educated, wealthy
elite political sycophants who would sell their mothers to stay
in power. Is that remind you there's five
And it came to pass on the next day that their rulers, elders
and scribes, as well as the high priest, oh Caiaphas, John and
Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high
priest. It's a family we're gathered
together at Jerusalem. So we have the crew who
condemned Jesus standing around Peter and John.
Peter and John I and I believe the healed lame man were locked
up overnight. Why?
Because it was a breach of Jewish law to have a trial in
the evening. But we we remember that this did
not stop Christ. Late night kangaroo court did
it? Don't worry about that.
It was like being in front of the mafia.
That's Caiaphas Anus because they were the family ran the
business the the priestly business now are just ripping
everyone off and the Sadducees were the corrupt government
politicians. They're all gathered together.
Verse 7 and when they had set them in the midst that's Peter
and John and the lame man they asked this is the question by
what power or by what name have you done this sounds a similar
question that Jesus was placed by what authority do you do
these things. The question was a trap because
if Peter or John attributed the miracle healing to any power
other than Jehovah. The Sanhedrin at 74 of them,
which had gathered against three, would have them sentenced
to death based on. Deuteronomy chapter 13.
I'll read it to you. If there arises among your
prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a
wonder, and the sign or the one that comes to pass of which he
spoke to you, saying, let us go after other gods which you have
not known, and let us serve them.
You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that
dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing
you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord
your God and fear him, and keep his commandments and obey his
voice. You shall serve him and hold
fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer
of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order
to turn you away from the Lord your God.
So that's the accusation. So what are Peter and John going
to say then? Peter verse 8.
Here's the key part. Filled with the Holy Spirit.
We read that about Stephen, didn't we?
So Peter, each time he preached it said this Peter filled with
the Holy Spirit. So it's not Peter going up.
Hey John, I've got this, I'll tell him something.
No, no, no. The Holy Spirit fills Peter and
Peter then speaks rulers of the people and elders of Israel.
Notice you didn't say you bunch of thieves.
You think I'm going to tell you anything?
No, he actually is pretty gracious.
This is a gathering that he's speaking to of the same faces of
those who had met. Remember to condemn Jesus to
death by crucifixion. In verse 8, we read Peter is
filled with the Holy Spirit and he preaches with power the
gospel to those who stand in judgement of their preaching of
the resurrection. Peter's message again, you need
to learn this was built upon the word of God.
My words, my opinion, count for nothing.
Don't counsel people and go well, this is what I think you
should do. What you should do is actually,
let's say a word, you should point them to the Scriptures,
should get them to pray and seek wisdom from God.
Don't you tell you don't know what you're doing anyway.
I don't know what I'm doing, but I know the Bible tells us what
to do. I know God will speak to us.
And so it says, verse 9, if we this day are judged for a good
deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made,
well, let it be made known to you all and to all the people of
Israel. Here he goes, that by the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, doesn't hold
back. He didn't sell.
And and some people, you know, they crucified him, but not you
guys. No, it was them whom God raised
from the dead by him. This man stands here before you
whole this verse 11 is the stone which was rejected by you
builders which has become the chief cornerstone nor is there
self. Now notice he says that that's
how the healing happened. Now he goes on to another deal
about you can only have a relationship with God.
How nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Wow. Now when they saw the boldness
of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, these
are Galileans, untrained men. They hadn't been to university.
They marvelled and they realised that they had been with Jesus.
That's the difference. Because they've been with Jesus,
they're like Jesus. And seeing the man who had been
healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Peter's message was again built upon the Word of God.
Daniel chapter 2, verse 34 to 35.
Daniel speaks of the stone they would crush down.
Remember the great image that Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of.
The stone not made with hands would come crash it down, and
they would fill the whole world. That's the Millennium that's
coming with Jesus will rule the world.
Isaiah spoke of the same stone in Isaiah chapter 8 and chapter
28. Zechariah the prophet refers to
the very same passage in Zechariah chapter 3.
And Peter quotes Psalm 118, verse 22, the stone which the
builders rejected. Jesus had quoted the Scripture
about himself in Mark's Gospel, chapter 12, verse 10.
So who are the builders? They're the Jewish nation.
Who's the stone? The Messiah?
Jesus. He's rejected but now seated
victoriously after his resurrection and ascension into
heaven at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
He was once despised and now he's glorified Peter.
And verse 10 declares that it was by Jesus that resurrected
Jesus. He's not dead, he's in heaven
and he's still ruling and he's still performing miracles.
You killed him, but God raised him from the dead and he's the
one that's healed this lame man. Peter goes deeper now in verse
12 and declares that only through that Jesus, Jesus of
Nazareth resurrected from the dead, seated at the right hand
of the Father, the stone that you rejected, that he, only
through him can salvation be found.
So what happened after Peter's Holy Spirit filled message?
Well, the Sanhedrin, there's this guy healed.
I had nothing I could say. The proof was before the impact,
The power of the Holy Spirit, Peter's words, the power of the
word of God used by Peter hit the mark.
The religious leaders, So they send Peter and John, the lame
man out and they convene, you know, the all three stooges.
What are we going to do? What are we going to do?
They come back. Some of you don't know the three
Stooges, mate. Come on.
Get some intellect and learning into your lives.
One of my kids used to call them The three students couldn't say
Stooges. The three students are on.
They're educated.
The religious leaders convene. They decide to release Peter and
John. We've got to let them go, man.
There's a crowd gathered. No law had been broken, a man
had been healed. They threatened them with
violence is the only solution. Peter and John will let you go
this time on this proviso, you must not speak to anyone and
mention the name of Jesus. Verse 18.
You know, that sounds a lot like government departments, doesn't
it? In schools, it's funny.
You can talk about yoga, Hindu, Islam, don't touch Islam, don't
want to be an Islamophobias. You can talk about all sorts of
you can talk about that we're we're created from monkeys.
You can say that you touch Jesus, you're out of there.
You get dismissed, you get sacked, you get hold over the
coals. You see the world hasn't
changed. Jesus doesn't fit in a fallen
world. He came to save sinners.
So Peter's response about not preaching Jesus name anymore
verse 19. Do you think God wants us to
obey you rather than Him? You see, that's up your sleeve,
believers. Peter says we cannot stop
telling what we have seen and heard.
Acts chapter one, verse 8. We are witnesses.
We testify of what we've seen and what we've heard.
Peter and John leave and they return to the gathered church.
The church had been threatened by the most powerful religious
political leaders in all of Israel.
God allowed this to happen. First of all.
Note that this didn't happen by chance.
God allowed Peter and John to be brought before the Sanhedrin.
God had directed Peter and John that fateful day to tell the
lame man to look at them, and he grabbed him and rose him and he
stood and walked. But what now?
Well, we'll pick it. We'll pick it.
Let's call a group and we'll get T-shirts and go ban the
Sadducees and we'll pick up the houses and spray paint them and
all sorts of things. And or we can move.
We can build big walls and not having any come, no one come
near us. You know, God gives each and
every one of us the opportunity to know who he is and his holy
power and might, but so few ever taste of such an experience as
we'll read that the church experienced.
Why is it the church today isn't experiencing the power and the
might that we read so much? Good question when the church
verse 24 heard what had happened and what Peter and John had been
threatened with, what did they do?
Went to their local member said this is terrible organised the
political rally Acts verse chapter verse 24 says and when
they heard this, they lifted up their voice to God with 1 accord
and said Lord you are God which made heaven and earth and the
sea and all that in them is you go what are they climate people
in this church. What is the go here and they
know what's going on at least no.
The first thing, the first thing the church did at this dangerous
impasse, this challenging and threatening moment was one they
immediately lifted up their voices with 1 accord and
together pray to God. You know, if we stand and we
pray as a church on issues, you know what will happen.
God will move. If we stand together and pray on
issues, God will move. Here is a true Christian
fellowship in action. It's in prayer.
That's where the greatest fellowship occurs, in prayer,
not when we're having muffins together.
Have you ever wondered? Well Peter and John have been
bold in their witness of Jesus and they were equally as bold in
turning to God in prayer. The church was.
Have you ever wondered what the actual words were of Jesus when
he prayed? We have the Lords Prayer now
before our eyes. We have the very words, the
actual words of prayer, Peter and John and the church, the
actual words of prayer added by the lips of this gathered early
church are written down. The first Christians in the
early church. It's a place you can go to and
go. We're going to pray like this.
How do their words, how does their passion, how does the
impact of their prayer compare with yours and mine today?
Do we start off with Lord God? You were God, you made heaven
and earth, see, and all that is in them, the first thing they
prayed, Lord, you are God. That's important.
The word Lord here that they use is the Greek word despotes,
where we get our word despot. It means sovereign Lord, it
means the Lord of Lords. How does that first statement
set the compass for your prayer to be powerful, for your prayer
to be answered Because you're going to the Lord of Lords, You
know when you have a problem at a shop.
So I want to see the manager. Usually the shopkeeper turns
around and says I'm the manager. You haven't noticed that.
And some nothing against young kids.
Some young kid comes in, I'm the manager of the day.
Oh, OK then. Well, let's just leave it.
The religious leaders could threaten, warn they got out of
prohibitions, but their authority was subject to a
higher authority. Still you know Albert Albanese,
his authority is subject to the Lord of Lords, as is Putin, as
is Trump, as a Starmer, as is every government the United
Nations around the world. God rules.
Psalm 110 verse one. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies your
footstool. That's the Lord of Lords
speaking to Jesus in Isaiah chapter 41 of the great passages
in the Bible. It says verse 22, God sits above
the circle of the earth. Notice that's for all the flat
earthers. The people below seem like
grasshoppers to him. He spreads out the heavens like
a curtain. He makes his tent from them.
He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to
nothing. Ask Nebuchadnezzar, Isn't this
the great Kingdom that I built? Great Babylon?
Next minute he's out eating grass for seven seasons.
Verse 25 of Isaiah 40. To whom will you compare me?
Who is my equal? God says past the Holy One, look
up to the heavens who created all the stars.
He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each
by its name. Because of His great power and
incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.
You see, the edicts of men overturn, cannot overturn the
decrees of God. I want you to hear that.
The edicts of men, that's men's laws, men's rules cannot
overturn the decrees of God. Who shall I obey, you or God?
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you better bow down.
The music started. You better bow down to that
image or throw you in a fire. Well, you know, whether the Lord
delivers us from the fire or not, that's up to him.
But we ain't bowing down. Throw them in the fire.
Who's in the fire? How many did we throw in the
fire? 123 There's a fourth person in
there, and he looks like the Son of God.
We ain't bowing down. Daniel praying.
It's against the law to pray. You've gone up there as you've
had. You've had your bedroom window
open and there you go praying again.
Bring him in, throw him into the lions.
Then Daniel. Daniel, you're still there.
Yes, my king, still here. Lovely night laying on the
lions, lovely fairy bed. Bit of a fur ball.
Man said you cannot pray to your God.
God said no. Where do you fit in this second
thing Note with me the second point of this amazing prayer.
Before the people brought any request, any petition, before
they asked for anything, they first filled their minds with
thoughts of the divine sovereignty, the power and
authority of the Almighty, Almighty God.
Who are they all praying to? We have a saying in Australia.
He'll sort it out. Don't worry, he'll sort it out.
He'll sort it out. Verse 24 Lord, you are God who
made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them.
To which God do you pray? Which God do you pray to?
To the God you doubt. What's the use?
You doubt could change or do what you ask because that's a
little God. That's not the God of the Bible.
That's not the God the church prayed to.
Or do you pray to the God who created all things, let there be
light and there was the God you can trust who is able to do the
impossible. That's what God does.
You see, you and I live in a world with men that you can't do
that. That's that's not going to
happen. And God says, I'm outside this
world. I made this world.
When you pray to me, I intervene, I change things.
I can hold the sun, Joshua said. We need more sunlight.
There you go, Fight away. We can't cross the the sea.
We got to see. Be honest.
And Chariots. Egyptians, don't worry about
that. But where do you and I fit in
that? Or do we just read those in
Sunday school books? Is that how you live as an adult
now, as a believer to the God who created all things, the God
you can trust who is able to do the impossible?
That's why you pray Hebrews 11/6.
But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he
who comes to God must believe that He is, that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
James says don't pray if you're a doubter tossed around like the
a cork on the ocean. Luke 11 Jesus told the story
verse 11 if a son asked for bread from any father among you,
will he give him a stone? Or he asked for a fish, will he
give him a serpent instead of a fish?
Or if he asked for an egg will he offer him a scorpion?
Jesus says hey you guys listen up if you then being evil you're
just human know how to give good gifts to your children.
How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask him? He is the God of creation, verse
21. He is the God of Revelation,
verse 25 to 26. He is the God of history.
We see it in the past. He created all things.
He's been in charge of everything.
We went through the book of Daniel.
He told you which empires will come, who's next, who would
fall. He's told us what's going to
happen in the future in the Book of Revelation.
We sit at this stage now in the book of Acts.
Revelation is about to start, the rapture is soon, seven years
of tribulation are coming, and then 1000 year reign.
That's the future of the world. Where do you sit with that?
Because we kind of go, you know, when the last does.
No, let me tell you, time's short.
Time is short. 3 verbs in this powerful prayer.
Verse 24 you made. Verse 25, you spoke, it was 28.
You decided only now with their hearts, minds and souls filled
with the vision of the God who they're praying to, the all
powerful mighty created God, were they ready now to ask
something in prayer. When you pray, if you don't
believe in the God who's the creator and most powerful being
in the world, then you that is going to happen.
But if you go to prayer and you're going to God and you know
who it is, you're going to pray for man, you're confident,
aren't you? You're trusting.
Whatever he does, he's going to, he's going to sort this out.
That's what you can say to your kids, husbands, That's what you
can say. If you're a man of God in your
family, you can be saying that to your wife.
Don't trouble. Don't worry.
God, the God we serve the the true God of the Bible, he'll
sort it out. We'll give it to him, cast out
cares before him. Why?
Because he cares for you. They asked for three things. 1X
429. Now, Lord, look on their threats
and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak
your word. They didn't go into a Secret
Service mission, they said. Now look at what they've said.
Lord, take what they've said and help us now to continue to speak
boldly the word of God. Wow.
Exactly opposite to what they've been threatened about.
The word look means consider, behold their threats.
They were not praying that their threats would fall under divine
judgement. They didn't ask that.
They did not pray their threats remain unfulfilled so they could
live under peace and safety. They didn't ask that now they
asked God. Consider them.
You look after them. Lord, have them on your mind.
Regard them, but give us boldness first.
Second thing, that God would enable them his servants.
Notice it says his servants slaves literally to speak God's
word with great boldness and grant to your servants that with
all boldness they may speak your word.
They were undeterred by the religious councils, threatening,
unafraid of their threats. Thirdly, their third prayer
request was that God would act verse 30 by stretching out your
hand to heal, bring healing, heal one man, heal more, and
that signs and wonders may be done.
How through the name of your holy servant Jesus capital S son
of God. Let me qualify.
The demand now on these three things was not now for miracles
of vengeance. Kill all the Sanhedrin, wipe
them out, swallow them up in a great hole.
Destruction fire from heaven. No, Lord, bring miracles for the
glory of your name. Just just bring miracles for the
glory of your name. What happened after they prayed?
That's a good thing. God's answer was that he shook
the ground on which they stood in power.
And in response, verse 31 And when they had prayed, the place
where they were assembled together was shaken.
And notice what happened. We read it again, and they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit. You see, Pentecost, how many
feelings has Peter had? How many times?
Oh, I was filled with the Holy Spirit back in year 38.
It was I remember I just after before the Second World War and
I got another burst just after the Second World War and God
really moved back in those Hey, hey, today you need today you
need to be filled tomorrow you need to be filled with the Holy
Spirit. Ephesians says go on continually
being filled and they were all filled all filled with the Holy
Spirit. So what was the impact of the
shaking? They're all filled with the Holy
Spirit. God answered their prayer.
How specifically verse 29 and they spoke the word of God with
boldness. Note that fill them with the
Holy Spirit. What happened?
They spoke the word of God with boldness.
So you send your son, your daughter back to school, back to
the team. You go back to your workplace.
You, you're not, you're not ducking and dodging from the
bully or the, you know, the boss that gives you a hard time.
You speak with wisdom, wiser as a serpent in general as a dove,
but you speak with boldness. Well, actually, you know, you
said that about this doesn't change anything that I believe.
I still believe what the Bible says is correct about that.
You speak with boldness. Boldness doesn't mean you have
to be bombastic. It means you speak it.
Speak it. But notice what else came for in
the next chapter. It's recorded Acts chapter 5,
verse 12, and through the hands of the apostles many signs and
wonders were done among the people, and they were all with 1
accord in Solomon's porch this morning.
God is drawing us and putting a focus on us as a church.
A church isn't a place where individuals go to find Christ
had to do with Christ. A church is a place where
brothers and sisters in Christ gathered together under the
leadership of Jesus Christ and they work together bringing the
gifting that they have to do the work of God.
It's not an individual thing that you come and go, oh I've
done my thing and no, you're part of the body of Christ.
Read 1 Corinthians 12/13 and 14 and you supply a very important
part for the rest of the people. And when you don't do your bit,
we suffer. The body isn't working till it's
full capacity. God is calling us this church to
be a people of prayer, to pray as a church and to pray
powerfully. The people who, when we pray,
God moves. And you know what?
We've experienced that, haven't we?
Those of you who come on the Wednesday nights, you know that
the things that we've prayed for, what has happened, God has
moved miraculously. A people who will pray for all
things, a people who will pray together with one mind, led by
His Holy Spirit. The question is, I want to ask
you today, will you be a praying person this morning?
Will you be a praying person? God's God's asking you.
The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few.
And we come from thinking, I don't want to go out there and
do OK, pray, gather with the church and pray.
Do that. That's the best job you can do
anyway. That's the most powerful thing
you can do anyway. Do you believe in the power of
prayer for today? God is speaking to you about
that because in Two Chronicles 16-9, the Bible says for the
eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to
show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is
perfect toward him. This morning God calls you to be
a people of prayer that as as a church, not just an isolated
individual, I'm going to do my thing.
People whose prayers are not loaded with selfish desires, no,
but prayers that are driven by God's desires.
The Lord's Prayer starts off with what our Father, our
Father, notice doesn't say. My Father, our Father, who art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be
done where as it on earth, as it is in heaven.
That's our job. Jesus said pray this way.
That's what we're going to do. God wants to draw you close to
him for you to know him as your heavenly Father.
Powerful. He's powerful, He's protective
and he's loving and he's merciful.
He is our Father in heaven who desires to answer your prayers
and to bless you. That's God's desire.
God raised this crucified Jesus from the grave.
There is salvation in no one else but Christ.
It's Jesus Christ or nothing. It's Jesus or judgement.
It's Jesus or eternal hell. Do not pray for easy lives.
Pray to be stronger. Men and women.
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers.
Pray for powers equal to your tasks.
Let's stand in honour of the Lord, shall we?
Father, I pray for any who are here today that do not know you
as their Lord and Saviour, that you are calling them not only to
be part of your Kingdom, but you're calling them to be part
of your prayer power team. Lord, let our children be people
of prayer. Let each home be a House of
prayer, but let this church be like the Church of the early
days. And Lord, I pray that you'll
shape this building and shake the very ground on which we
stand as we ask and seek you and pray these things.
We ask and pray in Jesus name. And everyone said Amen, Amen.