20

Acts 4:23-30 THE CHURCH IN PRAYER

Introduction:

The Apostles Peter and John had been involved in the healing of a lame man

at the Gate Beautiful. As a result, they had been arrested and brought to trial

before Sanhedrin Council, which was the same Jewish court which had tried Jesus

and carried Him to Pilate to get Pilate to order Jesus crucified.

The healing of the lame man had made a great impact upon the masses of

people in Jerusalem and about 5000 people had been saved as a result of the

miracle and the message of the Apostle Peter. For that reason the Jewish

leaders who were on the Council dared not to beat them or hurt them. Therefore,

they only threatened them and turned them loose.

In our text today, Peter and John report back to the church what had taken

place and the church goes to God in prayer about the matter.

I. Peter and John reporting back to the church

V. 23, “And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all

that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.” After Peter and John

were released by the Sanhedrin Council, they returned as quickly as they could

to the home where a nucleus of the church had been staying ever since the

crucifixion of Jesus. You may remember that on the day of Pentecost there were

about 120 who were staying there. That nucleus was present when Peter and John

arrived.

It must have been pretty crowded with 120 people staying in one home.

Since that time a large number of people had been saved and added to the church.

About 3,000 had been saved and added to the church on Pentecost. Other people

had been saved and added to the church daily making the number swell rapidly.

Then after the lame man was healed more than 5,000 more were saved and added to

the church. It goes without saying, that they could not all stay in that one

place, but the same group which had been there before Pentecost was still there.

When the news had arrived that Peter and John had been arrested by the

Sanhedrin Council, they must have stayed right close to that house anxiously

awaiting news concerning them. Peter and John did not waste any time. They

went to the place where they knew the Christians were gathered just as fast as

they could. It is a natural thing for Christians to want to be with one

another. This is especially so when they are in trouble. When sickness comes

or when any other kind of trouble comes to a Christian, this just increases his

desire to hurry up and get back to the other Christians. Just being there was a

great comfort to them. Some of you can relate to that because you have had such

experiences and it was so good to get back to church. It brings a good feeling.

I am sure that the church people had already heard about the lame man

being healed and about such a great number of people getting saved. This was

all good news to them. But they also must have heard about Peter and John being

arrested and this must have deeply disturbed them. They were alarmed about the

danger that Peter and John were in and they were greatly concerned for their

safety. They must have been greatly relieved to see these two men walk in.

They were all ears as Peter and John related to them what had happened.

They told them about being arrested and being held in prison overnight. They

told them about the order from the Sanhedrin Council that they should not speak

or teach any more in the name of Jesus. They told the church that they had

informed the Council that they could not obey that order. They told them that

they must be obedient to God who had ordered them to be witnesses for Jesus and

the orders of God took priority over the orders of men.

II. The church going to God in prayer

V. 24, “And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with

one accord...” Problems have a way of bringing most people to God in prayer.

This is especially true with those who are saved. One of the first things we do

when a problem arises is to pray. That is the way that it should be. That is

the way that God wants it to be. God wants us to bring our problems to him.

That is what I Peter 5:7 is all about. In that Scripture Christians are invited

to cast all their cares upon the Lord because He cares for them. He wants to

help them in their time of trouble.

I would also call to your attention that they did not say, “Wait a few

minutes while we write out a prayer so that we can pray.” I think you know that

there are some people who seemingly cannot pray unless they have a prayer all

written out in every detail. They just prayed. They prayed what was on their

hearts. They prayed without hesitation and without delay.

(V. 24), “...and said, Lord, thou [art] God, which hast made heaven, and

earth, and the sea, and all that in them is.” In their prayer they acknowledged

that they recognized that God is the Great Creator of all things. He had

created the distant sun, the moon, the stars and the planets. He had created

all of this huge earth on which we live. He had created everything which exists

on earth in the seas, in air, on the surface of the earth and everything which

is down beneath the surface. He is the Supreme Power and authority in all of

heaven and earth. He is over the angelic creatures, both he good and the bad.

He is supreme over all of nature. He is supreme over all men. They recognized

that He is supreme even over the Sanhedrin Council and over the Roman

governmental powers. In effect they were acknowledging that He is well able to

take care of the problem that they were in. He and He alone could help them.

He and He alone could give them the grace that they needed.

They mentioned a Scripture from Psalm 2:1-2. In this Scripture the

psalmist David had written a prophecy about the Christ going on trial before

governmental leaders. V.25-26, “Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast

said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings

of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord,

and against his Christ.” They now understood that Scripture to speak about

Jesus. It speaks of Jesus being on trial before the Jewish people and before

the Gentiles. The heathen spoken of in this Scripture are the Gentiles. The

Gentile soldiers had raged against Jesus. They had mocked Him and they had beat

Him unmercifully with the whip. They had gleefully driven the nails into His

hands and feet. They had pierced His side with a sword. Pilate, even though it

was against his wishes, had given the orders that this might be done.

The “people” spoken of in this Scripture are not the Gentiles. They are

the Jewish people. This Scripture speaks about the chief priests and all of the

members of the Sanhedrin Council who spoke so bitterly against Him and demanded

His death. It speaks also of the great masses of Jewish common people who

joined with their leaders in demanding His death and then mocked Him as He hung

on the cross.

But now these disciples of Jesus not only understood that David was

writing about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, but they also now understood

why God had allowed such terrible things to happen to Jesus. They now

understood that it was all according to the purpose of God. They now understood

that those men had not somehow overpowered Jesus. God had deliberately allowed

it all to happen in order that Jesus might suffer on the cross and provide a way

of salvation for all mankind. V. 27-28, “For of a truth against thy holy child

Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontiffs Pilate, with the

Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever

thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” Later John, himself,

would write in the Book of Revelation that God had planned even before the

foundations of the earth that Jesus would be crucified and that He stood even

then as “The Lamb slain” for the sins of mankind. God did not make man crucify

the Christ, but He used them to do so and it was all done according to the plan

of God the Father.

III. The requests which the Christians made in their prayer

They made two requests. But before we notice what they did ask, let us

notice some things which they might have asked, but didn’t. They might have

asked God to use His mighty power to come to their rescue and to prevent the

Jewish leaders from hurting them, but they didn’t. They assumed that if God

allowed the Jews to hurt them, that this, too, would be for a good purpose. He

had allowed His Son, Jesus Christ to be crucified and they now understood that

this was for a good purpose. So they concluded that if God allowed the Jews to

carry out their threats against them, that, too, would be for some good purpose.

Let me say to you: That is great faith in God.

They might have asked God to strike their enemies dead so as to keep them

from harm, but they did not ask that either. They might have, at least, asked

God to punish those who threatened them, so as to give them warning not to hurt

His men. But they did not even ask that. They did not ask God to do one thing

to prevent them from being arrested again or from being beaten. They did not

even ask God to protect them from death at the hands of their enemies. I think

I would have at least asked that much. But they didn’t.

Why? Why did they not ask God for some kind of protection from those

people? I think I know the answer to that question. I think it was because

they had witnessed the great suffering which Jesus had endured for them and now

they were willing, if need be, to suffer for Him. In my heart, I think that is

why they did not ask to protect them.

Do you know what? I think it would do us all good spiritually, if we

could have witnessed the crucifixion. I think it would do us all good if we

would at least try to envision the suffering that our Lord went through for us.

Then we would not think it an imposition on us for us to sacrifice our time or

money or labor for His honor and glory.

But now that we have noticed what they did not ask God to do for them, let

us note the two things that they did ask of Him. V. 29, “And now, Lord, behold

their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may

speak thy word.” I marvel at this. Those Christians must have been afraid of

their enemies and afraid of what they might do to them. But the one thing which

they feared the most was that under the pressure of threats or under the

pressure of torture they might fail to witness for Christ as they should. The

chief thing which they prayed for was that God would give the grace to be bold

in their witnessing for Jesus. Please note the wording of their request, “And

now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all

boldness they may speak thy word.”

Now let us notice their second request. V. 30, “By stretching forth thine

hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy

child Jesus.” The disciples recognized that the great miracle of the healing

the lame man had made a great impact on the minds of the people. The people

were a lot more receptive to the message which the Apostle Peter had preached to

them because they could see the man whom they knew had been born lame, stand and

walk and leap in their presence. Even those who did not see the man walk knew

about him and they knew that this was the power of God which had healed him.

Therefore, the people were a lot more inclined to believe Peter when he said

that Jesus had been raised from the dead and that Jesus is the Son of God. They

were a lot more receptive to the message of Simon Peter when he said that nobody

could ever get to heaven except by the power of Jesus. About 5,000 people had

believed Peter’s message and had been saved largely as a result of the

miraculous healing of the lame man. Therefore, it stands to reason that they

would ask God to use them to bring about a lot more miracles. The miracles

served a very useful purpose. They confirmed to the people that the message

which the Christians preached was from God and was not a figment of their own

imagination.

Lest we be tempted to ask that God start doing miracles through us, let us

take note that those Christians did not have New Testament Scriptures to confirm

what they were preaching. In the absence of New Testament writings to confirm

what His messengers were saying, God used miracles to confirm what they were

saying. But it would not be right for us to ask for miracles to confirm His

word. His word has now been written down in the pages of both the Old and New

Testaments and God has already confirmed His word by the miracles that He did

through those early Christians. God does not intend to confirm His word again

and it would be wrong for us to ask Him to do so. If men will not believe the

gospel message because we say so, then let them believe it because God says so

in His Holy Bible. And He has already confirmed His word with mighty miracles.

IV. Some lessons for us to learn

Let us learn some vital lessons from that early church. Let us be a

church centered people. May we always be faithful to come to gather at the

house of God to worship God. Peter and John headed right for the church as soon

as they were released by the Sanhedrin Council. When they got to church they

found the others already there. May we be just as diligent in going to church

in our lives. Church should be the heart and soul of our lives. In the words

of the Apostle Paul to the Galatian churches, “Let us not be weary in well

doing.” Let us never grow tired of going to church. Church ought to be the

highlight of our week --- to gather at the house of God with the people of God

to hear and study the word of God and seek to draw near to the very face of God.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews said that we should not forsake the

assembling of ourselves together although some even in those early days had

already gotten in the habit of doing. As we see the end-time approaching, we

should be even more zealous in attending church. Especially as we face problem

after problem in life, we should desire to come to the house of the Lord and

seek the comfort that we can find with God’s people.

Let us be a Bible believing people. Let not stray to the right nor to the

left from the word of God. Let us go right down the line believing what God has

to say. If we cannot believe God then whom can we believe? Where else could we

find the truth except in the word of God? How can we expect others to believe

what we preach and teach and testify if we stray from the word of God? What

proof can we offer to those who hear us that we speak the truth except the word

of God?

Let us be a witnessing people. Let us witness for Jesus Christ from the

pulpit of this church. May every message that is ever preached from this

pulpit be a special witness on behalf of Jesus Christ the Son of God. May every

teacher in every class be a faithful witness for Jesus Christ. May every member

of this church be a faithful witness for Jesus Christ. May every member of this

church take the instructions of Jesus seriously that we are all to be witnesses

for Him through all parts of the earth. A lot of unsaved people never come to

church to hear the preacher or the classroom teacher, but they do come in

contact with the members of our church. They come in contact with you in your

homes, on your jobs, in the stores as you shop and many other places. May each

of us be faithful to witness to the unsaved that Jesus is the Christ and that He

is their only hope of getting to heaven. How can we expect for souls to be

saved if we as a church do not witness to the unsaved?

Let us be a praying people. I certainly do not mean to imply that our

people do not pray. But I think that we can see that those Christians were

faced with a problem that was too big for them to handle. We, too, have faced

problems that were too big for us to handle. We will do so again. Let us

remember that those Christians went to God who is the Almighty Creator and Ruler

of heaven and nothing is too big for Him to handle. The Sanhedrin Council was

not at all too powerful for God to handle. We will not face a problem too big

for God to handle.