Dealing with a Threat
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Peter and John were just commanded to stop doing what Jesus told them the Church was supposed to do: Witness to His Gospel
This didn’t just effect them, it effected the whole church community. The entire family!
So what do they do?
They let everyone in the family know...
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
Peter and John realized that this was a threat to the church.
CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 4
Gentiles and the people of Israel had united in opposition to God’s holy servant Jesus and his followers
Any united opposition against the gospel is a threat to the church...
What is the first thing the church will do when they hear Peter and John’s report ?
Are they going to march upon the temple and demand the Sanhedrin resign!?
Are they going to plan a riot in Solomon’s Portico?
Are they going to send out a petition to be signed by all those residing in Jerusalem?
NO! This isn’t to say God can’t use these types of things now.. It’s only meant to point us to their REFLEX as a church!
Their reflex was to pray!
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
It wasn’t the Apostles or a select group of the church that prayed; it was the entire church. The word for “friends” and the context of the verse points to this fact.
This makes this section of scripture relevant to us today:
Sermons from John Piper (1990–1999) A Prayer that Brought the Holy Spirit Down
Therefore 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
While the church in Jerusalem is still working out how to function as a church (they haven’t even appointed deacons yet), they are still organically operating in a healthy way.
Having prayer as a reflex to hardship is healthy.
This teaches us an important principle (Which is essentially the main idea) :
Main Idea
God's people must pray when a threat to the church arises!
REFLEX
Prayer should be our reflex!
Though they have no political power or influence, they have the greatest source of strength in the universe: the awesome Creator, God.
So I want to build upon that point...
In 2020, there are threats to the advancement of Christ’s Church. The threats are different based on the location. But, let me quickly speak to some of the threats that we face in San Bruno, CA, USA:
(This list was inspired by a sermon from John Piper)
People are more closed off from one another than at any other time in history: This means its more difficult to share the gospel with people who need to hear it
The entertainment industry is very successful in both numbing people of reality and indoctrinating people into crumbling worldviews.
Our culture hates absolute truth and biblical morality.
Modern medicine, while also being a blessing, keeps most people from “resorting to God for help.”
There is a plethora of false gospels in the churches of America: Works based, Prosperity Gospel, Liberal views of God’s holiness and human sin.
Honestly, most Bible believing churches, while being strong on biblical convictions, they are weak on discipleship and church commitment.
For these realities, our reflex should be prayer. Let’s take a deeper look at this.
The question I hope to answer today is...
How do we approach God in prayer when we believe His church is being threatened?
First
Acknowledge God’s Greatness - 4:24b-26
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
“Sovereign Lord” = “Master” - Christian Standard Bible
“God, you made the heavens and the earth, we didn’t! You made us. We didn’t make ourselves. You made all of this God. We didn’t”
“We are so small God, but you are so big!”
The church is in unity humbly admitting to God that they are small and He is big!
They are admitting to him that He is their master.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 4
Even as they are persecuted, they address God as master and are in service to his will.
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
25a - Part of their praise of God is acknowledging how God sovereignly used David and his own voice, creativity, and skill to prophesy about what happened to Jesus.
How a perfect God can speak through an imperfect person is still such an amazing mystery to us.
God uses bent sticks to draw straight lines.
Only an all powerful God full of wisdom and grace can do such an amazing thing!
Beginning of Psalm 2.
25b - All plotting against God and His Christ is vain. Christ’s church is an extension of His rule!
Vain = empty.
The Religious Leaders had empty threats
Those in opposition to Christ’s gospel and His church are not humble before Him. But Christ’s church is to be humble before Him. The foundational problem for those who plot against and threaten God is their lack of true reverence for Him. They want to be God themselves.
When we get caught in the crosshairs of this battle, as Christ’s church, we must not make the same mistakes as them. That’s why acknowledging God’s greatness when we go to Him under threat of His enemies is crucial.
They may not acknowledge His greatness, but we will.
Application
When you pray, do you comprehend the fact that the one you are talking to is the creator of everything in existence?
Perhaps pausing, just before you pray, and thinking about just how small you are and how big God is can motivate you to depend on him more.
Do you consider God your master?
Perhaps after you reflect upon God’s greatness and how small you are compared to Him will help you appreciate Him as being master
Second
Surrender to God’s Sovereignty - 4:27-28
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Herod, Pilate, the Roman soldiers, and the religious Jews knowingly rejected, deceitfully accused, wrongfully imprisoned, brutally beat, pridefully mocked, and scornfully crucified Jesus.
But according to the Scriptures, all of this was by God’s decree.
We see human freedom of choice mysteriously co-existing with God’s sovereign and powerful plan for existence.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 4
In their prayer, reported with approval by Luke, the believers affirm both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.
In all honesty, this reality makes many people uncomfortable.
How can God be in complete control of all things, especially history WHILE I’m able to make choices with my own free will???
Well… I don’t know!
I suppose if I did, I’d be God...
Being able to surrender to this reality is actually practicing trust in God...
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 4
This prayer reflects both a deep acknowledgment of human responsibility and a deep trust in God’s wisdom in his sovereign direction of the detailed events of history
Does God’s power and sovereignty comfort you or scare you?
Perhaps you’d prefer to be “master of your own fate”.
Seeking to be the master of your own fate is not strength, as the world would tell you. True strength is found in surrendering to the one who is master of all people’s fates...
What ways can you be more mindful of God’s sovereignty when you pray? How about when you are under pressure?
Third
Ask for God’s Help - 4:29-30
This is beautiful to me, because, the fact is, God is loving and He wants to help us!
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
29a - “Hear what they are saying, God!”
“See this threat, God!”
They take the treat to God!
Because, the battle isn’t really between the religious leaders and the church. It’s between Satan and God.
Ephesians 2:1-2
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
Ephesians 6:12
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Those religious Leaders are merely following the “spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience”..
For us: Evil legislation, threats to silence the church, persecution and murder of Christians… None of these are pointing to a war between christians and the world… They point to a war between Satan and God
29b - But look at their motivation for bringing the threat to God: Servants doing their master’s bidding
This prayer request is completely motivated by a desire to do what the Master in heaven wants to do.
The apostles pray not for safety but “to speak your word with great boldness.”
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 4
They do not pray against those who persecute them but pray for their own faithfulness in witness.
Boldness = being willing to undertake activities that involve risk or danger
30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Do you view people as your enemy? Who is your real enemy?
Do you tend to pray for God to change your circumstances? Or, do you ask God to empower you through your circumstances?
Lastly
Wait for God’s Answer - 4:31
31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
This was an immediate answer. It was also a dramatic answer.
I’ve personally never experienced a room shaking. But I have experienced God answering prayer immediately and dramatically. Each time this happened to me I was more willing to surrender to God’s will than other times.
Leaving the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad
God empowered the church to continue to propagate the Gospel
Through the “filling” of the Holy Spirit.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 4
In Acts, this term seems to denote a special empowering by the Holy Spirit that is in addition to His work of enabling believers to trust God and to live faithfully
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 4
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit indicates that people could be “filled” with the Holy Spirit more than once, for Peter was among them and he had already been “filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 8), and all the disciples present at Pentecost had been “filled” with the Spirit as well (2:4). The Holy Spirit’s power did not come on them automatically but in answer to their expectant, believing prayer.
People get so hung up on the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the Church… It’s primarily because people want glory when the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to give God glory!
I love the fact that the Book of Acts describes the Spirit’s ministry as just that… His Ministry
From what I read, God is the one who decides when he will “stretch out His hand”.
We pray… He answers...
I don’t think its wrong for us to ask God to do the physically miraculous.
I do think we need to be very sensitive to our own motives...
I have to ask myself these questions:
Do I want God to work miracles so I get glory?
Do I want God to work miracles so people will turn to Him in repentance?
The Church here, is motivated by wanting to see God get praise and glory through conversions. All of thise hinges on the fact that Jesus commanded His church to make disciples!
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The point is:
The church isn’t going to give up on obeying Jesus! They want to be obedient.
And for them to be obedient: God has to answer this prayer.
Are your prayer requests necessary for you to be faithfully obedient to the Great Commission?
If God answered your prayers, how would His Kingdom expand?
Those that threaten Christ’s church are united in their stand against God. So God’s people must be united together in their stand against their threats. The unity should be found in our praying together.
There are some opportunities here that you have to apply this principle:
We pray every Sunday at about 10 am before our worship service
We will have another day of Prayer and Fasting on Wednesday, January 29th. We will have a group prayer time at 10am and again at 6:30pm
You can invite people to your home or in this facility to pray together.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
How do God’s people deal with threats?
They go to God in Prayer.
And in their prayers they acknowledge His greatness, they surrender to His sovereignty, they ask Him for help, and they wait for His answer.
May this be our reflex when we are under pressure!