ACTS
CHAPTER 4:23-37, “Rejoicing In What God Has Done”
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we saw
1.1.1. Peter and John were arrested
for healing the lame man begging alms before the temple and for preaching the
gospel, especially the part they spoke of about Jesus being raised from the
dead
1.1.2. Then we saw that the next
day they were brought before the highest officials of the Jews, the ruling
Sanhedrin, so that they might give an explanation for how the man had been
healed, or what I called ‘the real reason’ that the lame man had been
healed since they didn’t believe Peter’s answer that Jesus or the ‘Name of
Jesus’ healed the man
1.1.3. Peter then was filled with
the Holy Spirit and gave a very bold, confident, and clear gospel message
explaining the essentials of what coming to salvation involved
1.1.4. When warned that they must
not preach or teach anymore in this ‘Name’ they boldly told the
Sanhedrin that they must decide whether or not it was right for them to preach
the gospel, but as for them they could not quit doing this
1.1.5. Peter and John are now in
our study today released by the Sanhedrin, and they go and report back to the
church what has happened, and we will look at the prayer and celebration that
the church enjoyed after their release and upon hearing all that God had done
through them
1.1.5.1.When we pray to the Lord to
be used or for deliverance, then when God answers we must rejoice in Him and
extol His Name for the wonderful things He has done
2.
VS 4:23-24 - “Acts 4:23-24 23 And when
they had been released, they went to their own companions, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders
had said to them. 24 And when they heard this,
they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it
is Thou who didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in
them, (NASB)” - Peter and John report back to the church what
had happened through their being jailed and testifying before the Sanhedrin
2.1.
After being
released by the Sanhedrin, Peter and John went and reported to the brethren who
surely had been meeting in prayer for their release, and they told them the
whole story regarding their capture.
2.2.
Peter and
John were still filled with boldness as they recounted how that the Lord had
used them to proclaim the word even to the religious leaders themselves.
2.3.
Verse 24 now
begins the prayer that this early church lifted up to God in response to all
that had happened in the 24 hours since the man born lame had been healed. This prayer is a choice specimen for the
church of all ages to study and to model.
2.3.1.
I see such thankfulness and rejoicing reflected in this prayer, and these
attitudes are to be the part of all of the prayer that we lift up to the Lord
2.3.1.1.In 1 Thess. 5:18
the apostle Paul wrote that we as Christians are to be giving thanks to the
Lord in every situation in which we are in, “18 in everything give
thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”
2.3.1.2.In Phil. 4:4 the
apostle Paul wrote, “rejoice in the Lord always and again I say
rejoice”
2.3.1.3.If we are truly walking in
faith according to the promises of God’s word then we must always be rejoicing in
the Lord and giving thanks to the Lord in everything since we realize that God
is in control of everything and that God is working good in our lives through
all that happens to us (Rom. 8:28)
2.3.2.
This group
prayed to God using an interesting word which is translated for ‘Lord’. This word indicates that they were
recognizing from the very start that “God is sovereign”. This Greek word, ‘despotes’, used for ‘Lord’ is a word that is used
for ‘despots’ or ‘monarchical rulers’, and implies the ‘sovereignty’
of God.
2.3.2.1.When we say that God is sovereign we mean that He is
working His plans and purposes in the universe and peoples lives. It means that He is the One who is in control
of all
2.3.2.2.It is wonderful to know as a believer that ‘we serve a God who is in control’,
One who is seated upon His throne ruling over all the universe and monitoring
all that goes on and allowing only that to exist which He chooses
2.3.2.3.In praying to the ‘sovereign Lord’, this group
prayed to Him as the One who had created all that exists from nothing. They
were praying to a God who is almighty and to whom nothing is impossible.
2.4.
God is
capable of controlling not only our little world and life, but He is a God who
is in control of the entire universe.
When we Christians pray to the Lord, we ought to realize that God does
not need our counsel as to how to evangelize the world, rather we need to
simply pray that He reveal to us what He wants us to do. This is a general principle of prayer: Prayer should never be directed to God that
our will be done in heaven, but rather that His will be done on earth through
us.
2.5.
In the
mainstream church today there seems to have been a trend toward an attitude
that the Lord must exist for me and to bless me, however the scripture is very
clear that we exist for Him and for His good pleasure and not visa versa.
2.5.1.
In other
words, we need to realize that He is the One who is God and that we are merely
men.
2.6.
This prayer
was prayed by a church that was on the front line of ministry, and being on the
front line they were boldly asking God to use them in an ever greater way.
2.7.
They were
praying to be used in this way even though they were fully convinced that
further and greater persecution for their faith was imminent.
2.8.
We see that the church was all ‘with one accord’. Thus, with
one voice they lifted up this prayer to the Lord.
2.8.1.
Each person
was conscious of being a vital part of one organism of God, one body, His
church.
2.8.2.
Each one was
functioning not as an independent individual, but as a team member.
2.8.3.
There is no
one individual who is spoken of as praying in this prayer, but rather it is
said that ‘they lifted up their voice’.
2.9.
We Christians
ought never to shy away from praying to God for us to have a bold witness of
the gospel because of our fear of persecution.
We need to be encouraged by the faith of these early Christians to pray
to be used greatly even though persecution of some type may be encountered as a
result.
2.10.
For
application’s sake, and as I asked in our last study, “Are you presently praying for boldness so
that you may be able to have opportunities to powerfully share the gospel with
people in your life?” If not, you should be…
3.
VS 4:25-28 - “Acts 4:25-28 25 who by
the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of
our father David Thy servant, didst say, 'Why did the Gentiles rage, And the
peoples devise futile things? 26 'The kings of the earth took their stand, And
the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord, and against His Christ.' 27 "For
truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus,
whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles
and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose
predestined to occur. (NASB)” - The church corporately acknowledged how the Lord
had been in control of their situation before the Sanhedrin and how God had
worked mightily to protect them and use them as His witnesses
3.1.
As this
multitude lifted up their voice, they quoted from Psalm 2 and realized that
that very Psalm was written prophetically concerning their particular
predicament.
3.1.1.
This group
saw ‘Herod’, ‘Pontius Pilate’, the ‘peoples of Israel’,
and the ‘Gentiles’ as fulfilling prophetically each of the groups
included in this Psalm: ‘the kings of
the earth’, ‘the rulers’, ‘the peoples’, and the ‘Gentiles’.
3.1.2.
This Psalm
says that this group ‘were gathered together against the Lord, and against
His Christ’, and that was fulfilled during Peter and John’s imprisonment.
3.2.
Believing
that God is a God who is in control and for that reason He is sovereign, this group also acknowledged that although great
wickedness was threatened and accomplished by this group, that none the less
God overruled amongst these men, for all that had happened had been ‘to do
whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur’.
3.2.1.
There is a
paradox here, for it was wicked men who had jailed Peter and John and who
planned evil against them and would have killed them had they thought that the
multitudes would not have rioted had they done so, however it was according to
God’s plan that this happened
3.3.
The Psalmist
in Psalm 2 also asks the question as to why this group of men ‘devise futile
things’?
3.3.1.
It is a
futile task for anyone to resist the Lord and rebel against Him and His will
for they will never win since God is so much stronger and wiser
3.3.1.1.We Christians often need to be reminded that we will
never win a battle that we wage against the Lord, for it is a futile task. He is almighty and omnipotent, and He is
stronger and more patient than we will ever be.
He is going to accomplish His will regardless, so no man ever wins a
battle against the Lord.
3.3.2.
If men just
absolutely refuse to submit to Him, He will eventually let them have their own
way and perish from His presence for eternity in hell.
3.4.
This morning
we sang in our worship the song from Psalm
3:3, “3 But Thou, O Lord, art
a shield about me,My glory, and the One who lifts my head”, and we
Christians can take great courage in the fact that the Lord fights our battles
and shields us from our enemies allowing only those things into our lives which
He chooses to use to mold us into His image.
Even Satan and all of the demons from hell cannot hinder the Lord’s
protection over our lives
4.
VS 4:29-30 - “Acts 4:29-30 29 "And
now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Thy bond-servants may
speak Thy word with all confidence, 30 while Thou dost extend Thy hand to heal, and
signs and wonders take place through the name of Thy holy servant Jesus.
" (NASB)” - The church prayed that the Lord would protect
them from the threats of men around them and that He would give them all
confidence to speak His Word
4.1.
This group
does not now pray that the Lord would rain down fire and brimstone and destroy their
enemies who are persecuting them, but rather they pray simply that the Lord
would ‘take note of their threats’.
4.1.1.
Jesus had
taught His disciples to bless their enemies and love them, and as their example
in this way, the group prays simply that the Lord will note what their enemies
are threatening them.
4.1.2.
The church had witnessed only a short while earlier Jesus forgiving all
of the men who had participated in His crucifixion as He prayed to the Father
and said, “Father forgive them for
they know not what they are doing”, and thus He was their example as One who forgave
those who had hurt Him
4.1.3.
When we serve
such an awesome God as we serve, One who is in control of all, we find that we
can do what Paul exhorted us to do in Rom.
12:19, “19 Never take your own
revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written,
“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says
the Lord”
4.1.4.
Bitterness and anger will destroy the person who allows it to take root
in his life, therefore for our own sake we must give any bitterness and anger
to the Lord knowing that He will execute vengeance and judgment according to
His perfect righteousness and justice
4.1.4.1.It is
wonderful when we give our hurts to the Lord and release all of our bitterness
and anger for then the people over whom we are holding these resentments no
longer are controlling our lives
4.1.5.
They knew
that God in His time would execute vengeance against His enemies.
4.2.
The disciples
knew for certain that persecution would await anyone who continued to preach
openly that Jesus had died and raised again from the dead.
4.3.
This
courageous prayer for more confidence to speak His Word is a huge testimony to
the work of the baptism of the Holy Spirit which each of them had received.
4.4.
This group
next prays that the Lord would ‘extend Thy hand to heal, and signs and
wonders take place through the name of Thy holy servant Jesus’ for
attesting miracles such as they prayed for would be used by the Lord in
peoples’ lives to give credibility to the message of the gospel which they were
preaching.
4.5.
We in the
church must never pray to the Lord for tasks matching our power, but rather we
must pray for power to match the tasks that the Lord wants to do through
us.
4.5.1.
As Paul wrote of himself, we can also ‘do all things through Him who strengthens’ us
4.5.2.
We need to
pray for doors to open for the sharing of the gospel and for boldness in our
preaching of the gospel.
4.5.3.
We need to
pray as the advancing church which is taking the world by force in building up
God’s kingdom, not as the retreating church who is trying to avoid further
injury by being left alone by the enemy.
4.5.4.
We must also
be conscious that when we advance as a church, we will also encounter the
attack of the enemy, for we are invading his territory. However, the knowledge of that must never
deter us from fulfilling our mission in the Great Commission of Jesus to preach
the gospel to the entire world.
4.5.5.
We in the
church should likewise pray that the Lord will do great works of power which
may be necessary in order to win the world to Jesus. We should pray for ‘signs and wonders’ in
every age of the church, for God is not done performing these works.
5.
VS 4:31 - “Acts 4:31 31 And when they had prayed, the place where
they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit, and began to speak the word
of God with boldness. (NASB)” - The building where they were praying was
shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
5.1.
The Lord
immediately answered this very bold and precious prayer for His power for being
a witness for Him by causing ‘the place where they had gathered together’
to be ‘shaken’.
5.2.
When this
sign of His power in their midst occurred, the people were all once again
immediately ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’, this sovereign act of the
Lord coming upon them powerfully through the Holy Spirit, and they all began ‘to
speak the word of God with boldness’ for the encouragement and edification
of the church assembled there.
5.2.1.
Note here that this is an example in the book of Acts
where the Holy Spirit fell upon people yet they did not specifically speak in
tongues, but rather here they spoke the word of God with boldness
5.2.1.1.In the Calvary Chapels we do not believe that when a
believer is baptized in the Holy Spirit that he necessarily will speak in tongues,
though this of course could occur and it would be a blessing if it did, rather
there are times when the baptism of the Holy Spirit might occur in a person’s
life leading him to witness or do something else that is unique as a witness
for Christ
6.
VS 4:32 - “32 And
the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging
to him was his own; but all things were common property to them.” – Again we see the church in
6.1.
As I mentioned in chapter 2 when we first saw this occurring in the
church, the Lord never commanded all Christians or the church in any other city
to live in this communal type of arrangement.
6.2.
Likewise, it appears that there were some real pressing needs among God’s
people that necessitated this communal type of living
6.3.
This next
section of scripture which continues into the next chapter, begins to deal with
the tremendous fellowship which the early church had amongst themselves.
6.3.1.
Luke writes
that the ‘congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul’. This Greek word for ‘heart’, ‘kardia’, from which we get our word ‘cardiac’,
relates to all of our innermost feelings and emotions.
6.3.2.
The Greek
word used here for ‘soul’, ‘psuche’, relates to the spiritual life that
is within people, as well as the feelings and emotions.
6.3.3.
We saw how in
Acts 2:42 that the church was “continually” devoted to the four things
of: the apostles doctrine, prayer, the
breaking of bread, and “fellowship”.
This Greek word for ‘fellowship’, ‘koinonia’, implies “commonness” as its basis.
6.3.3.1.What the church had in common was that they all knew
the Lord Jesus as their Lord and their savior.
6.3.3.2.They were functioning as one organism, the body of
Christ, and as a result they constantly responded to each person’s needs. This is what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in
1 Cor. 12:26-27, “26 And if one member
suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one
member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are Christ's body,
and individually members of it”.
6.3.3.3.As a result of this bond and this sharing and oneness
amongst them, Luke writes here ‘and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all
things were common property to them’.
6.3.4.
As I
mentioned in chapter 2 of the book of Acts when we first saw the church in
6.3.4.1.As we in the church today are all filled with the Holy
Spirit as was this church, then we too will respond to the needs that anyone in
the body may have, and we will not hold on to any of the things which we
possess, but will bless others who have needs with the resources which we have.
6.3.4.2.No one among the believers of the church in
6.3.4.3.The apostle John wrote that a test of whether or not
we were true Christians is whether or not we truly have God’s “agape”
love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, 1 John 3:14, “14 We
know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.
He who does not love abides in death”. John also wrote in 1 John
4:7,8, “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love
does not know God, for God is love”.
6.3.4.4.Jesus, in His high priestly prayer in John 17 likewise prayed for all
believers, that we would “all be one”.
7.
VS 4:33 - “Acts
4:33 33 And
with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. (NASB)” - The
apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of Christ with ‘great power’
7.1.
Oh, that the church today were to have ‘great power’… We need this great power in order to be used
in the lives of the people of this world in winning them to salvation
7.2.
The apostles
were truly being led by the Lord in all that they were doing, and as a result
Luke writes ‘with great power the apostles were giving witness to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus’.
7.3.
The Lord was
blessing the church in
7.3.1.
It was not human
energy that was accomplishing great feats in the church in
8.
VS 4:34-35 - “Acts 4:34-35 34 For there was not a needy person among them,
for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the
proceeds of the sales, 35 and lay them at the apostles' feet; and they would be
distributed to each, as any had need. (NASB)” -
Every person’s needs were being met in the church in Jerusalem as
everyone was selling all of their possessions and distributing them to anyone
who had needs
8.1.
Luke writes
here that everyone who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the
proceeds to the apostles so that they could distribute them
8.2.
We Christians
must walk in God’s “agape” love.
If we as Christians are truly walking in God’s agape love, we will
respond to those who have needs and in this way our faith will produce works
that please God. This is what James said
in James 2:15-17: “15 If
a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one
of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not
give them what is necessary for their
body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
9.
VS 4:36-37 - “Acts 4:36-37 36 And Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who
was also called Barnabas by the apostles which translated means, Son of
Encouragement, 37
and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it
at the apostles' feet. (NASB)” – We are introduced to a man named Barnabas here
who will later become an important part of the Lord’s missionary work, and he
sold a tract of land and brought the money and gave it to the apostles
9.1.
Barnabas’
name means ‘Son of Encouragement’,
as he was known as an encourager of the church.
What a blessing it is to the church when we are used of the Lord to just
encourage another brother or sister
9.1.1.
Are you known
as being an encourager? We all need to
be encouragers of others. We ought to
try to encourage in the faith all of the people whom the Lord brings into our
life every day!
9.2.
Barnabas
shows his great generosity and encouragement here by selling this tract of land
and bringing the money and laying it before the apostles’ feet.
9.3.
By this act,
Barnabas also shows that he is not living for the things of this world, but for
the things that are eternal.