All right, now turn back to Acts
chapter four. Acts chapter four. In this chapter, we find an account of persecution in the early church. This is the first incident Of
persecution. In the early church first. Episode
of many which. Is to come. Let me just recount
with you. What happened up to this point
we will begin our study in Japan in verse twenty three of chapter
four but as you may remember. As you may remember Back in chapter
three, Peter and John went into the temple, or were going up
to the temple at the hour of prayer, and there was a lame
man who was on the steps of the temple. And while they were walking into
the temple, this lame man asked of them an alms And you remember,
Peter and John made that famous, well-known statement to them,
saying, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give
I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk. And so this man who was lame
from birth was immediately healed, and the scripture says he leaped
up and walked. and stood and praised God, took
hold upon these disciples and was just completely thrilled
by his healing. Needless to say, there was a
large commotion stirred up by this healing, and a large crowd
of people gathered around Peter and John because of this. And Peter and John began to preach
to them as they would normally do whenever they would get a
hearing. They began to preach to the people. They preached Christ. They preached
the Lordship of Christ, the sovereignty of Christ. And some believed. A lot of people
believed. It says 5,000 people were saved. As a result, there was a big
crowd, a large crowd of people here. Five thousand, I believe,
that means there must have been a lot more people there than
that. So needless to say, the Pharisees,
the scribes and the Sadducees, they saw all of this commotion,
and they were very jealous of this crowd that the disciples
had gathered. And so they came to where they
were and they grabbed Peter and John and took them away and put
them in hold somewhere. And then the next day they brought
Peter and John before their little kangaroo court, before their
little council, and tried to frighten them, tried to threaten
them with bodily harm. Telling them that they would
never preach in this name again, never to preach or teach in this
name. They wouldn't mention the name.
They finally did, but never to preach or speak even or teach
in this name, the name of Jesus again. And as we saw last time
we met together, Peter and John didn't have to think about it
very long, what they were going to do, but they spoke up in unison. practically and said, whether
it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God you judge. Are we going to do what you say
or do what God says? There's no decision to be made
really. And he said, because we cannot
but speak the things we've seen and heard. We've seen the glory
of God in the face of Christ Jesus. We've seen his son. We've
heard his voice. We have to. We have to speak
the things we've seen and heard. Well, the Jewish leaders threatened
them again. Are you with me now? I'm giving
you some background here. You've got to stay with me. I'm
telling you the story. I'm telling you what's leading
up to this. I'm not just giving you a few words here and a little
introduction. This is necessary. The Jewish leaders then threatened
them again. These religious leaders threatened
them again and said, just don't preach in that name again. And
they couldn't find any reason to hold them any longer, fear
the people. The people, it says, glorified
God. So they let them go. They turned them loose. All right, that's where we are
to now. They've been let go from this religious council. Now these
religious leaders wanted nothing less than the total extermination
of Christianity. That's what they were after.
That's what they wanted. They didn't want this to spread any
further. They wanted this thing to die
out. But God brings to nothing the counsels of men, doesn't
it? We'll see that so clearly a little later. So verse 23 says
this, and being let go, being let go, they went to their own
company. Now they were let go. Now, these
were not just idle threats that these religious leaders made. If you'll remember, these same
ones had the Lord killed. Right? So they did have great
power. They did have great authority,
and they could do pretty much as they pleased, to whom they
So these were not just idle threats, and these apostles, while they
were bold in the face of their persecutors, I'm certain that
they knew that they were under imminent peril. They were just
men, remember, and I'm sure they knew and felt a sense of imminent
peril that was going to come upon them. And they would ask
them they were asking themselves I'm sure what are we going to
do now. We've been threatened and if we go out and preach surely
more harm or real harm will come upon us. What will we do now. What will we do. Well today. Today the church is under some
amount of persecution. Not anything like it was then.
That's not to say that it won't be someday. But it is under some
persecution, and today our liberal world or worldly religion and
our liberal governments, we've never had a more liberal government
than what we have now, I believe truly deep down would want nothing
more than the total extermination of the truth as we preach it.
I'm certain of that. I'm certain of that. Now. What are they going to do what
are these disciples going to do. What are they going to do
and what shall we do what shall we do in our day. Well we need
to do the same thing as this early church did. Now let me
if you'll let me do this just for a moment let me tell you
what they didn't do. All right now they were under.
They were under threat, and they were under imminent peril. They
were under danger. What did they do? Well, here's
what they did not do. Number one, they did not rethink
their methods. They did not stop and think,
well, maybe our methods are all wrong. Maybe we're suffering
this persecution. Maybe we're under this danger
because we've been too bold. Maybe that's it. We've been too
dogmatic. We've been too forward. We've
not been diplomatic enough. Perhaps we need to be a little
more tasteful, a little more tactful. Maybe we should gradually
present the message and not be so forward with it. Not come
out so strong, so forward, so dogmatic. No, they didn't do
that for a minute, did they? They didn't stop and rethink
their methods. Nor did they rethink their message.
They didn't rethink their message. They didn't stop and say, no,
this resurrection thing, this is what's bothering these Sadducees.
Sadducees did not like to hear the resurrection, and that was
the main point that the Apostles preached throughout the book
of Acts. And they did not stop and say, well, this resurrection
message, maybe we could pare the corners of that a little
bit. Maybe we can tone it down a little bit. Let's not speak
so matter-of-factly about the resurrection. Let's don't speak
so emphatically about Jesus Christ rising from the grave and now
seated at the right hand of the Father and reigning as Lord over
all. Let's not be so dogmatic and
so emphatic about it. Let's slip it up on them. Let's
change our methods. Let's change our message. No,
they didn't do that, did they? They didn't do that. And they
didn't call in some worldly advisors. Now, these are the things they
do today, people. This is what's going on today in the so-called
church. They didn't call in some worldly
advisors, some psychologists, some human relation experts,
to drum up some gimmicks. Well, maybe we haven't got the
right gimmicks or schemes or plans to get a hearing. We need
to know, we need to learn. We're just, we're just base fishermen. We need to learn a little bit
about how to win friends and influence people. We just haven't
handled this thing very well. No, they didn't do that for a
minute. Well, what did they do? What did they do? Look at verse
23. It says, they being let go, they went to their own company,
first of all. They went to the local church. You say, is that
important? Yes, it is. They went to the
local church. They didn't call a conference
or a meeting of church leaders and apostles and preachers. They didn't call a meeting of
preachers and apostles. They went to the local church.
Why is that? Because the problems were facing the church. And the
problems are not just problems for preachers and pastors, but
everybody's problem. The problems in the church are
not just my problems. This is not my church. It's not
my church. These problems are our problems.
Whatever comes upon us in this congregation is our problem,
not my problem. So I don't get out and call Don
Fortner here and say, what are we going to do? This is our church,
our little local assembly. Let me ask you to put it a little
more where you can understand where I'm coming from. We need
to be alarmed about the state of our church. This church, that
state of our community. Our place in it. We need to be
alarmed about the state of this church. No, are you? Are you concerned about the state
of our church? The state of our children? Are
you? I say our children, I mean everybody
else's children, not just your own. These are our children.
We're a little family here. Are we alarmed? Are we concerned
about the state of our children? Do you have a burden for the
word preached here, for the word preached in our community? You
see what I'm getting at? This is our church. This is our church. Do you have
a burden for the Word, that it be preached here, that it continues
here? Some of you with small children, do you have a burden
that when you're old, that there still be a gospel church here
for your children to attend, for their children to attend?
Do you? You see? These problems are our problem,
not just my problem. And let me add this. That burden,
whatever burden you may have, that burden is indicated by Your
burden for this church for the word is indicated by your prayers
do you pray for this church do you pray for this preacher do
you pray for these people do you pray for our children. This is a very vital point I'm
making you. This burden you have is indicated
by your prayers it's indicated by your faithful attendance you
coming here on faithfully. is an indication of your burden
for this place, right? Saying that I've got to have
this place, my children, bring in your children here is an indication
you have a burden for their souls. Some people don't bother. It
causes me to wonder, do they believe the gospel? Do they believe
that their children must hear this gospel to be saved? Evidently
not. They've had them here. Your burden
for this church, for the Word, is indicated by what you give
to this ministry. by your committal to it, by your
submission to them that have the rule over you here. Right? I had an article in our bulletin
one time that asked this question, a very frank question. Someone
else wrote it. And it said, in so many words,
it said, if everyone gave like I gave, if everyone attended
like I attended, if everyone served as I served, would there
even be a church left here? Well, it says the disciples went
back to their own company, because this was a problem that was affecting
the Church, not just the apostles. And it says in verse 23, they
went back to their own company and reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them. And when they, or the Church,
heard that, It says they lifted up their
voice to God with one accord. What did they do? They prayed. They prayed. They prayed to God. They called on God. There's nothing
else to do, really, but call on God. Nothing to do. Now, remember,
this was a group of common folk. The religious leaders themselves,
it says that they perceived they were unlearned and ignorant men.
These were common people, ignorant, unlearned, they didn't have much
money. This group, this was a, my pastor preached a message
one time entitled, The King and His Motley Crew. A bunch of fishermen, and then
the church was made up of former harlots, publicans, thieves,
fishermen. This wasn't the community's finest. They didn't have much money.
They didn't have much influence. They didn't have much power to
wield in their society, did they? So what are they going to do?
Who are they going to go to? Who are they going to appeal
to? There's only one place to turn. Turn to God. So they prayed. Well, how did they pray? Now,
listen very carefully. How did they pray? This is a
model prayer. This is a model prayer for us
in all circumstances. This prayer can be prayed under
any circumstance. It should be. It should be. This is a model prayer. Now look
at it with me. Let's look at it together. Verse
twenty-four, it says, And when they heard that, When the Church
heard of the threats and the imminent peril and persecution
that was going to come upon them, they lifted up their voice to
God with one accord, one mind, one heart, one soul, one spirit,
and said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth
and the sea and all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant
David hath 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 quoted Psalm 2 to the Lord. Lord, thou art God. And they
went on to quote Psalm 2. Now, they did not rush into God's
presence. Now, they heard about this trouble.
and persecution, but they did not rush into God's presence.
They did not pray this prayer hurriedly or excitedly, or I
don't believe they prayed it worriedly, but I believe they
prayed it calmly, confidently. And what they did in the course
of this prayer was magnify God's name. Magnified God's name. Now this
is important. Stay with me. This is vitally
important in prayer. This is the way we're to start
every prayer. We don't start with ourselves
and with our problems. We don't start praying with ourselves
and with our problems. You can just about forget being
heard, if that's the case. We've got to start, as you start
everywhere, start with God. You've got to start, you've got
to remember who it is you're addressing. You don't rush into
his presence. You don't hurriedly rush into
his presence. You have to remember who you
are addressing. Before there are petitions to
be made, there's praise to be given. Right? Before we make our petitions
or requests, there must be worship. Right? Why should we think he
would grant anything else, if we don't thank him and praise
him for what he's done to us previously? There must be worship
before we bring our petitions. Let me give you an illustration
of this. Suppose there's a man who has suffered a wrong, who
has a grievance that he wants to complain about. And he is, for some reason, granted
an audience with the president. and he goes to the White House,
and the President's chief of staff says, OK, you may go in. Your appointment is now. You
may go in and speak with the President. He's right behind
that door. Go on in. You'd think the man would bust
open the door and run in there and say, Bill, I've got a problem
here. I've just been suffered all this wrong, and these people
are after me. Aren't you going to do something
about this? Would he do that? No. The president may say, guards,
get this man. Who does he think he is, rushing
in here like this? There must be first some respect
shown, some dignity for the office that he enters, for the person
that he is addressing. Right? Mr. President, sir, you're
a very important man. You're a very busy man. You're
a great man. You're a powerful man. Now, this
is some psychology he could be using. You're a powerful man.
You're a great man. You're the most powerful man
in the United States. Whatever you say, you can do. Now, I've
got a problem. I've got a problem. But there
must be first, when we enter into God's presence, we don't
rush into his presence hurriedly or without considering whose
presence we're in. And then we first begin with
praise and worship. and exaltation. We start praying,
and this is the way we start praying always, always. We start
praying of God's greatness, of God's greatness. If you want
to talk about some good psychology that is used here, talk about
good psychology. Now, this is not psychology used
on God. Don't get me wrong here, but
on us. See, this is psychology used
on us. Reverse psychology used on us,
not on God, because prayer does not change God. It doesn't move
God. No, none of it, God, or all his
works from the beginning. He knows what he's going to do.
He's already decreed it before the world began. And he knows
what things you need before you ask. And he has to send the Holy
Spirit to make you ask. Right? That's what he said in
Ezekiel thirty-six is I will I will I will and then he says
and and I will yet be inquired of for this thing they're going
to ask me for this is what I'm going to do and this is what
they're going to do they're going to ask me for and I'm going to
grant it they're going to give me the price for. But prayer doesn't change God,
nor does it impress God, really. No, not at all. But it changes
us, it changes our minds, and it impresses us sometimes with
something we weren't impressed with prior to the time we started
praying. You follow me? See, we start
with, Lord, thou art God. We got a problem? Huh? We got a real problem, serious
problem? We all got problems. Well, we start praying. We go
to God. Where are we going to go with our problem? We're not
going to seek worldly counsel, this, that, and the other. We're
going to seek God's face, God's help. We're going to look under
the hills from which cometh our help. All right? And then we
call upon God and we start like this, Lord, you're God. And immediately,
when we think about that, we say, I forgot all about that. He is God, isn't he? Well, and
then your worry starts to leave right there. You understand?
You've got a real problem. Oh, I've got a real problem.
Lord, you're God. Well, if he's God, why am I so
worried? Yeah, yeah, that's right, you're
God. And anxious care and trivial
concerns kind of fade away. The more you keep saying, you're
God, you're in control, you're sovereign, you do all things,
you work all things under the counsel of your own, under the
word of your... What was my problem there? Oh,
it wasn't that. You're God. You're God. Well, look at, read on with me.
It says they plead, verse 28, it says, You do whatsoever your
hand and your counsel determined before to be done. Verse 27,
"...of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, for the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done." They recognized
God's fulfilled prophecy from Psalm 2. They said, Lord, you
promised it, and this is exactly what has happened. They plead
God's purpose, God's wisdom, God's power, God's Christ. And I can't help but think that
their trials and their troubles are beginning to fade right then
and there, realizing that. What they're saying is, Lord,
this is all your doings. All of these goings-ons are your
doings. You're And you do whatever your
hand and counsel determine for to be done. This is all according
to your determined counsel and foreknowledge. As evil and wicked
and hopeless as this may seem to us, you brought it. You're
Lord, you're God. And even as it seems so evil
and wicked and hopeless when your son came down here to die,
even though it appeared that men were doing as they will and
that he was helpless in their hands, you sent him down here
for a purpose. And we can't help but think that
everything is on purpose. Everything's on purpose. And
we know you sent your son down here for a purpose. According
to your decrees, your divine, your eternal decrees, you sent
your Son down here for your glory and for our salvation. And we
can't help but think that what's coming on us right now is for
your glory and for our salvation. Boy, they're feeling better all
the time. All the time. All the time. Now, and we've
got to realize this. We've got to realize that whatever
and this is this is a companion message to Sunday mornings on
Romans eight twenty eight. Just like it. I can't help but
think the Lord providentially brought this back to reaffirm
this thing reconfirm these things in your own heart and mind. We've
got to realize that whatever affects us. Now listen to me
now. We hadn't got a problem like this early church had. Really
now. Come on. Come on. We haven't faced a problem
like that. We might. Someday. We've got
to start learning. Now, this was the first incident
of their persecution, and they had not yet been beaten or persecuted
as roughly as they will be. But this is how they start praying,
and this is how we've got to start learning to pray. We've
got to realize that whatever affects us and concerns us It's
not really our concern or our problem at all, but it's God's.
I wish I could realize this concerning the church. I wish I could realize
this is not my church. Why am I so upset? Just get down
there and sit and get your message and come on up here and preach
it, pray about it, and then go on
and prepare another one. I wish I could learn that. It's
just Christ's church. he's going to have here, who
he intends to have here, he's suffering. This is his church,
they're his problems, not mine, not mine. And God Almighty has
undertaken everything on our behalf, everything on our behalf. He's covenanted to do everything
for and concerning us. This is the reason Jesus Christ
came to the earth, to do everything for us, okay? He came down here
to save us, to provide for us, to protect us, to lead, to guide,
to vindicate us. It's not our problem, really.
It's His. Why am I worried? And He brings
everything to pass according to an all-wise purpose. And really,
we are insignificant in this whole scheme of things. We are really insignificant.
Do you think that these religious leaders cared very much about
Peter and John. I doubt very seriously that they
knew who Peter and John were at this point. Two old fishermen? They might have gone down to
the wharf and got a few cod from them one day, but they had long
since forgotten these men. These men were of any importance
to this religious council. Who was this religious council
fighting against? Who was the society for fighting
against? God. You know what God said? It's not you they hate, it's
me. It's not you they're fighting against, it's me. And it's really
not them, it's who's behind them. See, this thing's not flesh and
blood here. It's principalities and power.
We're pawns in the game. That's it. And do I need to remind you who
is the principal one? Who is the all-powerful one?
Who will win? Who has won? But really, and this is what
the apostles are saying, Lord, this is your fight. This is your
problem. This is your church. You loved
us. You chose us. You bought us. You brought us.
You brought us through this. You're bringing this upon us.
Take care of it. Take care of it. And their problems
are flying out the window. This is your church. Now, notice
this. What did they ask for themselves?
This is a blessing. This is good here. This is very,
very profitable here. What did they ask for themselves? Did they ask for peace? Lord,
we need peace. We don't want to fight. We need
peace. Lord, we need protection. They're going to hurt us. We
need some protection. Lord, we need safety. Lord, we
need vindication. Why, they're maligning us all
over. They're calling us liars and so forth. Lord, we need a
hearing. I can't help but think that they
thought down lower where he said the Lord shall have them in derision.
Lord, behold, they're threatening. They're threatening you. That's
funny, isn't it? Well, Lord, behold, they're threatening.
And grant, look at what they asked for themselves, grant unto
thy servants that with all boldness we may speak the word. They didn't ask for anything
for themselves, but let us be a little more bold. Let's be
a little more courageous. Delivered us from cowardice.
We don't need anything. We've got food and arraignment.
We're content. Let's go out with it. Don't let
their threatenings bother us. You reckon the Lord will grant
this? Did he? This sounds to me like the prayers
of their Lord. He never asked for anything for
his own sake, did he? He asked for strength. Time in
the garden, if it be possible, I'm going to die under this very
cup right here, this burden. Give me strength." And the Lord
gave him strength, and he set his face like a plant. Courage,
strength toward Jerusalem. Thank you, Lord, for the strength.
Here I go. Now, this is what it means to
pray in God's will. You've been listening to what
I've been saying. I've just been preaching, I've
been telling you something about prayer. This is what it means
to pray in God's will. When John said it, now we know
that he hear us whatsoever we ask. How? Well, this is the confidence
we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will,
he heareth us. Huh? This is what it means to
pray in God's will. To pray in God's will is to pray
with a mind to his will. Thy will be done. I don't know
what's best. If I was left up to my will,
I'd have it this way. I don't want that. I don't know.
You know thy will be done with a mind to God's will, God's purpose. Lord, I want your purpose to
be. If you slay me, I want to trust your purpose. Thy will
be done with a mind to be in God's will. Lord, let me be in
your will. Let me be in your service. Let me be in your kingdom.
The apostles came back, we're going to see that in chapter
five, how they came back from being beaten within an inch of
their lives. Came back rejoicing. Our Lord went through this. Think
of that, that he would honor us in such a manner as to put
us through what he went through. Praise the Lord. Doesn't this make you hang your
head in shame about your own pitiful life? You know, maybe,
listen, maybe if we quit moaning and groaning and complaining,
if the children of Israel had just quit moaning and groaning
and complaining and started thinking about their manifold blessings,
if we quit moaning and groaning and complaining and worrying
about our petty problems and selfish interests, If we quit
worrying about our petty problems and selfish interests and started
seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, his
glory, his honor, the fragrance of his gospel, that we may be
in his use, in his service, then all these things will be added
unto us. We ought to be mindful of them. They just keep rolling
in. or else our problems will cease
to be such big problems. He said, exercise a little bit
of faith and mountainous problems will be removed, cast into the
sea. Forget all about them. How did our Lord tell us to pray
anyway? Huh? Our Father which art in heaven.
Oh, help me, I'm such a, help me, help me, help me. No, that's
not how. Our Father which art in heaven.
What? Hallowed be thy name. What else? Thy kingdom What else? Thy will be done on earth, in
me, in my life, as it is in heaven. And then, and only then, do you
ask for protection. And then what do you ask for?
Oh, I need some bread. And I need forgiveness. I'm a
sinner. I need forgiveness. Amen. Now he ends it up by saying,
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. That's it. That's it. You see, worship and praise is
where we begin. Then our problems pretty much
fade into insignificance, realizing he's Lord over our problems and
he's going to take care of them. He brought them, he'll take care
of them. Maybe he brought them for us
to acknowledge that he brought them. You ever wondered about
this? Sometimes I wonder, things happen,
and I say, why did this happen? And then I have my answer. To
make me stop and think, God sent it. He may not ever give me an
answer. But just to make me stop, it
says the wicked people did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
Do you remember that? God was not in all their thoughts.
Do you remember that? God was not in all their thoughts,
meaning He was not in any of their thoughts. God needs to
be in all our thoughts, in everything, with praise and thanksgiving. Then let your request be made.
You see how God needs to be in all our thoughts. Why did this
happen? We may not have an immediate answer, but we, oh, it's the
Lord. Right? It's the Lord. That's
good enough. Good enough. He sent it, he'll
handle it. It's that girl. Well, look at it. It says in
verse 30, "...so, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant
unto thy servants with all boldness they may speak thy word, and
stretch forth thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may
be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus." Lord, stretch forth
your hand. This is our greatest need, isn't
it? Touch us. Lord, move. Lord, act. Lord,
speak in power. Save. Reveal. Teach. Lead. Conform us to Christ. Put your hand on us. Touch me. Do it all in the name or by virtue
of your son's death, burial, and resurrection, thy holy child,
Jesus." Verse 31, and here was the answer. There was no audible
voice, but this is what happened. Verse 31, And when they had prayed,
the place was shaken. Literally. It really happened. It really happened, literally.
The whole place was shaken. And I can't help but think that
perhaps this was as if God, God being pleased with their prayer, pleased with their prayer, God
pleased with a prayer? He is if you just keep praising
him, quoting his word. Oh, yes. We know not what things we should
ask for, right? Well, if we quote his word, that's
good enough. That's in his will. And this
is as if the whole building shook, and it was as if God being pleased
with their prayer and their mention of his power and his authority,
it's as if God was saying, Yes, that's right. I am God. I'm your
God. I am in control. Here's a little
proof. I'm God. Don't worry about a
thing. God gave me a little proof. A
little proof. A building shook. Here's a sample
of my power. Y'all don't need to worry about
that little council over there. Well, I can have them fumbling
in their boots from just a black blast from my nostrils. And would to God he'd shake this
place. You don't have to do it literally. I just wish you'd
do it spiritually. Don't you? I wish you'd shake
me up. Peter said, I'm going to stir you up. Stir you up. Would God stir me up? Do a little
preaching. Once in my life, once in my life,
I'd like to do a little preaching for God's glory. And somebody,
God Almighty, do something through it. Actually touch somebody's
heart. Actually see the power of God.
the preaching of the gospel and place it upon somebody's heart
and change them. I'd love to see that before I
die. Would the God he'd shake us all
up out of our lethargy and our sleep and our indifference and
our lukewarmness and our apathy? Would the God he'd shake our
children down to their little souls? Huh? I preach as a man who may never
preach again. Preaches a dying man to dying
men, right? Is that just a good saying, or
is that true? It's true. With the God, he'd
shake me, shake you, shake this place. And it says here in verse
31, when they prayed and the place was shaken, they were assembled
together. And it says they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and God answered their prayer. They spoke the word of God with
boldness. This is the filling of the Holy
Spirit. It says they all spake the word
of God with boldness. They prayed that the word might
be spoken with boldness, and they heard some powerful preaching
that day. They prayed, Lord, Lord your God, move, move. And they heard a powerful message,
and it touched their hearts. And the people were filled with
and taken up with God's Word, God's gospel, enamored with and
speaking to one another of the Word, speaking to one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody, making
music to one another. Huh? You like to see that? We've
seen a touch of it here, a taste of it there. The Spirit of God
moving in our midst of service. It doesn't seem to last too long,
does it? I'd like to see one where nobody wanted to leave
this place. just absolutely thrilled with
the gospel, with God's goodness. It says in verse 32, and I'll
hurry, "...and a multitude of them that believed were one heart
and one soul. Neither said any of them that
all of the things which they possessed was his own, but they
had all things in common. They were of one heart and one
soul, one Lord, one faith, one baptism." When the Holy Spirit
fills men and women, he fills them with Christ. When the Holy
Spirit fills somebody up, he doesn't make them talk incoherently,
but he makes them talk very intelligibly and very plainly about Jesus
Christ and him crucified. He doesn't make someone and act
like they're out of their minds. He puts them in the right mind.
He gives them the mind of Christ. When the Holy Spirit fills somebody,
he fills them with Christ, with a sight of his glory. his glory. And when he unites
the hearts of the people, he unites them with one common objective. When the Holy Spirit fills a
people, he unites them in one common objective, and that is
to know Christ, win Christ, be found in him, glorify him, speak
of him, serve him, and be like him. That's the filling of the
Holy Spirit. A Spirit-filled man is a Christ-filled
man. And it says, neither said they
that anything was their own. They didn't say that anything
really belonged to them. They said the Lord gave it. Why
should I consider it my own or withhold it from other people?
Here, brother, you need this. Here, take it. And it says they
had all things common, not communal. They didn't live communally.
It didn't say they sold their homes and all lived in one. It
didn't say that at all. But it says whenever there was
a need, a man sold a piece of ground or whatever. and met the
need, doled out equally, and with great power gave the apostles
witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace
was upon them all." That's what we need in it. This
is a grace church. This is a grace church. We preach,
we believe, sovereign grace. Well, we need great grace. We're
a needy people. We need great grace to be upon
us at all times, every time we meet together. And we need God's
grace upon this congregation from here on out. Lord, thou
art God. You got a problem? Hmm? You got a problem? Or go to the
one who brought it. Go to the one who sends them.
And then plead with him just as the early church did. Same
way. Lord, you're God. You're my God. I'm your servant. I don't know what's mine, but
you do. Lord, here's what I need, really. Great grace. I need great faith. I need a little more courage.
I just need a little faith. Lord, I don't need you to, I
don't need more of this, more of that, this and that and the
other. I just need a little faith. I ain't got much of that. Let's
start there. Huh? Let's start there. Just
give me a little faith. Just give me my mustard seed.
And then this mountain will melt into a molehill. All right, stand
with me. Heavenly Father, we praise and
exalt and glorify your holy name. Lord, thou art God, who has made
heaven and the earth and the seas and all that is in them. You made us and put us upon this
earth, and we believe you have chosen
us, elected us before the foundation of the world, set your love upon
us, decreed predestined, determined, all things that have come to
pass in our lives, everything works together for our good,
our eternal good, according to that all-wise, immutable purpose
of yours. Lord God, impress us with this. Plant this blessed truth which
will give us peace and comfort, courage, boldness, strength. imprinted indelibly on our hearts
and minds that we might not fear man, but rather God. And praise Thee as we ought.
Serve Thee as we ought. In the name of Your holy child,
Jesus, Your blessed Son, our Lord and Savior, we pray and
admit together. Amen. All right.