I'll probably keep you very long
this morning. We're going to look at verses
23 to verse 31. 23 through 31. The last time that we were in
this passage, just to kind of bring us back up to where we've
been, the council of the Sanhedrin, the elders of Jerusalem, they
gathered together and they pulled in Peter and John because they
were preaching in that name, that name of Christ. And they
didn't like that, so they gathered a council together and pulled
them in off the street. set them among them, or in the
middle of them, in the midst of them, and began to question
them and threaten them. Told them they didn't want to
hear that name of Jesus preached anymore, they needed to cut that
out. Verse 18, they called them, that
is Peter and John, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor
teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answering
in verse 19, said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight
of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, ye judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard. And so when they had further
threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they
might punish them because of the people. For all men glorified
God for that which was done." So this is where we're starting
in verse 23. And once the counsel against
Peter and John released them, now these two men rehearsed the
charges and the threatenings That was the charges that were
laid against them. They rehearsed the story in the ears and the
company of their beloved brethren. And that's where we'll pick up
this short lesson this morning, starting in verse 23. And being
let go, that is Peter and John, they went to their own company
and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto
them. And when they had heard that,
that is Peter and John and all those company where they gathered
together, when they'd heard that, they lifted up their voice to
God with one accord and said, Lord, thou art God which hath
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 rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against his Christ for of a truth against thy holy child
Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius 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 and now Lord behold their threatenings and grant
unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
by stretching forth thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders
may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they
had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together,
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake
the Word of God with boldness." That's where we'll stop. I've just got basically a couple
points this morning. I don't know, there's just something
about this section here. There's nothing like... Nothing
like persecution and trial to kind of huddle everybody together. the little birds, the chicks,
when it starts raining and thundering and lightning, they all, they
huddle around Mama, you know, and she spreads her wings and
she protects them, she cares for them. And it's a similar
situation we have here that the early New Testament church is
undergoing and will undergo here for quite some time, threatenings
and harm and persecution. And when that happens, we need to do like they did.
We need to be like they did. And we do. But my first point
is in verse 23, "...and being let go, they," that is Peter
and John, "...went to their own company, and reported all that
the chief priests and elders had said unto them." They went
to their own company. Oh, the blessed comfort and help
found in the assembly of God's people. Notice that they did
not go home. Notice that they did not seek
justice against their accusers. Notice that they didn't go pursue
lawyers to sue the Sanhedrin. But they went where other believers
were assembled. When I read this, when I started
looking at this, looking this over, that just stuck out in
my mind very Vividly and being let go, they went to their own
company. They went where other believers
were gathered together. Look at Psalms 122. Psalm 122, in verse 1, David
said, I was glad. David, the king. Now, wealthy, of course, did he need
a whole lot of things to entertain him? He probably had everything
he could imagine. You know, king and very wealthy. You know, he could have anybody's
company that he wanted to. You know, he's a celebrity, as
it were. What did he say? He says, I was
glad when they said to me, though he was king in high command,
highly respected, could pick and choose the company
that he was with. He said, I was glad when they said unto me,
let us go into the house of the Lord. Simply put, family members
want to be with other family members which share the kindred
spirit. I know when, and Bruce has said
this many, many times, but I know it is true, when Melinda and
I go on vacation, even when we go to a conference and you meet
other family members, and as wonderful as those are, and I'd
highly recommend any of them, We, you know, my mind is here. I want to be back here. Because
is this home? Well, this is where my job is.
This is where my family is. But this is where my family is. This is where I desire to be. And again, they could have went
home. They could have went to the lawyer's
office, Peter and John. They could have went different
places, but they went as soon as they were let go. They went
to their own company. They went to their own company. We desire to lay everything,
burdens and trials and tribulations at Christ's feet and worship
Him. When you are sick or when you're
in trouble or when you're under great trial, blessed is the assembly
of Christ's children. That is a good refuge. You don't
have to turn there, but I'll read another passage in Psalms
where David, again, he said, Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. When you leave here, and when
we go, you know, the men and the women, when we go to work, The kindred spirit that you have
there might be over secular things of the world. You can talk to
some of your people. I can talk to some of my customers about
the weather. I can talk to some of my customers about various
things, but there's not a kindred spirit. They don't understand
the gospel. Most of the times when you start
talking about religion, as they put it, all of a sudden the walls
go up. but not here. We gather together. There's no pretense. There's
no facade. We don't have to do anything
extra special. We just come in. I love what
Henry Mann said years ago, be yourself, but don't violate the
gospel. We can be ourselves because we
know we're all sinners saved by the grace of God. You know,
what you see is what you get. And these, right after they were
released and threatened, and they haven't been threatened
with physical, haven't gotten physical yet, but it will here soon. But
they went to see, they went with their company. They went in with
those of like mind. Let the world Have its glitter
and gold. David said that he would rather
be a doorkeeper at God's meeting place, God's house, where his
family was than anywhere else. And that's, you can look that
up if you want to in Psalms 84. Hearing his word, fellowshipping
around his table. We have all things common here.
And there have been those that have come in among us. And I
remember one family or one gentleman in particular, you could just
tell when the gospel was preached. What he did, what he told me
is that, what I thought was very interesting, I didn't say anything
to him, but he told me that when he thought I preached a good
message, he'd leave something in the plate. When I didn't,
And he didn't. And the bad thing is when you
tell something like that to me, what I'm going to do is I'm going
to watch you when you leave and see if you put anything in the
plate. But then really what I'm going to do is that's going to,
that is what I'm going to do is I'm going to take the hands
that the Lord has given me to put on the plow and boy, I'm
going to hang on to that plow and I'm going to preach the gospel
boldly and firmly. And then I knew there was problems
and they were with us for at least two years. It seemed like
two years is that magical number. And then I came early one time
by myself and he pulled me aside and he said, what's with this
sovereign grace? Why can't we just be called Grace
Church? Because I knew that he had an
issue. I said, well, what's your issue? Oh, that Christ died just
for his people. Oh, substitution, the blood of
Christ. And then it wasn't too much longer
than he revealed his desire and his aims that he wasn't a family
member and he couldn't take it anymore. So before he made a
big scene, then he left. But my point is, and look at
this, being let go, they went to their own company, reported
all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them, who
else would understand the persecution over the gospel than other believers.
You tell this to... What do you mean persecution?
You know, just get a bus, paint it up with multiple colors, go
around the area, offer ice cream, offer clown shows, offer educational
classes, offer how to train adults and teach adults and how they
raise their children and all this, and you'll get more people.
What do you mean? What do you mean you guys are
persecuted over preaching? Everybody believes the gospel.
Oh, you tell them the gospel. Oh, oh, you're of that way, huh? Who else would understand the
difficulties and trials but those of the same family, the same
household? We hear His Word, we fellowship
again, like I said, around His table, because we have all things
in common, Christ and Him crucified. And then the other people will
say, well, we preach Christ. Well, either Christ is a small
sea, or their Christ is still the baby in the manger who can't
get things done that He wants to get done. And we're going
to see the Christ and the God that we worship, which is found
in their prayer. But that's the first thing, is
they went to their own company. Actually, the charge in the Old
Testament, when the Lord started stirring up the people, is He
said that they were more concerned about their own dwellings, their
own locations, than the house of God. If there was nothing here, if
you all weren't here, there'd be no need for me as far as pastor. I would desire and would seek
to find another place where I could worship. be amongst God's people. There's no substitute. There are some things that we
do to get by, but there really is no perfect substitute. And being here imperfect, even
when we gather together, we bring sin. But the thing is, it's so
beautiful, we all realize that in Christ and through Christ,
We're forgiven and so it makes it easier to forgive one another
but look at the next point I found in the next verse they being
they being let go they went to their own company They reported
all the chief priests and elders had said unto them look at verse
24 and when they had heard that all these people all the brethren
when they were listened to what the charges that were laid against
Peter and John and the message they preach which therefore was
the gospel that they believe and therefore there was the Christ
that they trusted when they heard that They lift up their voice
to God with one accord. There's that There's that phrase
again with one accord with one accord and I look back and I
think it's been used three or four times in And we're only
in the fourth chapter. And again, the beauty of simply
preaching Christ and Him crucified. If I start standing up before
you and talking about politics, we're going to disagree. If I
start talking to you about things of this world, we're going to
disagree. And it's opinion. And it really,
it's not right or wrong. It doesn't matter. But when we
talk about and worship the Christ, one accord. One accord. In one accord and in prayer. These early believers did not
try to get even with those elders. They told the situation, and
when they heard that, the rest of the people, however many there
was, there might have been thousands, because we've had thousands converted,
that's pretty good force. If we had 8,000 people, Not only would we have to find
land and build, but I believe 8,000 voices, we could go every
other Monday to the Jackson City Council. We could get a few things
changed. But the believers, we know that
our struggle and our fights are not with men. When they heard that, they lifted
up their voice to God with one accord. These early brethren
did not, they did not go through the legislature or have referendums
passed to change the political thinking of the day. No, they
were in one accord. They prayed to God Almighty. But before we look at the prayer,
that tells me three things about these believers. It tells me
the same about you and I. when things happen that we don't
agree with or we don't like or whatever happens, it might be,
you pick it, anything in this world, whether it's your job,
whether it's your neighbor, whether it's whatever. But whatever gets
under your skin, as it did here with these brethren, they went,
lifted up their voice to God. This tells me three things about
brethren, believers, and also about you and I, when situations
happen and we go to the Lord in prayer, one, it shows that
they bow to God's sovereign rights over all things. They didn't blame secondary causes.
You know, I've got to watch this. Well, if I only had done this,
that might have happened. If I'd have watched what I did
there, this might have happened. They bowed to God's absolute
sovereign reign over all things. Secondly, faith. Faith in God's
ways and purpose of grace. We're going to trust in Him,
regardless of what this world says or does or thinks about
our gospel or thinks about this building or thinks about the
truth of Christ or thinks about what we think about Christ. We're
going to keep right on in faith, trusting Him. And thirdly, it
shows patience. Oh boy, here we go. Patience
in the will of God in their own lives. This whole building thing, it's
starting to get under my skin. To me, Bruce and I get together
and we're like, why can't people just do their jobs? you know,
or situations at work. I've got, you know, now I'm responsible
for other people. And so you try to get them going
and then you got situations in the office or the warehouse,
wherever it might be that it's just, you know, it's just, you're
just like, why can't people just do their jobs and then things
would go smooth. They were pressed more sore than
what you and I have ever been pressed. and they bowed to the
sovereign prerogatives and rights of God over all things, they
had faith in God's ways and His purpose of grace, and they understood
that God's on the throne and will patiently bear it. They're
going to be patient in the will of God in their own lives. Oh, how we need to continually
be reminded of that. But now, let's look at, with
one accord, let's look at this prayer. Verse 24, and they heard
that they lift up their voice to God with one accord and said,
first thing out of their mouth, Lord, thou art God. Capital G. Thou art God. You are over all situations and
every circumstance in every single minute event upon this earth. God. God. Thou art God which hath made
heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is. Even those elders, even those
scribes, even those Sadducees who hate us, hate our ministers,
hate our pastors, hate our preachers, hate us and what we stand for.
You're God over all. Now that will produce peace. And sometimes we need to, whether
it's here or whether when we're studying the word on our own
or reading the word or whether we're listening to our spouse
who has a good word in due season, we have to be reminded of that.
Just back off and realize he's on the throne. I mean, it's a
one accord. God. thou art Lord, thou art
God. And then they go right on, 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 rulers were gathered together against the
Lord, and against his Christ. For a truth against thy holy
child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together.
They saw that all scripture, because they quoted David, they
saw that thou art God, the only God, and they also saw secondly
when they were praying that all scripture is sure and steadfast
and will always honor God. Not only did they pray to God,
But they quoted his book, the sure word of the testament of
his grace. This didn't happen in a corner.
It didn't come up and creep up on God. He already said what
was going to happen. Now, as crazy as this world is about prophets and prophetesses and
Paul readers and all that. What do people want to know?
They want to know how it's going to end. How are things going
to happen to me? Call the psychic hotline. You
know how? I'll tell you how it's going
to end. Our struggles are just like theirs.
They're no different than us. They just lived thousands of
years ago. They believe the same Christ, the same Gospel, and
the same Sovereign Lord, and they knew their shortcomings
and weaknesses, but they went to God instead of to the secondary
cause, and then they also went to the Scriptures. Oh, bless God for His Holy Word. And then in verse, they said,
four to do. for to do, verse 29, whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determine before it be done." You remember
that guy that was cursing David as David was running for his
life from, I believe it was Absalom, and he was walking, and one of
the anti-David, one of the anti-king's men, he picked up a rock and
he was throwing them at David. Now, you talk about humiliating.
And one of David's main soldiers, one of his right-hand men, said,
do you want me to go over there and just take his head, just
chop his head off? We could do it. There's one guy,
a little punk, throwing rocks at our king, who's in exile,
running for his life. And David could have said, yeah,
you just, we'll get even. He had a little bit of power
that day, that minute, and he said, leave him alone. God basically
told him to do that. He saw that God was on the throne,
submitted to that, just as these brethren are, 8,000 strong. No, Lord, you're God. But they
did need help. And verse 29, the third thing
is they're asking for God to protect them. And now, Lord,
behold their threatenings. Behold their threatenings. They
are threatening. They don't like us. They hate us. They want us
snuffed out. Behold their threatenings. Protect us. Give us grace to
deal with the situation. But specifically, give us grace
and protection, but to do certain things. And grant unto thy servants,
those pastors, those preachers, all of those who love you and
worship you, that with all boldness they, that is Peter, specifically
they're praying for Peter and John, for those who were bringing
the message, that they, but all believers, but with all boldness
they may speak thy word. Pray for me and I pray for you. When you come in contact with
family and friends and neighbors and those who do not care for
this gospel, that God would protect you. God would give you grace
to see He's on the throne. God would give you grace to see
that this book is your comfort and your refuge and your help.
That God would give you boldness and give me boldness to preach
Word look at what he says specifically That with all boldness they may
speak Thy word by stretching forth thy hand to heal and that
signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child
Jesus God protect us God give us boldness, but specifically
caught God calls us to preach your word in boldness not Drew's
opinion not other men's opinions, not what the leading scholars
suggest, not what is socially correct, but Christ and Him crucified
and risen indeed. And may it all be done in His
name, for His name, and to the glory of His name. Now we close in verse 31. When God initiates prayer, God will answer prayer and fulfill
His promise to His people. Look at verse 31, And when they
had prayed, Not that that could change God or move God or whatever
phrase the Armenians and those who believe in works and believe
in that your will or my will is more powerful than God. No,
God had initiated all this as he does his believer. He begins
to stir us up through the spirit of grace and supplication. But
God initiates this prayer in their hearts. And when they had
prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together,
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake
the Word of God with boldness. They didn't speak gibberish.
They didn't fall on the floor and shake around. The preacher
didn't walk around and touch you in the forehead and knock
you out. Boldness to preach the Word. Preach the Word. Again, not my
opinion, not what other men's opinions are, or the leading
scholars, but Christ and Him crucified. God-initiated prayer
will lead to God-answered and fulfilled prayer. If God is in
it, none can be against it, or detour His providential dealings
with the sons and daughters of men. He will be honored and He
will be glorified. In closing, let's look at two
passages. Job 34. I've always liked this passage. Job 34 and verse 29. Job 34,
look at verse 29. When he, that's God, when God
gives quietness, who then could make trouble? And when he hides his face, who
then can behold him, whether it be done against a nation or
against a man only, whether he's dealing with one person in your
life or a whole nation? And He'll do as He pleases. And then lastly, Romans 8. Romans 8 and verse 31. I'm familiar with this one. What shall we then say to these
things if God before us Who can be against us? That was their
attitude. And they're getting ready to
cut loose. They don't care who's in their way. They don't care
if the Sanhedrin, they don't care
if it's Caesar, they don't care if it's Herod, Pontius Pilate,
governors, rulers, kings, kingdoms. If God be for us, who can be
against us? May we be of one accord one purpose
and one desire to honor and glorify Christ in our midst and He'll
add daily such as should be saved and He'll grow us daily in His
good wisdom and His good grace. John, would you close us please?