The Movement Prays
Listen:
Do you know our church’s vision statement? Do you as members of this church know by heart and mind and soul what we want to be?
Our Vision Statement
“A dynamic growing church of transformed believers passionate for God.”
Has there been a church like that? Yes. Well, the first church in Jerusalem was just like that. They enjoyed the miraculous display of the presence and power of God through the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. They saw souls saved in abundance. They were living in a day when the extraordinary was the order of the day. Imagine how dynamic and growing they were that on their inauguration day 3,000 got saved and were baptized at one service.
Acts 2:41
"Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
Acts 2:46-47
(46) Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, (47) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Then as we come to Acts chapter 3. Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer, 3p m. Now a man who was lame from birth was there at the temple gate called Beautiful and was begging. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I have none, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:1-6)
Then this healed man walked and jumped, and praised God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:8-10)
This then gave Peter another opportunity to speak out to the amazed crowd. Again, Peter preached the same sermon in Acts, presenting Jesus Christ to them as the Messiah whom they crucified, but rose from the grave.
Acts 3:19
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,”
And guess what happened:
Acts 4:4
“…many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.”
Imagine being part of a church where the extraordinary is normal and miracles are a part of everyday life.
They are increasing on a daily basis. They don’t have an organization. They don’t have structure. They don’t have a building. So they’re still gathering in the temple courts. They pose an imminent threat to the system of Judaism.
And that’s where we come to Acts 4 when the growing movement is now in clash with the religious leaders. The persecution of the church started here in Acts 4.
Acts 4:1-2
(1) The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. (2) They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
It was really the miracle of that lame beggar that sparked this persecution because it added to the credibility that Jesus was alive, because when Jesus was alive, He was a healer. He was a miracle worker. Now, He was still alive, and He was transmitting His power through the apostles.
To stop them, they seized them and threw them in prison and then brought them before the Sanhedrin for trial. At this trial, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the Gospel to them (v.8).
Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
The Sanhedrin then issued an order forbidding them from preaching the Name of Jesus any longer and let them leave. (Acts 4:18)
Acts 4:19-20
But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
When that meeting was over, the two disciples returned to the place where the church was gathered, no doubt praying, for their leaders. When John and Peter told these folks what had transpired, instead of being upset and fearful, a prayer meeting broke out.
I would like for us to look in on the events of that day and see how these people conducted themselves in the midst of persecution. As we see them respond to this situation, we are given a glimpse into their heart and we can see why the hand of the Lord was so active in their midst.
I would also like for us to understand that what the Lord did then, He can still do today in His church! Amen? Let’s notice some truths about the prayer of the first church and how the Holy Spirit is poured out in them as a result of this prayer.
Five Reasons that this particular prayer is relevant to us today:
I. The Requester of the Prayer
This answers the question: Who is praying?
Acts 4:23
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people
and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
Notice that Luke does not say they went to "the other apostles." He says they went to "their own people,” Gk. Idios. The word is used like this one other time in Acts, namely, in Acts 24:23 where it says that Felix commanded that none of Paul's friends [i.e., his own] should be prevented from attending to his needs. It is the same word used in John 1:11—"Jesus came to his own and his own received him not." It simply means family, friends, close associates, neighbors, etc.
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, not just the apostles, that pray for God to give boldness and to heal and to do signs and wonders. So the prayer is relevant because of who prayed it—people like you and me.
II. The Reason for the Prayer
This answers the question: Why? Why did they pray such prayer? What was the situation that calls for this kind of prayer?
Acts 4:23-24
(23) On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. (24) When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
In other words, Peter and John had told them about the threats mentioned in verses 18 and 21. In verse 18 the priests and elders “commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." In verse 21 they threaten them further.
So the reason for this prayer is very dangerous threats against the preaching of God's Word in the name of Jesus. There were extraordinary obstacles in the way of the spread of Jesus' name. This is why the church is so urgent in its prayer. They do not assume that they can keep on and advance in effective ministry without a fresh filling of the Spirit. Fear could paralyze them at any moment.
The Obstacles and Dangers We Face Today
We face tremendous obstacles too. Persecution of Christians is a way of life in many countries of the world. In our country persecution is increasing and freedoms are narrowing, as the secular relativists feel more and more threatened by our message that there is one way to God and one set of commandments valid for all.
But even short of persecution, the obstacles we face making Christ known are great—with the anonymity of neighborhoods created by mobility; the entertainment industry that keeps people saturated with the world and numb to spiritual things; a thoroughly God-ignoring culture; a medical technology so advanced and so available that people seldom think of resorting to God for help; on top of all this the relative weakness of the church very enmeshed in the values of the world they are supposed to confront with a radically different Christ.
If the early Christians, with their first-hand experience of the risen Christ and their immediate access to apostles and eye-witnesses, needed to seek a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to carry on in their situation, how much more us today.
III. The Recipient of the Prayer
This answers the question: to Whom did they pray to?
Acts 4:24-28
(24) “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. (25) You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? (26) The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against His anointed one.’
(27) Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. (28) They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
It is remarkable that these Christians take five verses to tell God who He is, and two verses to ask what they want from Him!
Now God does not need to be told who He is. But Christians need to know who He is—and precisely in their prayers they need to know and confess that He is the kind of God who can and will answer their prayers.
In essence what they are doing in verses 24–28 is hallowing God's name before they pray, "Thy kingdom come.” They identify God in two ways.
First, they say He is the Creator of all things. Verse 24: “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” So they appeal to Him as the Creator of all. They know that if God created everything in earth, sea, and heaven, then these elders and priests are His property and He can do with them as He pleases.
Second, they say that God is the one who is sovereign over all, including the deeds of evil men. He puts to nothing the rage of the Gentiles and empties the plots of His enemies. They say this by quoting Psalm 2 in verses 25–26, and then by showing that the Psalm was fulfilled in the way God was in control when evil men killed Jesus (v.27-28).
In other words, just like the psalm says, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” (v. 25). Their rage comes to nothing and their plan is empty, because God rules even over the sinful deeds of men and causes them to backfire—Jesus is risen and the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
All their rage and all their scheme has turned back on their own head.
The Importance of Right Doctrines and Theology
Now remember all this is a prayer! All this is prelude to asking for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Here is what this makes this relevant for our praying today.
Many would tell us that doctrine and theology are not important if you can have the power of the Holy Spirit. But these early Christians knew better. For them the doctrine of creation, the doctrine of inspired Scripture (v. 25), the doctrine of God's sovereignty even over the voluntary acts of sinful people, a knowledge of Old Testament prophecy—these things were essential. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. He is not indifferent to bad doctrine in the mind when He comes to fill the heart. If we want His fullness, we will do well to fill our minds with the truth He has revealed about God in Scripture. Then we will pray more like the early Christians.
IV. The Request of the Prayer
Acts 4:29-30
“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
IV. The Result of the Prayer
Acts 4:31
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
SOURCE:
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/a-prayer-that-brought-the-holy-spirit-down