Acts chapter 4 verse 1 is where we'll begin and as they spaken to the people of the priests and the captain of the temple the Sadducees came upon them being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and they laid hands on them and put them in hold
until the next day for it was now even tied. How be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about 5,000 and it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders inscribed and anast the hypriest, the chiafus and John and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the hypriest were gathered together at Jerusalem and when they had set them in the midst they asked by what power or by what name have
you done this and Peter filled with the Holy Ghost and said to them, you rulers of the people and elders of Israel if we this day be examined of a good deed done to the impotent man by what means he has made whole be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead even by him that this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was
set at not a few builders which has become the head of the corner. Neither is their salvation and any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus and beholding the man which was healed standing with them they could say nothing against it.
On this past weekend services we covered verses 1 through 14 and what a story and really this this this chapter I think kind of breaks into to maybe four sections this evening I'd like to kind of show you some of those sections of the first
section is verses 1 through 14 and it's really it's a apostles defending the name of Jesus Christ and defending the name of Jesus is something you know you might say well do we really as Christians need to defend but if it is true what Peter is saying and it is
there's no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved then that's a name that we should be proclaiming we should be proclaiming the name and there are those who would disparage the name of Jesus and I think it's it's right for them to to defend the name of
Jesus they're saying by what name do you do this by what authority and we have quite a clash of emotions here we've got a clash of the grieved religious leaders the grieved right here in verse verse two being grieved that they taught the people and preach through Jesus the resurrection from the dead you know last night's election it's really interesting half the country's grieved today you see them in tears and angry and upset they were boarding up you know buildings in downtown
Portland this morning if you if you saw that I don't know what's happening if if anything downtown Portland but they're worried down there because that's what Portland tends to do but grieved but then there's a lot of people that are rejoicing and happy you know it's
funny when you see groups rejoicing and grieving and you kind of wonder you know it depends on what your ideology is of why you'd be happy or sad concerning these things but when it comes to things of Jesus Christ the church of Jesus Christ we should be the ones rejoicing no
or who the president is see I'm concerned because there's this thing that I think we let ourselves get ourselves down because of this or that is the other thing but you know really when your joy is not your circumstances or your ideology or your political party trust me you're
not you might have moments of joy maybe some of you had joy you know you know I was I was glad I was rejoicing last night but at the time I also know there's there's no other name under heaven by which man can be saved than that of Jesus Christ you see I have to remember that man you
know that's it's all in perspective I hope he does a good job you know I'm praying for our president and by the way I would have been praying whether it was Kamala or Trump I would have been praying for our leaders because that's what we as Christians do we're supposed to do that first Timothy chapter two makes that really clear but but praying for that and and expecting the the United States to be all fixed I don't really have that anticipation I know he'd like to fix everything but it's not
everything's not going to get fixed well how do you know that but the Bible the Bible tells us that it's not going to be fixed until Christ comes he's the leader we should be really anticipating when he returns all things will be made right and I look forward to that day but
but all that to say when you see people grieving in this case they're grieving for something that they're unwilling to believe unwilling to know when it comes to truth and I think in some ways the the same people that are grieving today because of last night's election makes you wonder do they know the truth or are they deceived because you know honestly there's some world views that were very anti-biblical is Trump a biblical guy what we talked about this last week you know
voting for the lesser of two evils how could you do that as Christians well the reason we can do that because God did that didn't me when when he voted for artisers and Alex out of the great and Samson and David God put leaders in power and that was his
will it was his perfect will put some of these very flawed sinful individuals as leaders of nations well Brett what do you expect the United States to become a holy righteous nation under Trump no don't expect that but it does the Bible does say you know less of the nation who's God is the Lord I'm sure it'd be nice if the United States would get get more to making God our Lord and Savior but people are really discouraged just like here they're they're grieved on one side but the thing that's
interesting about these guys they know the truth but they're not willing to acknowledge it and we're going to see that tonight what about what about people in their ideologies and world views are they grieved and is it because they're unwilling to just acknowledge the truth I think we're going to see kind of similarity in some ways I think the truth causes us to rejoice in fact first Corinthians 13 says love rejoices in the truth but the opposite is true you know people that don't
love the truth they're not going to be rejoicing and they tend to be kind of grouchy people mark my words that's what's going on right here these people are not willing to grab onto the truth the key is to find the truth and what is the Bible say Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me so this is really what we're going to see is these disciples they're going to be pointing back to Jesus
there's no other name under heaven by which men can be saved defending the name of Jesus and then the rest of the chapter I'll break it down quickly here the second section is the council the Sanhedrin opposing the name of Jesus then we're going to see that's verses 15 through
22 then we're going to see the church calling on the name of Jesus verses 23 through 30 and then the fourth part of the chapter is just a report of what happens after those first three things happened then there's kind of a final report in verses 31 through 37 so so number one point is just that apostles defending the name of Jesus Christ and I love I love that we're already seeing in this like we saw
on Sunday the boldness of the apostles and that's what's required of you and me to be bold remember we saw in Proverbs 28 you know it says that the wicked flee with no one's pursuing but the righteous are as bold as a lion and I challenge us as a church and me personally I feel
challenged to be more bold in the things of Jesus that's that's the key I think of some people in history one such guy was Hugh Latimer he was in the lived in the 1500s during the Reformation era Hugh Latimer once preached before King Henry the eighth Henry was
greatly displeased by the boldness of Latimer's sermon that he gave and he said he needed to preach the following Sunday and he was very excited for the offense of being too bold and the next Sunday after reading his his text of the scripture he began this sermon like this he said and I quote Hugh
Latimer speaking of himself does that know before whom that was today speak to the high and mighty monarch the King's most majestic who can take away thy life if you offend therefore take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease but then consider well Hugh does thou not know from whenst thou comest whose message thou art sent even by the great and mighty God who is all present and who beholdeth all thy ways and who is able to cast thy soul into hell
therefore take care that thou delivers your message faithfully and then he preached the same exact ceremony preached the preceding Sunday with considerable more energy that's what history tells us you say man I wish I had that kind of boldness yeah here's the next picture I'm going to show you a few Latimer this is a drawing from that time in the 1500s where he and Nicholas Ridley from
John Fox's book of martyrs this is from 1863 they're both tied to a stake and have logs around their feet and they burned them both to death oh well but that that's not very encouraging you're encouraged us to be bold and you're saying he got burned to death good news folks nobody's burning us at the stake anymore right now that that's good news you see remember the wicked flee when no one's chasing them I feel like we as Christians these guys were bold back to the 1500s
and they're they knew their lives were literally on the line we're worried that somebody might think we're a little too fanatical or a little too religious or we're not politically correct or whatever we're worried about and really the Bible says no we're supposed to be bold in our faith and we see Peter who's very much facing the same kind of martyrdom you know with the same Sanhedrin that would crucify Jesus
so you know even though you and I we may feel ill equipped to share Jesus and proclaim the name of Jesus really all you need is what Peter had what did Peter have well he he was filled with the spirit remember we saw that on Sunday verse eight then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost that's the main thing here I think remember before the Holy Ghost Peter was shaking in his sandals up in the upper room afraid now we see a very bold Peter
so you got to be filled with the spirit and then also we notice that he spent time with Jesus even as his enemies noted there they were unlearned in nm. 13 but marveled in technology of them that they had been with Jesus if you're spending time with Jesus and you're filled with the spirit then you can be
bold and the Lord will go before you even as he does right here and so we see where you know there's two reasons they have nothing to say the Sanhedrin the religious leaders two reasons one because they saw that they were unlearned an ignorant man and yet they they somehow been with Jesus that was
something notable to them but then the second component was this this the guy that was healed standing there as a testimony and they could say say it says nothing against it they could say nothing against it so what did they try to say against it well that's where we pick it up to the
second section of this chapter there in verses 15 through 22 and that's the council opposing the name of Jesus let's pick it up in verse 15 and there it says but when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council they conferred among themselves saying what shall we do with these men or
to these men for that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all of them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it man we can't deny this miracle that everybody knows like the crippled guy from the gate beautiful you know their hearts were so hard against Jesus that they wouldn't take or receive the obvious truth and believe you know there's a logic here that if you're carefully say well man there's a guy
is crippled from the mother's womb and now he's walking and leaping and praising God maybe we should believe in this but that's not even part of their thinking at all it's all just they're so set in their ways you know who is this sadly this is oftentimes the person that's hardened against Jesus you know the hard-hearted person and even though the truth is staring them in the face they will not give in they will not give up their hard-heartedness
so you know this will be true for everyone at some point one day everyone will need to give account for what they did with the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the truth of Jesus Christ you might say yeah but they had miracles back then to prove but we've learned that miracles never really produced real faith if you've been with us in our through the Bible study that's one of the things you learn miracles never produce real faith it's the word that produces faith
faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God in fact we see great things today too by the way let me show you in Romans chapter 1 verse 17 it says for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which they may be known of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them
now did you notice what Paul saying there to the Romans he's saying there's people that hold the truth but in unrighteousness that's exactly what we're seeing here they know the truth they know that Jesus is the one who is the name that Peter heals this guy the guy standing there they can't deny it they can't say anything against it but so unwilling in unrighteousness are they unwilling to believe what is true and that is that hardheartedness
keep that phrase who hold the truth in unrighteousness kind of the back your mind but if we keep reading here because that's just verse 19 it goes on verse 20 it says for the invisible things of him from creation from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and God had so that they are without excuse
because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their foolish imaginations and their foolish heart vain in their magic and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became his fools but you know that sadly this is a heartbreaker but this section of scripture so much personifies today
people of the world today that are hardened against God and they are unwilling to put their foolish imaginations and their own professing to be wise they have really become fools in setting that aside
and here is the saddest part it says for you know there is no excuse for them you won't have an excuse well what if they didn't hear the gospel what if they did what if a person didn't know how to read on the earth what if a person never heard a sermon do you know they're even there without a excuse
because of what it says here for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made that's us even his eternal power and God had so that they are without excuse what makes someone not believe professing themselves to be wise that's just pride this is pridefulness they want to sin they were vain in their imaginations that's just a desire to sin and their stubbornness there pride
their desire for sin stubbornness when their foolish heart was darkened when they knew God they glorified him not as God you know even creation speaks of his glory that's why by the way the creation issue versus evolution say or any other theory about origins is such a big deal why do you Christians have to die on that battlefield of creationism people ask me that
there's a lot of Christians will come up and say well Brad I'm a theistic evolution evolutionist that's someone who believes that God created the universe and the laws of nature and the living things but he did it with billions and billions of years of evolution and that's what it is you're a Christian he says God created that but you just don't take the Bible literally when it says he created it in six days and on the seventh day arrested
you don't like that part so you rip it out of the Bible even though the Bible says that oh Brad I can't take that's literal creation days I believe science can I just say be careful if you use the scientific method and you're careful with that you'll be shocked at how evolution is full of holes if you use the scientific method sadly that's going to have to window for so many things especially so-called science the Bible even says science will be falsely so-called in the last days
that's interesting it's almost like the Bible says the Bible condoned science some of the greatest scientists and even the scientific method was invented by Christians who were scientists and I after mind you there's you know Christian scientists they're neither Christian nor are they scientists
but it's like great nuts there's no grapes and there's no nuts same thing but but but but when it comes to Christians who were scientists like Isaac Newton and others who believe the Bible and use the Bible to come to their conclusions you know the world will never give you know the believers in God the credit that's due there but what's interesting is the ones that came up with the scientific method
the very same scientists that have used that for you know hundreds of years now are bailing off and there's and there's saying things as if there matter of fact like global warming and stuff like that climate change so-called science something we're seeing today people are making stuff up one of the things that they painfully try to make up is this idea of you know evolution
billions of years and an accidental set of circumstances it went from just nothing to all this complexity that we see now now even that is sort of hard for some people even now to believe if you're if you're a logical person great explosion turning into this great complexity that we're seeing with our own eyes right now that's I would say not in a billion years
but that's too too lucky that's a for too to set of circumstances that's what they call it that's it's more than that is you see so some people are moving more toward the idea of intelligent design now be careful Christians because there's Christians arguing for intelligent design and that's I get it I understand but sometimes if you leave out the designer part then the world's minds still are running wild
there are those who are saying yeah we got to get off the evolution bandwagon and so they say aliens aliens planted the seed of life because there's obviously evolutionary you know or evolutionary logic is out the window so somebody had to design a
minus and must be aliens there's another one that's gaining steam right now have you heard about the self creating universe hypothesis or cosmic self simulation hypothesis it's basically that humans created humans so what it is simple explanation as we humans grow so advanced that we can create life and through a time warp loop quantum cosmology or casual loop theory
they're actually one we're the ones who invented ourselves creating life once we got smart enough we went through the cosmic quantum loop that started to make sense to you at all no that first mega ballooning is right there in other words you know the belief that we are gods that created ourselves I'm not sure you get more vain in your imagination than that
now vain in their imaginations becoming fools when really the Bible says in the beginning God created that was in there they spoke the world's into existence that's starting to look better and better if you just logically look at it the reason we spend so much time as Christians talking about that issue is because that's the issue that's going to be your indictment against you if you are a person says I don't believe in God or I don't believe in what the Bible says
the Bible says of itself that even creation speaks of you know God's clearly seen you know glory invisible things of him from creation so that they are without an excuse notice it's this idea you know in our in our texture they couldn't deny the miracle of healing of the crippled man but they hold the truth in unrighteousness
that's that Romans 118 scripture now by the way there's a couple other freebies here that are kind of interesting did you notice that you know Peter talked about Jesus and Harry rose you know the crucifix but he rose from the dead did you notice they never denied that Jesus rose from the grave this is interesting to me you think they say well you got to stop talking about this Jesus mumbo jumbo and by the way he never really rose from the grave you think they'd say that but they didn't
know where do these guys admit or try to persuade that Jesus did not rise from the dead you think they would have come up with something to deny that that would be the end of Christianity if they could prove it a body or some evidence of tampering or the Romans or something but none of them produced that so they never they never said don't say Jesus rose from the grave
because he didn't and then here's proof they didn't say that they just say don't say Jesus rose from the grave we see that there when it says in verse 16 you know saying what shall we do with these men for a notable miracle is done in them this is what they they they couldn't deny that's the bottom line
but verse 17 it says now this is you know things get getting heated up here verse 17 but that it spread no further among the people let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name and they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus now this is them telling tell now question is there ever a time to break the law
this is an interesting question isn't it you know these guys are these guys are the rulers of the land now you know when you read Peter's epistles Peter's going to talk about how we're to obey the laws of the land it's funny how this idea of you know not doing you know Peter's not going to abide by these mandates I use those terms sort of laughingly
we got hit really hard you know as a church critically from people saying you know I can't believe you guys are you know meeting when you're supposed to not be meeting you guys are a super spreader of Corona it's funny how it now in retrospect everybody's most people are admitting yeah that was all kind of wacko
a lot of that was just totally wacko and I'm not saying is I mean I got coronavirus my poor wife got coronavirus really bad I had to take her to the hospital it was bad months of just really not doing well so we I'm not a deny her but it is interesting you know how you know they were actually like you know thousands of people would die at a thick reek because you know and I have to say there was a couple of our sweet saints that anything that went home to be a forward for coronavirus two that I did funerals for
that that also had other issues for the most part like other medical issues that were contributing for sure but that same here I did like 20 funerals with cancer patients and stuff like it was kind of more normal business as usual kind of honestly
even though we were supposed to be wearing masks and not having meetings and stuff like that now now we all look back and but but the heat that we took for that people just thought we I lost a wonderful blessed I love the staff member but he just said man I cannot be go to a church that's breaking the law and I tried to explain to him we're not breaking the law you know the law the law is the constitution it was kind of a funny thing back then because the attorney gent attorney general at the time what was that bar
he said churches would start meeting again he said that meanwhile our governor was saying brown who was saying churches cannot meet it's a mandate you can't meet so who do I listen to the the senior law of the land guy the attorney general the United States or do we listen to the governor
but maybe more importantly than that do we listen to I'm going to I've got two more tears here maybe more importantly that the constitution of the United States the government government cannot in fringe upon our ability to meet and can't tell us when or when we cannot meet in the name of Christ
but maybe the bigger one still is the Bible itself don't forsake the assembling of yourselves as as the custom of some is you know the Bible tells us to keep meeting now there's a there's a time in a place where we might stop for a short thing if there's a you know the scarlet fever like we didn't know how bad coronavirus is going to be
and and so you know I think there was a wisdom and just say let's see what's going on and what but once we realized it was kind of just a political ploy for power we kind of said ant we're going we're coming back together we got threatening letters I lost staff members because of that because they thought we were breaking the law now good news as it turns out the governor was one breaking the law and that was proven they wrote us letters talking about finding throwing me in jail stuff like that but as it turns out they lost that argument it was actually
right for us to have religious liberty still in America I hope you understand that so there will be times and boy I I never thought it'd be in my lifetime that I would have to stand up and say and me in my governing elderboard and our power to pastors and elders we we prayed about this carefully we didn't take that flippantly at all but we did with the Lord called us to do and we knew that they could get us into perhaps trouble there's a point where you will but we know we are the governor who was going to take part in the war and we know what we're going to do here but we need to do that.
There's a point where you will break the law. This is one of those times where Peter is going to say, I'm not doing what you're going to say. Wait till chapter five, he's going to let him have it even harder than what we see here. But so the debate kind of turns hostile. They start threatening and it's they threaten them that they speak not in this name, the name of Jesus. And they called them, it came out of not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
But you know, verse 19, this is where it gets interesting. Verse 19, it says, but Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you more than unto God, judge you. Like you guys, you can judge whether it's right to frost the list of the God or listen to you. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Don't you love this?
If you're afraid to speak the name of Jesus where you are at your office or school, if you're one of those afraid, would you mark this verse in your Bible? Verse 20, mark it well for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. What did they see in here? They saw Jesus who was resurrected from the grave. And they knew that he was the Messiah. And if you know that Jesus is the Messiah, we cannot but tell people what we've seen and heard. I love what Peter says here.
It's very logical. But verse 21, so when they had further threatened them, so they continued to threaten them more, 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. For the man was above 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing was showed. So this is interesting. You know, they could have done anything that they wanted to but they said the evidence is too great. We're not going to not talk about Jesus.
And don't you love it? It's kind of like they had nothing they could do. What are they going to say? What are they going to do? The multitudes believed that the guy was crippled for 40 years. So this is where we learned that this guy had been crippled from the womb for 40 years. You say, that's a long time. That's a long time. And didn't Jesus walk by this guy probably when he was in Jerusalem probably, but there was this timing and a plan that God had for this man and 40 years was the mark.
Have you ever wondered, so often, I wonder, we wonder, Lord, why aren't you working in my life? I've been praying. I've been believing. Where are you, Lord? Have you ever felt that way where you're wishing the Lord would intervene or step in or help your problem? And maybe you've been waiting for 40 minutes. Oh man, 40 minutes, maybe 40 days. Maybe 40 years. It's funny how the Bible has a lot of those 40s, don't they?
Moses waited 40 years in the wilderness before he was ready to be used by the Lord to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt 40 years. That's a long time. But for some of us, we wait for 40 minutes and we get all upset. Lord, what's going on in my life? But what I would say is, take hold. Trust the Lord. Be patient. Don't give up. The Lord has a timing. And he makes all things beautiful in his time. That's what you need to remember.
And it might be 40 years, but the key is to wait and trust and put your hope in the Lord. I love that this guy, 40 years, that was the mark, Lord, said, that's what I'm going to make this guy walk. And he went walking and leaping and praising God. And now we're reading about him in 2024, about some guy in Jerusalem that was crippled. This is an amazing story that will shake the world really and shook them and was part of the explosion of the early church. God had a purpose for that guy.
And it was going to be part of this helping Peter and John spread the gospel because he was healed. They couldn't say anything against Peter and John. Like, that's a big role to play in the early church. This crippled guy makes a big splash by being the guy that keeps them sort of safe. That's what's happening here. So you never know what the Lord's going to do in your affliction. Peter's the one who talked about, don't think of strange when you face fiery trials and persecutions and troubles.
Don't think that's a strange thing. This guy probably thought, it's strange. Why am I crippled for 40 years? And then all of a sudden, the Lord heals me. It was for a time just like this. This guy was going to be healed and used. So number one, we see verses one through 14, the Apostles defending the name of Jesus Christ. Number two, the Council opposing the name of Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, as we keep reading in verses 23, through 30, we see the church calling on the name of Jesus Christ.
Let's pick it up in verse 23. So now, Peter and John are let go, free. So verse 23, and being let go, they went to their own company and reported all the chief priests and elders that said to them, can you picture Peter and John going back to all the church friends? You guys, you'll never believe what just happened. We were in big trouble and, man, they couldn't say anything against the guy being healed and they let us go. They told us not to say the name of Jesus anymore. So what do you do?
When you're the church and Peter and John show up, say, man, check out what just happened to us. Do you have a pizza party? Do you slap them in a high five? Well, let's see what the church actually does in verse 24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, this is their prayer, right here, Lord, thou art God, which have made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them is.
Now, the starting of their prayer, they're noting God's greatness. That's always a good way to start prayer. I know it's almost right and trivial to say, like, the creator and sustainer of all things, like that's the way old Uncle Bobby used to pray at dinner time. But really, that's not a bad way to start to remember who you're talking to. See, I think they're early church, they sense the gravity of the moment.
And they say, oh, Lord, God, the creator, I love how they lift up their voice and they're doing it all with one accord. The maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. Verse 25, they go on, who by the mouth of the servant David has 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. Now, this is interesting. They're saying, let's pray.
They all say, let's get to pray. What's this whole heathen rage thing? We'll talk about that in a second. But I love how the church goes right to prayer. They sense the gravity of the moment. By the way, did you sense there was a gravity of a moment last night in the election? Man, when you saw the nation make a kind of a radical statement, I mean, the gravity, whether you love them or hate them. Here's a guy that was, they tried to assassinate him twice. He's been impeached twice.
He's been indicted however many times and it's like shocking what has been up against this Trump and the whole thing. And when you see the end of the lecture, like man, that's a big thing in the United States that we elected a felon who's a Nazi. And he's Hitler and he's a fascist. Like this is amazing. Like you have to kind of say, wow, this does, why the love of a heredim, you do have to kind of feel like, wow, the gravity of this time in America has kind of seems important.
So what should we do? Well, I like what we're doing tonight. Getting in the word is always a great response to anything because the word is where it's at. But I think prayer, this is what I see the church. Maybe we can do better as a church. All of us, the greater church, capital C, is to be praying, but not just by yourself, but with one accord. That's what it says here, they all lifted up their voice to God with one accord, it's not a Honda.
They lift with all, they're like mindedly praying and they're saying the same thing. And it says here that they said, instead of let's celebrate Peter and John are free, they said, let's pray. I think they sensed that they were let free, but they probably knew the gravity is more dangerous than that. And I kind of feel that about the election. Oh, you can celebrate stuff, but there's still World War III is still kind of looming.
Nuclear weapons are, those that have them are rattling the saber right now. Like there's a lot of things in the world, you can say, well, now Trump's in charge, so we're all good to go. Do you really know what's going on in the world? Like it's a little bigger than even Trump, I think. We as a church rather than just going, yeah, we're good to go, we should be on our knees before God praying right now.
And just like we should pray for whoever's our president for their, to do well, to follow the Lord, to repent of sin, to blame, blessing upon them. That's what the Bible tells us to do, 1 Timothy chapter two, verse one tells us, first of all, make suffocation and prayers for those who are in authority over us. You know, C.H. Virgin, he said, prayer is the breath of faith. Prayer, prayer meetings are the lungs of the church. I think that's a true thing. I'm so thankful for the prayer warriors
we have at A.C. Creek. We have people and even groups that get together and pray just for Sunday mornings and Saturday nights. For Wednesday night Bible study, we have people that are prayer warriors. We need that and man, it is. I think that this Virgin was right and he knew something about church life and church behavior. Because of prayer, they were united together. They lifted up their voice with one accord. Did you know that that's what prayer does?
I think that that's how the church could be united. We do unite around the scripture, that's a part of it, but there's something about prayer when you pray together. You know when Philippians chapter two, Paul says, fulfill your joy that you be like mine and have the same love being of one accord of one mind. How does that happen? How can you get a bunch of people in the church to start thinking in the same way? Have this one accord one mind?
I think prayer is one of the secrets to that, is gathering and prayer. There was a unity that happened. That's true with large groups. It's also true with small groups. Husbands and wives, do you pray together? I think that's one of the more intimate things that a couple can do. You know, he said, well, but there's other things are more intimate than that. Yeah, but did you know what? There's some interesting statistics about romance and physical touch and all that.
Yeah, that helps a marriage, it helps. But actually the statistics are alarming. Did you know the couple, you know they're old saying the couple of stays together, prays together, stays together? That's actually even more strongly supported than the romance part of marriage. Did you know that? In fact, the study that was done, there was a Gallup study found that divorce rate for couples who regularly pray together is 1,152. So it's less than 1%. There's a shocking statistics.
The couples that pray together are way less likely to end divorce. Most divorces are somewhere around 50%. 50, 50 chances you'll make it. But if you happen to be a couple that prays together, guess what? You're going to be more successful. I think that's because when you pray with someone, there's a like-mindedness that kicks in. And it's hard to be mad at each other if you're a married wife and husband, and you're praying together. If you have the wherewithal, some of you don't, sadly.
But you know when you get to that argument, if the first thing you say, honey, and you're lovingly grab her hand and say, let's pray together. Now, you shouldn't say, Lord, forgive her for being such a naggy wife. Don't do that. That's not going to help. That's not a right prayer. You won't give a jasker because you're asking a mis. The Bible says that.
But if you grab her hand and just start praying for help and for wisdom and that the Lord will help you sort through the challenge that's in front of you. And it's hard to stay mad at someone when you're praying with them. And you know what else happens? You know that argument I always talk about when you spend five bucks on a five cent argument as a couple? It's when you pray, you're like, oh, yeah, this is dumb. We're arguing about how fast it is to Fred Meyer.
Martin Nazzi or Avery, which one do we take? I think I did it. I wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. It's like dumb. And if you pray, you say, let's pray about this. Lord, you know all things. Avery, Martin Nazzi, which way is the fastest way to Fred Meyer? You're praying that you're like, I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I'm arguing about something so dumb. Something about prayer kind of exposes your stupidity. I hope you're careful on that one, preferable on that one.
So all that to say, you know, I think prayer group, we need more people to pray. I always think I think crickers, we need more prayer time. My favorite times are when our leadership gets together and pray. We get away from prayer retreats. We also pray, like even tonight's prayer night for the elders, we get together right after Wednesday night. And we're gonna pray, and there's a lot to pray about. But man, we need more and more of that.
So if a church wants to be united, I think one of the keys is a praying church. Bible doesn't say anything about being united around the worship department or music. It doesn't, it doesn't unite us around great events and harvest festivals and concerts. Or, you know, we don't come to church to be entertained. But when you come together to pray, there's a natural result of unity. So what are they saying? Well, this verse 25 gets kind of strange.
It says, who by the mouth of thy servant David, has said, why did the heathen rage? Now this is a signal. What are they doing? They're praying, the Bible. If you don't know what to pray, pray the Bible. That's always a good way to go. Have you ever thought, well, what am I gonna say in a prayer time? If you're praying in scripture, you're always on good, good, solid ground. That's what they do. I love the model here for us. To just pray scripture.
And it's a scripture that they were familiar with. By the way, when you pray and you don't know what to say, sometimes you can say stupid things. And if you're worried about that, then just get back to praying in scripture. What is the Bible tell? How do, well, Jesus taught us to pray. Most of you have it by memory, our father who art in heaven. Like you can start right there. That's praying in scripture right there. The Lord's prayer. How would be thy name?
You know, like if we start praying exactly the way Jesus taught us, right, that's a really good beginning. But even just praying scripture, these guys seem to pull out arbitrarily a psalm from David. What psalm are they talking about? Well, psalm chapter two. And before we kind of break this down, you know, here in verse 25, verse 25 and 26, you'll notice your margin reference probably refers to the psalm chapter two, verses one and two.
You say, well, it's not an exact quote, but it is pretty close. Let me show you. Would you flip over, keep your finger here, and go with me to psalm chapter two. While you're turning there, should the quoting of the Old Testament be verbatim? Like are you in bad standing if you sort of paraphrase? I think you're in good standing, I'll say why? Because hopefully you're not twisting it. Like as long as you're not messing up the scripture and twisting it, be careful of that, of course.
But Jesus sometimes used the Greek Septuagint when he quoted from the Old Testament. That's kind of an interesting thing because the Greek Septuagint doesn't always perfectly align with the Hebrew Old Testament. But Jesus was quoting from the Septuagint. So I love that when Jesus does that, he sort of gives you and me a little bit of license when it comes to the idea of translation and stuff like that.
There are little differences, but as long as you're not twisting scripture, don't feel hugely pressured. And that's this case here. The church is praying something that's not gonna be word for word, but it's pretty close. Let's take a look, Psalm chapter two, verse one. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying.
Now pause, those are the two verses, particularly, that they quote. And what is this whole thing about the heathen raging? Well, in this story, this is speaking about the heathen, the Gentile nations that are against the Lord. This is the psalmist, sort of marveling about these different groups or peoples. And the first group is the Gentiles. He says, why did the heathen rage? And they go against his anointed. Now in verse two, they say his anointed is Christ.
That's the way the early church interpreted that. They see Jesus Christ. This is a psalm of Jesus. And they use the name of Jesus instead of just the anointed like here in the psalm. So this is the liberty they're taking to interpret that Psalm two is speaking about Jesus. Are you guys with me on that? That's important. So who's this anointed Jesus? But then there's groups, verses one through three, speak of the Gentile nations, the heathen that are raging.
Look at verse three, let us break their bands of cinder and cast away their cords from us. In verse four, he that siteth in heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. The NIV says, scoffs there. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sword as pleasure. So this is where the psalmist is saying for the Gentiles that reject Jesus, the anointed, there's gonna be judgment and wrath. When is that gonna happen? It's like in coming of Christ.
Now the next one that's talked about is Jesus himself, verses seven through nine. Let's keep reading. It says there in verse seven, I will declare the decree of the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I beg be gotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give the heathen for thy inheritance. And for the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession, thou shall break them with the rod of iron, thou shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
What will it look like when Jesus returns? Some of the Gentiles will be in inheritance. That's the church. But the ones that reject Christ will be beaten with the rod of iron. Again, this you won't hear this at Joel's team's church, by the way. You're gonna be victorious and everything's fuzzy, everything's good, no judgment, no wrath. You wanna talk about hell or judgment, none of that. But when you read the Bible, you have to kind of touch this stuff.
But so speaking of Christ and his second coming is all right there. Then in verse 10, we see the Holy Spirit. It says, be wise now, therefore O ye kings, be instructed ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, and his wrath be kindled by the little blessed are all they that put their trust in him. But this is a good scripture for leaders of nations. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
But that's what we need to be praying for our president that he would serve the Lord with the fear of the Lord, a healthy fear of the Lord and rejoice, excuse me, trembling. So it says, kiss the sun and let lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way. So believe in Jesus. Excuse me, trust in Jesus. Now you say, okay, this is a heavy scripture from the solnest. Why do the heathen rage? And the Lord is going to cut them down, and it's going to be brutal.
Like what does this have to do with the guys in the church? Well, they're remembering what their holy scriptures say about Christ and his second coming. And so this is where we have to kind of realize that this is the context. They're recognizing the leadership in Jerusalem is rejecting the leadership of Christ and rejecting God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. So here we see the back to the book of Acts. I love this context of that whole chapter.
I wanted you to kind of see a bit of that because it really does fit the predicament that the disciples are in with the heathen, even though they're the religious leaders. It says that they had to basically apply this. Why do the heathen rage? Well, right now we kind of have this leadership today. You know, whether you're talking Kamala or Trump. As much as I hope Trump is a Christian, I don't know. I don't know the guy personally. I know he talks like he is.
Sometimes he talks, most Christians sound like. But you know, who might have judged that? God knows, but I do pray that he's a Christian. And I do pray that he'll have the fear of the Lord that's talked about here. And that's really what these guys are praying. Lord, why do the heathen rage are trying to pray for these guys that are about ready to martyr them or condemn them? So that's, I think that's what you and I should be doing.
It's be like this church praying for the leaders for their repentance, for their following of the Lord. That's kind of what's going on here. It's a good model for us. America in large is saying what these Gentile nation say in Psalm 2. Well, verse 27, back to our point number three here, the church calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus, verse 27, I'm not sure I read all this.
I read all this, verse 25, they continue, who by the mouth of thy servant David says, why did the heathen rage, the people imagine vain things, the kings of the earth stood up and rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ. See, that's where they speak of Christ, which wasn't mentioned in that Psalm. So they added the word Christ to that. Why can they do that? Because it is about Christ. We know that. So that's the liberty I was talking about.
Verse 27, for the truth, for ever 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. Now, this is them just acknowledging before God in their prayer, Lord, they've all been against Jesus. Herod, Pontius Pilate, all the Gentiles and the Jews, they were all gathered together against Jesus. Now, there's a translational issue here.
And you might say, why are they, why does the church call them the holy child Jesus? Well, your newer translations say what? Servant. That's a better translation. That's where I love the King James Bible. And I love all the different translations that are real attempts at translating the Bible. I'm so thankful for even the newer ones, ESV, NIV. But this is one of the places where King James just kind of got it wrong on the translation.
But you're saying there's an error in the Bible and some of you are mad because I'm criticizing the King James. If you're a King James only, you believe this is just as inspired as was the original Greek text. And so I understand you're mad at me right now, but can I just say, unless you're reading from the original Greek text or Hebrew text of the Old Testament or Aramaic and some of the Old Testament passages, we don't have those original texts, but we do have his translations.
And good news, good news, nothing translated in the King James or in any of the major translations we have. Change anything about our doctrine, our faith, or theology, or anything like that. There's nothing like that. Nothing that's jolting. Like is the baby Jesus or is he the servant Jesus? Well, it says servant in the original text. But it does imply a boy servant, which is interesting, the Greek word there.
But there's reasons why they should have translated it more like your modern translations. Don't let that jolt you. Don't let that shake you. Whatever, as long as you're not in the cult Bibles, like the New World Translation of the Jovus Witness, they've changed stuff. That's just wrong. Book of Mormon. Off. We got to understand that it's the Bible that we read. And I love that we have these translations. But at the same time, it's worth studying the original language.
I say that because I don't want you to be shaken by that. But why were they all gathered together to crucify Jesus? That's what verse 27 is saying. At verse 28, it says, for to do what's over thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. The Lord has always planned for these things to happen. It was already predetermined that God would send his son to die for the sins of the world. This is part of his plan. Verse 29, and now Lord, behold their threatening.
And grant unto thy servants that with all boldness, they may speak thy word by stretching forth thine hand to heal. And that thy signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child. There's that servant again, servant Jesus. So I love this. This is their prayer. What was their prayer? Their praying that they might see the miracles that Jesus did and see the miracle that was just done by Peter through Jesus, by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazareth, rise up and walk.
Their prayer is that they might see that it's truly Jesus. Notice the early church didn't pray that they might have a break from persecution. Notice that they prayed that they might have more boldness in persecution. And by the way, I think that's the kind of prayer that prevails. When you're not praying, get me out of my predicament. Sometimes the Lord might have you in a predicament that you might be a witness to the world. That's what's going on here.
They're not saying, Lord, save us from the Sanhedrin. They're saying, Lord, would these guys believe? Seeing the miracle that you did in this man and that they might come to know Jesus, that's a good way to pray. When you're in troubled times, do you always pray for your saving? Sometimes I wonder if we should pray, Lord, not in my will, but you're all be done. If it's not to be saved out of my predicament, show me what is the reason I'm in this place that I might be used by you.
You know, maybe you're a single. Lord, why am I still single? I want to meet someone. I want to be married. Well, that's a desire of your heart. You should let that be known to the Lord. But maybe you should ask Lord for what purpose am I single? Lord for what purpose do you have me in this state where I'm single? And maybe he wants to do great things through you. Paul makes that argument, by the way, in the New Testament saying, I would be single like me.
And he makes the case because you can do a lot more stuff if you're not married. And those of you that are married are like, that is true. It's just true. And so I love that these guys aren't praying. Lord, get us out of our persecution. I think that's kind of an important thing. OK, so now we've seen the church calling on the name of Jesus through this beautiful prayer of the church, all in one accord with one mind, like mine to this. I love that.
And so now we get to this next section, and that is the report now of what happens after those three things. What three things? The apostles were defending the name of Jesus. The council was opposing the name of Jesus. The church was calling on the name of Jesus. And now what happens? Well, this is where the big stuff happens, verse 31. It says, 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. Don't you love that? We often pray when we're shaken up. But these guys prayed so that they could be shaken up. I like that. Prayer answered. They go out now and they're bold. They're going to be bold. And you'll see that in chapter 5. This is the prayer we have for Athe Creek, that the Lord will shake us up spiritually, not just doing weird stuff, gyrating for Jesus, flopping on the ground for Jesus. No, that we'd get up and go and be bold.
That's why the Holy Ghost came. The Holy Ghost did not come to make people flop on the floor. Why did the Holy Spirit come? Acts chapter 1, did anybody remember? Turn back to Acts chapter 1 and come on. It says, verse 5, Acts chapter 1, 5, for John truly baptized with water, you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. And verse 7, he said, it is not for you to know the times of the season the Father has put in his own power. But you shall receive power after that.
The Holy Ghost has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses, both to me and both Jerusalem, Judea, in Samaria, and even to the outermost parts of the earth. That's why the Holy Spirit came. Not to flap on the aisle or to speak in tongues even. The Holy Spirit came so that they might be witnesses. And I love that this is their prayer, that they'll be more bold by the power of the Spirit.
They're all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they're speaking not in tongues now, but they're speaking the word of God. And never forget that. The empowering of the Spirit is not that we just speak in tongues. But the purpose of the power of the Spirit is that we might be bold witnesses. That's just remember that. Acts chapter 1, verse 8. Well, we wrap it up here in verse 32. It says, and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.
Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own, but they all had things in common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Doesn't this sound great? The church is all getting along, like for 10 minutes, the early church is going to get along really well. What makes the church get divided? Oh, man, we're going to see that as we study the New Testament.
Some are going to start saying, well, we're of Paul, and they'll say, no, no, no, no, no, we're of Apollos. We're of Jesus only. There was a division right there that was called out. And it's funny how people get all cut up in divisions in the church. We need to be looking for ways to be more united, coming alongside of each other. Well, great grace. I love that. May that be on the church of Jesus Christ today. But verse 34, neither was there any among them that lacked.
For as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles' feet. And distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surname Barnabas, which is being interpreted the Son of Consolation, a Levite and of the country of Cyprus having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. Interesting way to end this chapter.
The people are all loving each other. They sell other possessions, pile it up at the apostles' feet and sit here. Let's have everything in common. Let's just take care of each other. But this is in the context of persecution. Should we all be Marxists and sell all our possessions and give to the poor? There's people that try to make a biblical case for that. Using this scripture, it's not really the case. Here, this is the early church heading into persecution.
And a lot of them were from out of town. Remember, they all came into Jerusalem and got saved. And now they're wanting to be a part of the church. So they're helping each other out. And the church should definitely do that. But you make everybody sell their possessions. By the way, why is this one guy Barnabas named? Because it says they sold their houses and brought the money. But then there's one story that's drawn out. It's kind of an interesting thing, because this guy was a Levite.
If you were a Jew keeping the law, were you supposed to have property? If you were a Levite, you were not supposed to have property. That's kind of an interesting thing. The Levites had an inheritance, but not like that. So it's kind of funny. This guy, Joseph's surname Barnabas, son of consolation, a Levite from Cyprus having land sold it. It's almost like they did this just to be right. This is what they needed to do. This is a little word, put on their hearts to give.
Another note in this section, distribution was made under every man according as he had need. That's something that Athe Creek we do want to do. If people are needy or in poverty or in trouble, we try to help people as much as we know how. And if you ever find yourself in a place where you're totally broke and you're going down, and there's no hope for you, the church should be a place you can go and get up.
Now, if you live, have a house by the lake, and your boat's not working, you need to get fixed. We're not going to help you with that. But if you're a single mom and you lost your job and you're in a real pickle and you're going to be kicked out of your home, that's the kind of stuff we want to know about. And we want to help. And that's something the church we do. And it's a blessing for us to do that. So keep that in mind.
And that's something I think the church really should be a part of, caring for one another. They shared together, not out of compulsion, but out of compassion, not out of obligation, but it seems like they had a loved one for another. That's the way the church should roll. Amen? Amen. Well, Lord, as we close this chapter out, I pray that you'd give us wisdom in these things. Help us to apply these things, Lord. I love the prayer of the saints.
I love how Peter was bold, and he wasn't backing down from these scary Sanhedrin guys. Lord, give us a boldness, but may it be bold, but also surrounded by love and kindness. Lord, I pray that we have that perfect balance, especially in these days, of contention. As so many people are divided today, I pray that we would live peaceably as much as life within us, with all men. Lord, as your word says, help us to love one another, but at the same time be bold. So give us that balance.
Bless these, your people, and this Wednesday night, may they bring forth good fruit in their lives as they continue through your word, Lord. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, don't forget elders, prayer tonight. I'll see you in a minute or two. The rest of us is closed with the song. The Lord bless thee. And keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee. And be gracious unto thee. And be gracious unto thee.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. And God bless you. We'll see this weekend.