Acts 4:23

And being let go, they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord... "Lord, you are God, which has made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is therein... And now, Lord, behold their threats and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness, they may speak thy word..." (Acts 4:23-30)

When the church faced its first real opposition, it didn't picket or protest—it prayed, remembering who God is and asking for boldness rather than escape.

A Church Growing—and Confronted

We come to a great passage where God is doing miraculous things among His people. The early church was growing phenomenally. When the Spirit was poured out in Acts 2, three thousand were saved. Last week in Acts 4, as Peter preached, another five thousand men believed. This group could no longer be disregarded by the leadership in Jerusalem.

We witnessed the confrontation between Peter, John, and the religious leaders. They had gone up to the temple at the ninth hour of prayer and met a man lame from birth, over forty years old, at the gate called Beautiful. Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." He took him by the right hand, lifted him up, and the man went into the temple leaping and praising God.

A great multitude gathered, and Peter, filled with the Spirit, began to preach the resurrection. Some of the leaders and the Sadducees seized Peter and John and held them overnight. The next morning, before the ruling council, Peter said boldly:

...by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole... Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12)

This was the same Peter who, only months before, could not stand for Christ on the night of His betrayal. Now, filled with the Spirit, he spoke with power and boldness—and so did John and the others.

A Very Real Enemy

Whenever God is moving in His church, there is opposition, because we have a very real enemy seeking to combat the work of God. The Scriptures speak of him under many names: the devil, the destroyer, the devouring lion, the dragon, the adversary, the evil one, the father of lies, the god of this world, the serpent, the prince of the power of the air, the tempter, the wicked one. We read of his fall in Isaiah and Ezekiel. He is real, he hates God and Christ, and he is not alone—many wicked angels fell with him.

All those who do not know God in this world are under the sway of the wicked one, even if they will not admit it. I am convinced that every earthly movement against God and His church is the result of spiritual movements behind the scenes. It was the enemy who was driving this council in Jerusalem against the church.

The frightening thing is how few believe this enemy exists. Barna Research in 2007 found that 46 percent of those classified as born-again Christians do not believe Satan exists; 64 percent of Catholics deny a real devil; 54 percent of Americans in general do not believe in a true Satan. There is a growing notion that evil is only the product of society—oppression, poverty, hunger. That is not the case. There is a very real spiritual entity against God in this world. And what a clever tactic of an enemy: to make you think he doesn't even exist.

The Enemy Will Not Prevail—and We Are Not Powerless

One of the great truths we learn is that this enemy will not prevail. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, "I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Nor are we powerless in this battle. Paul wrote to Corinth:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

He says the same to the Ephesians:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:10-12)

Paul lists the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"—praying always with all prayer in the Spirit. The enemy was defeated at the cross when Jesus said, "It is finished." Our chief offensive weapons are the word of God and prayer. Notice that in Matthew 4, Jesus defeated the tempter three times with the word of God.

The Church Resolves to Pray

Here in Acts 4 the church itself is engaged in a very real battle—manifested physically, but spiritual at its root. Their reaction is both instructive and important for us. Peter, John, and the healed man return to their own company and report everything the chief priests had said: that they were no longer to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

When the church heard this, they lifted their voice to God with one accord. First, they resolved to pray. And in that prayer we see three things.

First, they remembered God and His word. "Lord, thou art God." Our Lord, our commander, our leader is God—the One "which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is." Do you realize the God you worship is the One who spoke everything into existence? This year, 2009, is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's The Origin of Species, and we live in an age that denies a Creator. But the Scripture says it is the fool who says there is no God. The early church began by remembering: God, You created everything, seen and unseen.

They also remembered His word, quoting Psalm 2 through "the mouth of thy servant David." God has spoken—not only of His love for us, but to warn us that this kind of battle would come. He does not want us ignorant. As Paul said, "we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11). God has strategically briefed us about everything we will face, and about what is to come.

How God Sees Those Who War Against Him

Consider Psalm 2. The nations rage; they imagine a vain thing; the kings of the earth stand against God and His anointed. How foolish to set yourself against God—who do you think will win?

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves... against the LORD, and against his anointed... He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. (Psalm 2:1-4)

Think of Armageddon, that great battle in the Valley of Megiddo described in Revelation—man coming with all his swords and spears, in modern terms his tanks and nuclear weapons, to fight against God. And God in heaven looks at this and laughs. The "vain thing" they imagine is that they can actually beat God. Where does that mindset come from? I believe it comes from our adversary, who stirs men to think they could win against God.

So the early church, over five thousand strong, did not start a picket line at the temple, boycott the priests, or overthrow the government. They went to God and said, You are the God of heaven who created all things, and You told us beforehand these very things would happen.

They Recognized God's Word Applied to Their Situation

Second, the church recognized that God's word had application to their situation. Psalm 2 said the nations would gather against God and His anointed. And here, the church saw it before their eyes:

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. (Acts 4:27-28)

The Old Testament Scriptures apply to the situations we find ourselves in today. When we remember God and His word, we recognize there is application to what we are going through right now.

They Brought Their Request to God

Third, they brought their request to God:

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. (Acts 4:29-30)

Consider first what they did not pray. They did not say, "God, remove this difficult obstacle. Make things easier. We shouldn't have to go through persecution—please take it away." Their prayer was not one of fear. Instead it was, "God, give us boldness to stand in the midst of this."

Jesus promised that in this world we will have tribulation. Paul told Timothy, "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). If you desire to follow God, you will meet opposition, because this world lies under the sway of the wicked one. Yet greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world, and our enemy is a defeated foe who will one day be cast into the lake of fire.

When faced with opposition, we must confront it the right way. Paul wrote:

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Nothing has come against you that someone else has not already faced, and God will give you the strength to bear it.

The leaders had said, "Do nothing in Jesus' name; do not teach in His name." And the church went to God and said, "Give us boldness to do so."

They Received a Response and Returned to the Work

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. (Acts 4:31)

Note that—when they had prayed. They reported the opposition, resolved to pray, remembered God and His word, recognized the word's application, requested boldness, received a response, and returned to the work. They spoke the word of God with boldness, even though the opposition had forbidden it.

We need to follow this same pattern. As a church here, we are not yet receiving great opposition, though one day in our nation we may. But in a group this large, dozens of you are right now going through trials, difficulty, and hard times. The temptation of our flesh is to say, "God, just take it away." How many of you have prayed that, and it didn't happen, and you concluded the Lord doesn't love you? That is not the case.

I exhort you to do what the early church did. Resolve to pray—but first remember who your God is and return to His word. When you see how God works, you will see the application to your own situation, and you will know how to pray properly. Many times we receive no answer because we pray according to our own will and not God's. How will I know His will? I must know His word. The early church discovered, "We are going to go through difficulty; the world will be against us"—and so they prayed in accordance with God's will and received abundantly.

The Lord promised through Jeremiah, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3). As we discern God's will through His word, we can pray in line with it and receive what we ask.

There will be difficulty. You will never hear from this pulpit that after you become a Christian everything is peachy keen—that would be a lie. When you become a believer, you mark yourself in this world as a target of the enemy. Before, you fit right into his plan; now that you've set yourself against him by following the Lord, you will experience opposition. And when faced with it, may we respond by coming before the Lord—remembering who He is and what He has said, recognizing that His word has practical application to what we face this very moment, and bringing our requests to Him in line with what His word reveals. God will speak, and He will give you power to bear whatever He has you go through. He has promised it.

Closing Prayer

Lord God, You are our God, and we thank You that we can trust in You and lean upon You. We need not fear ten thousand at our right hand or our left, for You are our protection, our shield, our exceedingly great reward, the lifter of our head, even our rear guard. You take care of every problem that faces us. Help us to be those who turn to You and trust in You. Whatever we are confronted with, may You be the One we turn to first, not last, trusting that You have promised to guide us in all truth and to keep that which we have committed unto You until that final day. We look forward to that day, knowing You will come again. We praise You and thank You, in Jesus' name. All God's people said, amen.