Acts, Chapter 4, Sunday messege - Pastor Gil , 4-3-22

 

     Peter and John stand before the Jewish Sanhedrin or Supreme court. 5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6 and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? They were facing the same men as Jesus faced. Part of the answer of Peter and John was this:

20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. That is the definition of a witness, is it not.. When we witness to others as we also live our lives we speak of the things that we have seen and heard which have been touched by the holy spirit..

Jesus told his disciples… “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:11–12).. Peter and John were emboldened and filled by the Holy Spirit.. Their lives hung in the balance yet they remained steadfast ……

And when they were released they prayed…

Often when we pray we pray with such desperation; when we are in trouble. But this is how they prayed:

24 they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: 25 who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27 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, 28 for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30 by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

31 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.

I began today at the end of the chapter because Peter and john set an example for us.. Glorifying God in prayer and exhibiting the faith to ask for his protection going forward under threat from the Jewish supreme court…

We are always under threat of some kind aren’t we.. In this day and age the threat of disease is with us daily..things that threaten to shake our life, bad influences in our lives and the works of Satan is ever present..All posing threats to us daily.. Satan wants to shake our faith.. He delights in it… So we need all the strength from God that he is willing to extend to us.. But notice what Peter and John asked for… They said

“ Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,” They said Lord.. Look at the threats that we’re up against. Give to us ( your servants) the boldness to speak thy word… Their saying overcome our fears so that we may testify ..That they may prophesy and that they may heal bodies and souls, in Jesus’ name.. They knew how close they were to being stoned to death… They understood the reality of the threat..After all ..Look what they did..these men did to Jesus….! So they didn’t run, they didn’t cry, they didn’t give up , they didn’t despair..They prayed and glorified God….

We are all unique yet our lives overlap as God’s children..so we have much in common as well…

As I share my prayer with you this morning think of your needs, what you need to carry on God’s will ..right now…

Our heavenly Father,

Fill us this morning with the Holy Spirit and let this fire be felt in our hearts. Our lives are not the same as Peter and Paul’s were but we ask that you see our deficiencies and grant us the qualities to overcome them. As I speak this morning Lord fill my mouth with your words and let your words rest in the hearts of all to hear and even all who wish to hear… Use me Lord..Use us to bring needy souls into the church to hear your word. Rescue us and grant us the strength and power to do your will…Give all of us voice so that we may glorify you and share a precious fellowship with one another..Bless this humble ministry and all of its members and their families this morning..

We ask these things in Jesus’ name..

Amen

Back to the chapter at hand..Acts 4

Well, let me refresh your memory about a couple of things directly connected with this chapter.. On the day of Pentecost, we remember that there was a physical miraculous phenomena that occurred. The cloven tongues as of fire was over the heads of the 120 followers of Christ that had gathered in an upper room. It was quite amazing. They had never seen it before. They would never see it again. It was the very beginning of the church. Jesus said He would build His church. He starts doing it on that day, the day of Pentecost.

And so they looked around the room, They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. I’m not sure what that looked like but it must have been quite shocking….

Well, that fire has long gone. However, though the fire that was once on their head has gone, the fire that is in their heart still remains. They have a burning heart. And we pick up the story of after Peter's sermon, Peter and John going into the temple with burning hearts. I'm using that phrase because you'll

recall at the end of the Gospel of Luke, there were two disciples unaware of the resurrection, taking a journey from Jerusalem to a nearby village called Emmaus. Jesus shows up. They don't recognize Him. He starts talking to them, explaining the scriptures, and then vanishes. And once they realized it was Jesus, one said to the other, did not our heart burn within us, as He talked to us on the road and opened the scriptures to us. So, with burning hearts still, Peter and John go at the hour of prayer into the temple complex. They had been in Solomon's porch. A crowd gathered. Peter preached the gospel. Now they're going up at the hour of prayer, two ordinary men on an ordinary day. But God has an extraordinary plan. Peter and John had no idea what was about to happen. They just did what they ordinarily did, but God will extraordinarily show up.

I wondered what might happen if you decided to live your life that way. That you would approach each day--

Like It's an ordinary day. You plan to get up, have breakfast, do ordinary things, go to an ordinary occupation, perform ordinary duties with other ordinary people. However, because I serve an extraordinary God, what might happen? When you frame life that way, you set yourself up for an adventure. You can’t help but love the idea of following God as an adventure. Anything's possible. With God, Jesus said, nothing shall be impossible. So what might that extraordinary God want to do with an extraordinary plan in an ordinary fella's life? I love that idea.

Psalm 37 declares the steps of a righteous man or woman are ordered by the Lord. And He delights in his way. What if you were to just think that as you get out of bed, the steps that I take, ordinary steps, are ordered by the Lord. Thus, God could do something amazing in my life today. Well, that sort of sets up what we're about to read in chapter 4.

As exciting as that seems, here's the unexciting part. They're about to go in. An extraordinary thing is going to happen. A miracle has already happened. And they've seen it. And a man who was paralyzed from birth is now able to walk. He was lame, but now he's walking and leaping and praising God. And they're flying high as a kite. However, now begins another period of church history. After the birth of the church is the persecution of the church. This is the first recorded persecution of the followers of Jesus Christ, post Christ on the earth.

He is now ascended. The disciples are gathered in Jerusalem. This great miracle invites the eyes of the known world, at that time.

And the establishment won't like it. So the great commission, preaching the gospel, has and always will invite great persecution. This is the beginning of the persecution for the church. For the next 300 years, the Church of Jesus Christ would experience some of the worst, most notable persecutions in its history.

Most historians point to 10 waves of persecution starting with Caesar Nero in about 67 A.D. This is what happens at Jerusalem, but the Roman Empire will come against Christianity

until around 303. Wave after wave after wave. When I say persecution, I don't mean they're going to laugh at their bumper sticker, that they're going to mock them and say, oh you Christians are so narrow-minded, hahaha. That's the kind of persecution we might get.

I mean they get physical persecution. They will be beaten. They will be scourged. They will be beheaded.

They will be taken by one of the Caesar's, given wax shirts, and lit as living torches, living candles in the gardens of Rome at night until they die in the flames.

Caesar Nero will take the skins of freshly killed animals and sew them around live men or women of faith, believers, and have wild dogs consume them alive.

For the next 300 years, they're going to face that. Now we still have persecution on earth for Christians today. A lot of us thought that was passe until we discovered, no. It's been going on. There's a steady and increasing stream of it.

And we've all heard of news reports over the last several years with ISIS and extreme Islam beheading, crucifying, doing some of the same things that the Romans did to the Christians

in the first 300 years. Now, in our culture right now, we don't see that kind of persecution. We see a persecution more of the ego. Our ego gets persecuted. We get scorned. We get maligned. We get sidelined. And so we think, oh no, people won't like me if I stand up for Christ. Oh, I may lose my job or my status or my friends. It's still persecution. It's still legitimate. But our persecution pales, I think you would agree, with the kind of persecution that our brothers and sisters are seeing in the Middle East, parts of North Africa, and what was seen in the early church.

So verse 1 chapter 4 Now as they spoke to the people-- remember Peter has preached a message in Solomon's portico. As they spoke to the people, the priests the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them. Being greatly disturbed.

The gospel always does that. It greatly disturbs people. All who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Now that's a very interesting verse of scripture that Paul wrote to Timothy. All who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

The gospel always disturbs people because it always disturbs the status quo. When you open your mouth and proclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ only, you're being very definitive and you are being very separatist.

You are you are taking the broad spectrum idea of “all people are good” and all people find their own way. And so many people are sincere and there are so many ways to God.

And you're saying I'm going to not only disagree with that. I'm going to show you that all of those ways in God's book are closed down to one single narrow avenue. Christ alone. Faith in Christ alone. That's going to disturb people.

Now the word greatly disturbed here in our verse means pained. They were pained. They were perturbed. They were greatly ticked off. But notice by whom and why. We are told the Sadducees, verse 1, came upon them being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees. We've read about them so far in the four gospels.

But here's what's different. In the life of Christ outlined in the four gospels, the primary enemy of Christ was the Pharisees. Now that Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven and the early church is born, the Pharisees are no longer the primary enemy. The Sadducees are. You need to know why. Why? Because they preached the resurrection from the dead.

Now a word about Sadducees. The Sadducees were the ruling class of very aristocratic Jews who controlled all that went on in the temple, including the high priesthood. The best way to think of the Sadducees is, first of all, politically. Politically they sided with the Roman government because Rome gave them favor… Rome appointed some of them and deposed other high priests. They wanted to get on the best side of the political engine that was Rome and not disturb the peace.

They loved the status quo. So they cultivated the favor of the Roman government. So the idea of a messiah coming and people following him and that whole disturbance that Jesus created, that wasn't too exciting to them. Politically they sided with Rome. Eschatologically, they believed they were in the Messianic Era.

The Sadducees believed that the messianic era started at the time of the Maccabean Revolt, about 167 B.C.

When Judas Maccabeus revolted against the Syrians who had overtaken Judea, they believed, this was the Messianic Era because it was a physical deliverance from their enemies.

Then another way to think of the Pharisees is theologically. Theologically, they were the liberals of their day. The Pharisees believed in angels. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection. The Pharisees believed in the spirit world. They believed in all of the scriptures. They were very, very legalistic.

The Sadducees, on the other hand, were very liberal minded. They did not believe in angels. They did not believe in miracles. They did not believe in the spirit world. And they did not believe, get this, in a resurrection. So notice that it's the Sadducees that are greatly disturbed because the disciples are preaching the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So the Sadducees become the foremost enemy of the early church in the book of Acts. Pharisees still don't like them, but the Sadducees sort of take the lead in being offended by the Christians.. Offending these people in those days will get you a death sentence…

So the Sadducees saw no hope in life after death. Just imagine living that way. They're religious, but they don't see any hope in life after death. They don't believe in the spirit world. They don't believe in the resurrection.

It says “The Sadducees laid hands on them and put them in custody. They arrested Peter and John until the next day, for it was already evening. However many of those who heard the word believed.

“But many who heard the word of God believed. And that's what we live for. I understand whenever I share truth,

in any forum, that not everybody in attendance agrees with the scripture, agrees with my teaching or the teaching of Holy Writ. I understand that. I understand that when I share to an unbelieving world that a lot will be turned off by it. But some that will hear and some will believe. And that's the blessing in all of it….It's those “some”. ….The few” Jesus talked about the seed that was sown. And the enemy immediately comes and robs the seed that was sown by the wayside. Other seed only lasts temporarily, but dries up whenever there's a hard time or persecution. Other seed, other people grow for a while, but the cares of this world choke them out. But then Jesus said, there's the soil that is good. There's a heart that is good. And the seed of the Word of God is sown in some people's hearts and it takes root. And they bear fruit. A good root always brings good fruit. Those who would grab a hold of the truth.

So some believed. And watch this. The number of the men came to be about 5,000.

Now we read that on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached a sermon. And we're given the number of those who believed, 3,000. Now we're given the number 5,000. You know what this tells me? Somebody in the early church is counting. So you know, it's sort of holy to say, oh, but we don't care about numbers. Well they did. They recorded it. It was important, they thought, that we know what God was doing so that we could also rejoice 2,000 years later. So 3,000 souls were saved.

Now, the total number, up to this point is about 5,000 men. They're counting just the men here. But that's just how they counted in those days. They counted the men who had made decisions. And so it's not an exact number, about 5,000 plus wives or friends or children. But a large, growing number of disciples are believing. And it came to pass on the next day that their rulers, elders and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" Now this is a loaded question. Because in their scripture, in the Old Testament, they were commanded when anybody comes in and does something notable like a miracle, a sign, or a wonder, ask that person what name they do it in. If that person is leading you away from the name of God and from worshiping God, that person is a false prophet and is to be extricated. Nice, fancy way of saying stoned, killed, eliminated.

So they're waiting for the answer. "By what name are you doing--" they're waiting. By the name of Jesus.

They are, I would say, Locked and loaded. They got stone in hand.

They're like ready to stone these two-- "By what power, by what name are you doing this…

You know first on the list, besides the elders, Annas, was a high priest Caiaphas. He was the residing high priest. Now here's what's ironic. Peter and John, disciples of Jesus, are standing before the very same group that Jesus stood before when he was tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin. Ironic. Peter was outside warming himself in the courtyard at a fire. Now he's face to face. Jesus faced this crowd, Annas, Caiaphas, and the rest, members of the Sanhedrin, and now the disciples are there.

Now can I refresh your memory? Annas was not the current high priest. He was the one-time high priest. However, though, he wasn't the current high priest. Caiaphas' son-in-law was. He had the power.. It's interesting. I said that politically the Sadducees lined up with the Romans, right?

So here's what happened. In 6 A.D Annas was appointed as the high priest of the Jewish nation. But Annas was deposed in 15 A.D. So he was only serving for eight or nine years. And he was deposed by

Rome…The Romans, who controlled the land, had the power to put in and take out high priests of Judaism. Now what makes that unusual, as you know, in your Old Testament, if you're a high priest, you're a high priest for what? For life. Because you're a son of Aaron. And you live out your life in that position. And when you die, you get replaced. But this is Roman-occupied Israel.

So the Romans are pulling the strings. And although the Romans deposed Annas as the high priest--

he's the older guy. Caiaphas is the younger guy. He is the son-in-law of Annas. All the Jews still revered Annas, almost like a King of the Jews. He had the power. And one of the reasons he had the power, is he had the purse strings. It was Annas that was in control of the business of the temple.

This is why Annas really got angry when Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. It hit him in his pocketbook. Now the same Annas and Caiaphas and group are meeting with the disciples. And they asked this loaded question.

"By what power or by what name have you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them--

I'm going slow because I really want that filled with the Holy Spirit part to sink in.

We discussed it a great deal in the book of Acts so far. But now just be refreshed by this. Here's Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, and Peter is bold.

Now do you remember? Let's go back a bit. The night that Jesus stood trial before Annas and Caiaphas, Peter was outside in the courtyard warming himself at a fire, denying Christ to a servant girl. Now Peter isn't outside in the courtyard of the high priest. He's inside, on fire, being bold, not timid, not denying, but being declarative of his Lord. It's a different man. Why?

Because it's Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. And Peter, having seen the resurrected Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit, is going shout it from the roof top….He said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel." Boy, it sounds like he's ready to go. You know why? He is. Jesus had made Peter and the other disciples a promise. He said, don't worry about how or what you are going to speak when you get taken before these rulers, these elders, for it will be given to you in that hour what to say, for the Spirit-- the Holy Spirit, Jesus said-- will give you the words.

So Peter's ready, because the Holy Spirit is filling Peter. So he just pours forth.

"Rulers of the people, elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified--" that's bold-- "whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole."

Peter does something very interesting. He turns the tables of accusation back on them.

"By what power or by what name are you doing this?" And Peter shows the absurdity of this whole mock trial.

Here's a guy who couldn't walk. Now he can. He was a fixture in the temple for years, since his birth, 40 years. He begged alms. Now he can walk. And we're on trial for that? You're accusing us about that? And so he turns the tables when he says, "If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you, to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, God raised from the dead by Him--" by Jesus. "This man stands before you whole."

Now I can't prove what I'm about to say. But I just have sort of a hunch. I'm just trying to put myself in the situation of Annas and Caiaphas, who had stared Jesus in the eye and heard Him speak the words he did. And I'm sure when Jesus spoke to them, they must have felt some conviction. Like, there's something different about this man. This is an unusual presence I'm standing before,.. And I can't help but think that they're feeling some of that same conviction again. As they listened to Peter and John speak to them, and Peter being so bold and articulate, that was probably some of the feeling they had in looking at Jesus and hearing, at the trial of Jesus,

They're feeling that all over again. It's like Jesus was speaking again to them. I wonder if it sent a chill up their spine??? And He was. He was speaking through Peter and John to them.

It must have been an eerie feeling as they felt that conviction. See, they have a problem. The problem is, they don't believe in Jesus. They don't believe in the resurrection. They don't believe in miracles. Can you see what the problem is? A miracle just happened. There's a man who was lame for 40 years, who can now walk and leap and praise God. So they have the evidence, the living proof, right in front of them. That's a problem for them. They don't believe in miracles and yet one just happened before their eyes.

I’m thinking , Dealing with that is sort of like Lazarus, but Lazarus wasn't lame. He was dead, and now he's alive again. When Lazarus was raised from the dead, it says some believed, having seen Lazarus raised from the dead, but others went and told the chief priests. And the chief priests conferred together and said, what shall we do? Because they all knew Lazarus had risen from the dead. Interesting question, what shall we do? I have an answer.

Believe in Jesus. That's what you should do. At this point, a dead brother is now alive.

Repent. At this point, a lame man can now walk and leap and praise God. That should shake them to the core.. But it's amazing how deep unbelief will go. Have you ever heard people say, well, if I could only see a miracle, then I'd believe.

And when I hear that, I immediately go no you won't. Oh, I would believe. No you won't.

You remember the story of rich man and Lazarus in Luke chapter 16? Jesus tells a story about a rich man and Lazarus. Both die. One is taken to Abraham's bosom. That's Lazarus-- a different Lazarus than the friend of Jesus in John 11-- and a rich man who is suffering in Hades. And the rich man said to Abraham,

"Abraham, send this man, Lazarus, to my five brothers in my Father's house, lest they come to this place of torment." And Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets.

Let them hear them. In other words, they have the testimony of scripture. That's enough. And immediately the rich man says, no. But if somebody rises from the dead, they'll believe. And Abraham said no they won't. If they won't listen to the testimony of scripture, they will not believe even though someone rises from the dead. And that can be proven. A different Lazarus rose from the dead, and a whole group of people in Jerusalem refused to believe the evidence. Here's a lame man. A miracle has happened. A whole group of people refused to believe the evidence. So they have a problem. And the problem is by Him, this man, verse 10, stands before you whole. Now here's the principle.

The greatest argument for the power of Christ is a changed life. Here's a changed life. A cripple can now walk. The greatest ad that God can ever take out, the greatest advertisement God could ever have, is to have a life changed by the gospel. And you know people are going to say, well I can argue this Christian in circles. I know so much more intellectually than he or she does. Come on, let's have an argument. I can argue you, Christians, out the door.

But you can't argue with “I once was blind, but now I see”. I once was lame, but now I walk. Or this is who I was before I met Jesus Christ. This is what I believe now and who I am now. And as people who knew you now watch you in a renewed, changed life, it will make an impact on them. The personal testimony of a changed life is the greatest argument for the validity of the gospels; a changed human life.

Peter continues, verse 11.

He can really quote scripture. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone, nor is their salvation in any other. For there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be Saved…..

He's quoting Psalm 118, which says the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone..

He is quoting a messianic Psalm. He's going to quote Psalm two later on in chapter four.

Now he's quoting Psalm 18. There are 16 of the 150 Psalms in the Old Testament that were regarded as messianic Psalms, and this is one of them. Psalm 118. Nor is their salvation in any other-- verse 12-- for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Now, verse 13.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Notice the verbs in that verse. They saw, they perceived, they realized. What's the first one? They saw. What did they see? The boldness of Peter and John. Now you might say, well, Peter was always bold by nature.

No, he wasn't. Peter was always impetuous by nature. Peter wanted to cut off ears of high priest servants. He always made impetuous moves, but he had a hard time telling a servant girl, admitting to her that he was a follower of Jesus. That's not boldness. That's timidity. He was impetuous, but he was not bold. Now he's bold. Now there's a holy boldness as he stands and gives his testimony and preaches using the scripture. So they saw the boldness of Peter and John.

Second, and they perceived-- notice this. What did they perceive? That they were uneducated and untrained men. Don't get the wrong idea that they are being accused of being idiots or illiterate. When they say they're uneducated or untrained, it simply means they didn't have a rabbinical background. They didn't have a higher education. They were not trained in the seminaries of the rabbis of the day. They didn't have the schooling. They looked at these fishermen, these simple guys, and they thought…. I don't get it. They are so good at quoting the scripture and interpreting the meaning of this messianic text. They marveled.

And then third, and they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Ah, that's the secret.

And let me just put it this way. There are people who know the Word of God. Then there are those who know the God of the Word. You can just tell. These people have a relationship with this God.

Now you can have both. You can know the Word of God and know the God of the Word. You don't have to have one or the other. But sometimes people just know the Word but don't really know the Lord that well.

But they realized they had been with Jesus.

I'm going to jog your memory. In first John, chapter one-- John writes to three different groups.

He goes, I write unto you children because your sins have been forgiven. I write unto you young men because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you fathers because you have known Him who is from the beginning. Levels of spiritual maturity. There's the young children, new members in the household of faith. All they know is their sins are forgiven. Then there are those who are maturing and growing and overcoming the evil of the wicked one. But then there are those spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers who know the Lord.

They're with Jesus.

They realized they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them--

talk about evidence. Talk about proof. He's not on the ground anymore begging. He's standing with them. Remember, he's been leaping and praising.

They could say nothing against it. But when they commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, "What shall we do to these men? For indeed that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it."

But so that it spreads no further among the people, here's what we'll do. We'll severely threaten them. It's all they could do. Well I guess they could have killed them. They'll do that later. But they severely threaten them that from now on they speak to no man in this name, the name of Jesus.

There's power in the name of Jesus. So verse 18 tells us a law has now been passed by the religious establishment, making personal evangelism illegal.

But Peter and John answered and said to them-- now this is not what they expect. The authorities expect them to answer and say, OK, whatever you say. We'll roll over. We'll obey our authorities. But Peter and John answered and said to them,

"Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God you judge. But we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Oh. Sadducees did not expect to hear that.

It's not the answer they were banking on. They were banking on yes, sir.

But Peter and John now appeal to a higher court, the Supreme Court. Not the Supreme Court of Judaism, the Sanhedrin, a higher court. God. The courts of Heaven, the throne room of Heaven.

Whether it's right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you decide. You judge.

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Now what was the issue to the apostles? The issue was what is right. What is right. That's the issue with them. We're going to do what is right, not what is safe, not what is popular, not what is easy. What is right. And what is right, in this case, is to not do what you say we should do. What is right is what God says we should do. Now if there was a way for Peter and John to obey both their authorities on earth and God, the authority in Heaven, they would have done that. Because they said that. They wrote that. Peter said to submit to every authority, whether it's as to the kings supreme or to governors who are dispatched from the king, 1 Peter chapter 2.

Paul, Romans 13, said submit yourself to every authority, pay your taxes, et cetera. If there is a way to obey human government, human institutions, and God, we do both. But if one collides with the other, you have to appeal to the Supreme Court, the court of Heaven. We must obey God rather than men.

We're not going to listen to you as much as listen to God.

So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people since they all glorified God for what had been done, for the man was over 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders said to them.

Did you notice in verse 22 it says the man was over 40 years old? He'd been paralyzed from birth. He'd been at the Gate Beautiful of the temple.

Again, that just brings up something I brought up in a previous study. What that means is Jesus walked by him many times and never healed him. So don't think Jesus healed everybody he saw..

No, he walked by him and didn't heal him. And this shows you the wisdom of God's timing. This was the perfect time for maximum glory to God, because you have living proof in Jerusalem. All the people, all the leaders see it and have to deal with it. So Jesus walked by him probably thinking, your day's coming, buddy. Hang on. So, verse 24. When they heard that, they heard the threats.

They raised their voice to God. Now you're going to eavesdrop on their prayer.

48:10They raised their voice to God in one accord………

They get threatened. What do they do? They lift their voice to God.

They took it to God in prayer. And I want you to notice a few things about their prayer. First of all, they prayed with perspective.

Notice what they say. Lord, you are God who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said, why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand against the rulers.

And the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ, for truly against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles. And the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. Now Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they spoke the word of God with boldness.

it's such a good template and example for our prayer life for talking to God. So go back in verse 20 and notice what I believe is the best definition of a witness. So what does it mean to witness for the Lord?

It simply means this. Speaking the things which you have seen and heard. You tell other people what you have seen, what you have heard. Tell your testimony, what you have seen the Lord do in your life. What you have heard is truth from His word. A witness is somebody who speaks to others what they see and what they hear. That's the definition of a witness.

They gathered together. And I love that as their spiritual instinct.

First thing they did is gather together in fellowship, not separate, not see you later. They got together.

They went through it together. And they prayed.

And I'm going to close on the same point I began with..Lets look at the elements of a powerful prayer…

It was a prayer that had perspective. Notice how they begin their prayer.

They don't say, God, help. God, this is messed up. I need this and I need that. They go, Lord, you are God who made Heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. Why did they say that? Why did they pray this way first? Why did they do that before just telling the Lord what they need? What they want? Here's why.

They needed to gain the right perspective before they asked the Lord anything. And the right perspective is to realize who you're talking to.

We're talking to God who made everything and everyone everywhere. So what that does is elevate your faith. When you realize that you're dealing with, talking to, asking from the God of the universe, nothing's too hard for him. By the way, it may have been they were actually copying the prayer of Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah was in a pickle….

And he said, Lord-- or said ah, Lord God, who made the Heavens and the earth

by your great power and outstretched arm, there is nothing too hard for you.

So when you pray with perspective and you realize to whom you're talking, it brings you into that place of faith, confidence, believing.

So they're framing-- they're gaining the perspective that they're dealing with this Lord.

Lord, you are God who made the Heaven, the earth, the sea

and all that is in them. Let us pray..

Pray with me…



Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.