DRIVEN TO DISCOVERY
#770a DRIVEN TO DISCOVERY
Scripture Acts 4:23-37, NIV Orig. 1/27/1980
Rewr. 10/19/1989
Passage: 23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[a]’[b]
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
The Believers Share Their Possessions
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. 36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Purpose: To remind my people that it is often out of some prescribed opposition that we are driven to the greatest discoveries about ourselves and our capabilities.
Keywords: Faith Opposition Prayer Resources
Timeline/Series: Acts
Introduction
On the football field, encroachment is nothing more than over-eagerness on the part of an occasional defensive player. For people living in the third world nations where there are desert lands it is a life-and-death situation. What little arable land there is, is being lost to encroachment by the desert sands.
Ancient people also had to learn to live with the desert. Their lands also were bordered by it. Their fertile fields were encroached upon. We can remember that the desert marched right up to the gates of Jerusalem itself. The desert was a breeding ground for fierce, nomadic tribes.
Even before, the desert became training ground for the people God. Upon their failure to move steadily into the promised land, it was necessary for them to endure forty years training in the desert. From slaves of Egypt’s passions, they had to be disciplined to become a nation of God’s people.
Great men of God had flowered in the womb of the desert. Not only Moses, but Elijah, Amos, and Jeremiah also. John the Baptist, reared as he surely was by the Essenes, came out of a community of believers who lived with the desert. It was there that the Essenes established their ethic, and left evidence in the form of the “Dead Sea Scrolls.”
The desert also saw the fledgling ministry of Jesus amidst wild animals and ministering angels. To the desert, Saul of Tarsus would be consigned to ready him for his tasks. One is more apt to recognize and appreciate blessings when they are seen objectively.
I. First, We See God’s People Driven to Their Knees. V23, “And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24. . . They lifted up their voice to God with one accord.”
We need, of course, to be reminded that it was partly their success to blame. They had forthrightly spoken the word, and people had responded. It was their success that had disquieted their enemies. From 120 they ministered and 3,000 (2:4) are saved. Shortly after, 5,000 (4:4). The religious bureaucrats were angry. The priests were becoming sensitive to acceptance of the gospel by Jews. The temple police were more interested in their authority than they were in religious freedom. The Sadducees had some vested interests to protect.
Thus, this success-generated opposition puts them on their knees in alarm and concern. They are convinced that God will honor His word to them. They remembered David. Psalm 2:1, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” 1:2, “In his law doth he meditate day and night.” IMAGINE/MEDITATE hagah (Hebrew, Strong’s, 1897). The word for “rage” suggests the excitement of show animals. Why should we imagine in vain things when we can meditate in God’s word. They stand in marked allegiance to Jesus. V24, “Lord, thou art God . . . (creation).” Word chosen is despota. Despot, sovereign master. Other kings (Herod, Pilate) railed against Him.
In success or in failure, the Christian’s posture is kneeling. Again and again we have witnessed it. 1:14 UR/1:24 LOT/2:42 PENTECOST/2:47 Daily. Before Pentecost, such as happens here would have done them in. The living Lord is with them. They know that God can turn this opposition to bless them. They pray, not for protection, but for boldness, v29, parrésia—freedom. Acts 28:31, “boldness, unhinderedly.”
II. Next, We Glimpse God’s People Demonstrating Their Faith. V29, “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word.”
We might expect them to be on the raw edge of despair. They are misunderstood, abused, accused. Their most noble efforts go lacking. Such voices can be found. “He trusted in God that He would deliver him.” “We trusted that it would be He who delivered Israel.”
In the place of despair there is discovery and distinction.
I prayed to see the face of God,
Illumined by the central suns.
Turning in their central track;
But what I saw was not His face at all.
I saw His bent figure on a windy hill,
Carrying a double load upon His back.
We hear them pray, and their prayer is as those who are slaves to God’s purpose. To be a slave is to delight when chosen to serve the honored guest. He will delight also when chosen to pluck foulness from the barnyard nest.
So, it was not deliverance they sought, but boldness. We find no pretense of strength here. They offer only empty vessels, to be filled by Him who has no lack. Ephesians 4:10, “The One who descended to the deepest level of man’s emptiness, reacted also to the supreme heights of God’s fulness, that he might be the supplier of every need.”
They learned, what we have been taught, but fail to claim. It is better in the darkest pit with Jesus, than anywhere without Him.
For all your days prepare,
And meet them ever alike;
When you are the anvil, bear . . .
When you are the hammer strike.
III. Finally, It is Herein that God’s People Discover Our Resources. V31, “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.”
Their need, then as now, is in what God would supply for them. God does not give of His Spirit randomly. John 3:34, “For God giveth not the Spirit by measure.” Because of leaky vessels we need constancy in renewing. Matthew 26:41, “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” I Thessalonians 5:19, “Quench not the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”
There is also the resource of the people of God gathered together. They are drawn away from the majestic to the practical. Prayer, if it is, takes wings to lift up hands of help. Northern California needs Red Cross/Salvation Army; we can help through hunger relief. They share a concern for each other. Deeper understanding of stewardship. There is a new spontaneity in sharing. Communism: Not new (Essenes)/doesn’t abolish private property. Not required, they gave voluntarily/consequence of inner working of Holy Spirit, to meet needs. Works in conjunction with end-time, or unlimited capital.
Conclusion
From this, five important lessons are to be learned: 1-We are to be convinced of God’s power to redeem His Word; 2-We are to recognize the futility of man’s rebellion; 3-We must establish a relationship of remembrance of Jesus; 4-We are to pray; 5-We are to be open to Holy Spirit.
Links/references
Perkins: https://www.poetryexplorer.net/poem.php?id=10114763
Markham: https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=3149