The Church's Reaction to Persecution – A Prayer Meeting

Well, if you would, please turn in your Bible to Acts 4. Acts 4, you should know where that portion of scripture is 'cause we've been there for a little while, but tonight we'll be in verses 23 to 31. Now we're moving along in our study of Acts 4. And just like we've seen in chapter two and chapter three, we will continue to see the wonderful actions of the Holy Spirit of God in and through the apostles and even the church. Now, this reminds me of the series title. The book of Acts is all about the acts and the actions of the Holy Spirit. Some say this is about the acts and actions of the apostles, the church.

I think primarily it's the Holy Spirit and his actions and those apostles, these disciples and the church. And we'll certainly see that tonight. Now real quickly, I wanna revisit what took place before our verses. And this will set us up for what's going on in verses 23 to 31. In chapter three, we saw the first healing miracle recorded in the book here. Luke tells us how God through Peter and John healed the lame man who begged at the temple every day. And also in chapter three, we saw the second recorded sermon in the book. Luke tells us how Peter stepped forward and preached Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus.

And Luke tells us how Peter applied the gospel to the crowd that had gathered because of the great healing. Then in chapter four, we saw that thousands believed as a result of Peter and John's preaching. Verse one says, the number of men in the church, he just mentions men. He mentions that the number of men in the church came to about 5,000. So when we combine the ladies and the children, that was quite a crowd. Now the result of all of these things, persecution. Persecution, we saw the first outbreak of persecution against the church. Luke tells us that Peter and John were arrested by the Jewish religious leaders.

They were interrogated and they were warned not to preach Jesus anymore to the people. But Peter and John responded boldly by saying that they would not obey men, but they would obey God. And they boldly declared that they could not help but preach about Jesus. Remember, they said they couldn't help but preach about what they had seen and heard. Well, the result was that the religious leaders were forced to let them go. Great numbers had seen the crippled man healed. Remember, he was leaping for joy, clinging on to them and following them. So that was quite a scene.

But these great numbers had witnessed all of these things and they were praising God for this miracle. Really and truly, public opinion is what forced the religious leaders to let them go. It's public opinion. So now we come to how the church reacted to all that had taken place. Luke tells us what happened next. He tells us how Peter and John and the entire church of thousands reacted to this first outbreak of persecution and the threat of more persecution. And look, this was a very, very real threat. Now notice something here.

We will see that they did not, Peter and John and the church, they did not react like many do in our society in our day in our country. They did not call their lawyers. They did not call their senators or any other government officials. They did not call American Family Radio to take their case to the Christian public. They did not start a private Facebook group called the First Church Persecution Support Group. Actually, they did not react at all like most do in the greater American church today. Now before we get into our verses, I want us to see a broad observation.

In verses 23 to 37, we have the second recorded short description of the church. The Bible scholar James Montgomery Boyce calls this a portrait of the church. I think it's more of a snapshot. A portrait is broader, more detailed. And this is very short. These are very short snapshots. Now we went over this back when we studied chapter two verses 42 to 47. But notice that in this letter, Luke gives us the short descriptions of the church. We can call them portraits, but I think they're quick, they're snapshots. Obviously, these descriptions are not exhaustive. The first description is found in chapter two verses 42 to 47.

There we have the first church described in her early days. The second description is found in chapter four verses 32 to 37. There we have the first church described after much growth in both maturity and number. And we have the church described after the first outbreak of persecution. Now the third description is found later in chapter five verses 12 to 16. There we have the last brief description given by Luke. And this comes after not external persecution and opposition, but from internal opposition and from hypocrisy in the church. I don't know if you realize it, but chapter five gets really interesting.

But tonight we have verses 23 to 31 before us. And I believe these verses can be overlooked, but they must not be. These verses are loaded. And although I did not say this back when we studied the first basic description of the church, I believe these verses, verses 23 to 31 should be grouped with verses 32 to 37. So here we have these snapshots, these descriptions, which when we put these descriptions together, yes, we see the evolution and the growth of the church as we should. And we see these wonderful descriptions of how God was blessing the church, what they were experiencing, external opposition, internal problems so much, so much.

So tonight we will cover verses 23 to 31 and what I'm calling the church's reaction to persecution, a prayer meeting. The church's reaction to persecution, a prayer meeting. Now let's read our verses. When they were released, that's Peter and John, and I wonder was the lame man with them, they went to their friends, some translations say companions and reported what the chief priests and the elders said to them.

And when they heard it, they lifted up their voices together to God and said, sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of your father, David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were together together against the Lord and against his anointed for truly in this city, there were gathered together against your Holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod, Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your Holy servant, Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continue to speak the word of God with boldness. Again, we have a short description of this first church right after the outbreak of persecution and after Peter and John were released and we see how they reacted to this persecution.

And I want us to see that they did two basic things and as a result, God did one big thing that enabled the church to continue what they were commanded to do. Now I know that sounds ambiguous, but I'll explain it as we go. So number one, the release of Peter and John. We see this in verse 23, the release of Peter and John. Now here we see that Peter and John were released. They've been arrested by the Jewish religious leaders. They've been questioned for healing the lame man and for preaching Jesus as the promised Messiah. They were questioned, interrogated and threatened.

The religious leaders had no way to punish them, not because they saw Peter and John as innocent, but because public opinion. So they released them and commanded them not to preach or teach in the name of Jesus anymore. But Peter and John boldly told the religious leaders that they could not help but preach and teach of Jesus. And notice what they did in their release. They went back to the church and notice what they did when they went back. They had an impromptu meeting, but notice who gathered. The English standard says they went to their friends. Notice that.

The new Americans says they went to their companions, but a question, who were these friends? Who were these companions? This is a very important question. I like how John McCarthy explains this. He says, this group should not be limited to the other apostles, nor should this group be expanded to the entire church. He goes on to say there was no place for 5,000 men plus women and children to meet. So think about it. It's rather practical. Now, what's the point? And what do we need to see here?

Obviously, this was not the entire church body meeting together to hear a mission's report from Peter and John, but there was certainly an appropriate group from the church. No doubt the other apostles were there. No doubt other church leaders were there. No doubt there were some women and possibly some children there. Think about it. We know that Peter was married, but the point here is this. Peter and John were released from their arrest and persecution, and they went back to the church and gave a mission's report. Look at verse 23, and you tell me if this is not a mission's report.

When they were released, they went to their friends, their companions, and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. Now, right here, there is one lesson that I want us to learn, and I wanna make one observation that will fit in with this lesson. First, the lesson. When we are going through trial difficulty problems and even difficulties from our own sins and bad choices, our response should be just like Peter and John, we should go to our friends, to our companions in the church, and give a mission's report. Now, hold on to that. I'm gonna come back and revisit that lesson. Now, the observation I wanna make.

Here we have the very beginning of a great unifying work in the church. We will see that this church possessed and demonstrated great unity, oneness, kinship, harmony, fraternity, and cohesiveness, and their unity, their oneness, their kinship grew greater and greater as a result of the persecution that Peter and John experienced, and the threats made against them. Now, come back to our lesson.

Because some in our church do not bring their trials, difficulties, problems, even struggles with sin, even bad choices and failures, to their brothers and sisters in the church, the work of growing more and more in unity, the work of growing more and more in oneness, in kinship, in harmony, in fraternity, in cohesiveness is hindered. You might say, "Pastor, I'm too ashamed." You might say, "Pastor, I'm just private. "I don't open up like that." You might say, "Pastor, I've been burned "in churches before." You might say, "Pastor, I'm going through much. "I'm just too tired. "I keep making on Sunday nights to small groups.

"I can barely come on Sunday morning. "I can't come on Wednesday nights either. "I just need my space. "All these things are wearing me out." Look, church, and you need to repeat this to all in our church. You need to repeat this to all in your small group. The devil uses all these excuses and more to get believers into a trap.

His goal is to get you to a place where when you are in the middle of a trial or a difficulty or a problem, even struggling with sin, even struggling with the ramifications of bad choices, even struggling with failures, he's trying to get you to withdraw and to become private, to distance yourself instead of going to your companions, to your brothers and sisters in the church. And many are in that trap. William McDonald says that one test of a Christian's character is where he finds fellowship and companionship. I agree, but that's not enough.

I added that by saying that one test of a Christian's character is where he finds fellowship and companionship when facing trials, difficulties, problems, even struggling with sin and bad choices and failures, and you can add to that list. So verse 23 tells us that when Peter and John were released, they went straight to the church for a missions report. Next, or number two, notice the reaction of the church, the reaction of the church. Now think about these circumstances. Peter and John had been threatened, they'd been released, so they were in the clear. But the threat of arrest, prison, and death was still very, very real.

They were facing the real possibility of life and death persecution here. Now think about it, look ahead in the book, we will see that in the next outbreak of persecution, people died, they died. So this church and the leadership of the church were facing the real threat of life and death persecution, and we need to see the reaction of the church in the face of these threats. So let's read our verses, verses 24 to 30. And when they heard it, the companions and friends, they lifted their voices together to God and said, sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them?

Who through the mouth of your father, David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage in the people's plot and vein? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city, there were gathered together against your Holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod, Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Verse 29, and now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand and heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your Holy servant, Jesus. Now I know that what I'm about to say may sound hokey, but there is a lot of truth in what I'm fixing to share with you. But notice the contrast between what this church did and what many in the church in our country do. They reacted by having a prayer meeting, not in protesting. I don't see protesting in the book of Acts folks. They reacted in great praise, not in a pity party. Woe is me, woe is me.

Pastor, you don't know how hard it is. I just can't come. They reacted in quoting the Psalms, not in signing petitions. They thought a lot different than we do. Now what's my point? Sadly, in many places in the American church, the church reacts to trials, rejection from the world and even persecution much different than the church it drew from. How did churches react during the COVID shutdowns in government outreach? How did some churches and church leaders react during the great pressures that came upon the church during the big woke movement? Now that's not gone away, but it subsided.

Now out of these verses, I want us to see two ways they reacted. The first is shorter. First, they reacted in great unity. Now verse 24 says they lifted their voices together. That's the New American Standard. Excuse me, that's the English Standard version. The New American, the Legacy Standard Bible, the King James uses this word, one accord. And in the original, this speaks of being in one mind with one passion and with one purpose. And scholars tell us that this is a unique word in the original and it is used 10 times in the book of Acts out of 12 times in the entire New Testament.

And this helps us see the unique nature of this Christian community. This helps us see the unique nature of this body and the body life within the church. One scholar pointed out that this word used here for together or one accord. This is a compound word. That means it was two words joined together. The first word means to rush along while the other means in unison. The scholar went on to say the image here is almost musical in nature. And he goes on to say there are a number of notes that are sounded which were different, but harmonized in pitch and tone as the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master.

So the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of the members of this church in Christ. Now, the point here is this. All these believers in this church were different. They were different individuals, different families, but they had great harmony. They had one mind, one passion, one purpose. And they blended together, not out of tune, but in tune spiritually. They all blended together in one mind, one heart, and in one purpose. And under the direction of the Holy Spirit as he worked in and through them, they all rushed together in great unity and oneness with one passion and one purpose in all of these events. Now, there's some lessons here.

Church, don't take our unity and oneness for granted. It can be shattered and broken. There are some people here that can go back to a time in the life of our church when there were people who created lots of division and the unity was shattered and broken. And it took a while for that to be repaired. So don't take it for granted. Next, we must see that it is our responsibility to work, to preserve our unity and preserve our oneness and guard it with our lives. Also, we must see that God uses even negative things. Yes, even division in the church, even sin in the church, even persecution to bring about greater and greater unity.

All these things grew the unity in the life of the church. Actually, the list of things that God uses to bring about more and more unity, it's endless. He uses positive things and negative things. And we will revisit this subject of unity when we get over into verses 32 to 37. But then the second way they reacted. Second, they reacted in great prayer. Now, when we look into their prayer, we see quite a lot going on and there are many observations we can make about this prayer, but I want us to see four things in their prayer. Notice they recognized God's sovereignty in prayer.

They recognized God's sovereignty in prayer and they recognized God's sovereignty in two ways. First, they used a word to speak of God's sovereignty that was unique. This phrase, sovereign Lord, seen in the English Standard, this comes from a word that was commonly used in their day to describe world leaders. It was commonly used of world leaders, even brutal leaders, but it was uncommon to use it for God. Second, they described God as the creator of heaven and earth. Now, what is the point here? They prayed to God, proclaiming to God and describing God to God as the supreme ruler of all.

They prayed to God, proclaiming to God that they knew that he was the creator of all and the supreme ruler of all. Don't you think God knew these things? Now, there's a lesson here. When we face trials, difficulties, rejection, persecution, the first thing we should do is pray to God about who he is. When we face trial, when we face difficulties, rejection, persecution, it doesn't matter what it is. The first thing we should do is to pray to God about who he is. If that was good enough for this church, it's good enough for us.

Look, church, for the believer, notice, all fear, all worry is a disconnection from the sovereignty of God on a personal and experiential level. Let me repeat that. For the believer, all fear and all worry is a disconnection from the sovereignty of God on a personal and experiential level. You may say, pastor, well, it's just my nature to be fearful. We'll crucify that. That's just the way I am. My mother was that way. My grandmother was that way. Well, crucify that too. For the believer, fear and worry, things like that reflect a lack of trust in God or a failure to see who God is or both. I'll tell you a little story here.

A few summers ago, I took Annie to Scotland. I wanna miss your trip, a good Anchor & Truth mission trip. We got on the airplane in Jackson and she'd never been on an airplane before. And the first thing she said was, I'm scared. I said, it's too late now. So we went to Scotland and had a great trip. Well, the next year at the True Church Conference, I was looking at the mission trip lists and I saw Annie's name on the list. I went and sat back down by Christie and I said, Annie put her name on the list to go to Scotland. She said, that's a bad idea. You're not going. I said, no, it's a good idea. I wasn't afraid. I wasn't worried at all.

Annie professed Christ was walking with the Lord and going to do the Lord's work. What better place could she be in? People might say, well, you couldn't get to her if there was a problem. She's fine, God's sovereign overall. I say this jokingly, I'd like to rather die on a mission trip than fall out of a deer stand, but the Lord's sovereign over that too. Now, I want to be personal now. Are you fearful and worrisome to the place where it hinders you in your life? Look, that's a lack of trusting in God. God is sovereign overall. He is the creator of all. But let's move on. Notice they prayed God's word in prayer. We see this in verse 25, 26.

Now here we see that they prayed certain portions of Psalm 2. Your copy of God's word might have a notation there that tell you that. But notice they prayed certain portions of Psalm 2 back to God. Now, why did they do this? What did this mean? What bearing does Psalm 2 have on these events and their circumstances? Now, this is rather simple, but it does have some layers. Now, we need to understand that Psalm 2 was originally written for and came out of the crowning of the new king in Israel. So that was its immediate meaning and context, the crowning of a new king in Israel. But its ultimate meaning and context had to do with Jesus.

The ultimate meaning and message pointed to our Lord Jesus. Psalm 2 is a description of the nations and kings rebelling against our Lord. So that is the ultimate meaning and context. But as we can see here, the apostles and these believers saw the message of Psalm 2 as applying to their context and their situation. And we see this in verse 27. Notice how they connect Psalm 2 with their circumstances. Verse 27, they said, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against your Holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles." That would be the Romans and the people of Israel.

That would be the religious leaders. So they saw the enemies of Jesus, such as Herod, Pilate, along with the Romans and the people of Israel, as those who joined together to crucify and kill Jesus. So the point is this, they saw the message of Psalm 2 as applying to those who joined together to crucify and kill Christ. And they saw these same individuals as enemies of the gospel, enemies of their preaching and enemies of the church. Now it was not that the apostles in the church named these men their enemies. No, it was that these men named them and their preaching and Jesus as their enemies. And there's a difference. I'm gonna repeat that.

It was not that the apostles in the church named these men as their enemies. That was not what they did. It was that these men that were named, named them, their preaching, their Jesus as their enemies. Now this leads me to a warning here that many in the church today need to heed. We can never allow those who set themselves up as enemies of the gospel and enemies of the church as our enemies and our hearts and minds. I'm gonna repeat that. We can never allow those who set themselves up as enemies of the gospel, enemies of the church to become our enemies and our hearts and minds.

It is a grievous mistake and sin that will undermine the gospel and the purpose of the church to make those who have determined to be our enemies, our enemies. Look church, be on guard against those voices that will make people in our culture our enemies. The Democrats and certain people in government may see us as the enemy, but we must never, ever, ever see them as our enemy. How did the church and those believers treat and react to Paul before he was savingly converted to Christ? They didn't see him as an enemy. Oh, he was an enemy against them. You see? But then next noticed, they prayed for God's sovereign plan in prayer.

We see this in verse 28. Now this part of their prayer was connected to the previous part. They simply saw God as the supreme Lord overall. Together, all together, they understood this fact and they saw that all that was taking place in their persecution and the possibility of more persecution and even death was under his control. And notice just what they prayed in this part of the prayer. I'm gonna read it in the Amplified. I'm gonna start with verse 27, but the part I'm aiming at is verse 28. Listen to the verses.

They said, "For in this city, they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, both Herod, Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined before the creation of the world to occur. And so without knowing it, they served your own purpose." Now notice that they use this word predestined. Predestined. And this word predestined, it means to predetermined. It means to predetermined to decide beforehand. And it is interesting, this is the same word we see in verses that have to do with salvation.

In Romans 9.29, we see that those that God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. In Romans 8.30, we see that those whom God predestined, he also called. In Ephesians 1.5, we see that God predestined us for adoption to himself. Now, what is my point here? These believers understood that God had predestined or determined beforehand that Herod, Pontius Pilate, along with the Romans and the Jewish leaders would crucify and kill Jesus. And they understood that God predestined or predetermined that these same men would break out in persecution against them. Now, notice what they are saying in their prayer.

I'm putting it in my words. Lord, whatever you have planned to happen, let it happen. You've planned it all. You're Lord over it all. You're creator God. Whenever you have planned, let it happen. Persecution, let it happen. Freedom, let it happen. Whatever Lord. And this is simple. Those believers in great unity and oneness, they prayed to God that they understood the truth of Ephesians 2.10. And when they prayed, they welcomed the plan of God. Ephesians 2.10 says, "For we are his workmanship "created in Christ Jesus for good works, "which God prepared beforehand "that we should walk in them." Now, there's a lesson here for us.

We must see that God has predetermined good works for us. He prepared good works for us beforehand, and we are to walk in those predetermined, predestined plans and works, whether it be freedom and great peace or restriction and great persecution, no matter what. And then last notice, they prayed for continued boldness and prayer in verse 29 to 30. Now, here we see a transition and a conclusion in their prayer. In prayer, they express to God their trust in him as God, and they express their trust in his plans no matter what.

And in light of their threats and the real threat of persecution, they ask not for safety or for safety for their families, they ask for boldness. The New American Standard uses the word confidence. This word boldness, this confidence, this spoke of freedom in speaking and unreservedness in speaking. As one commentator said it, their concern was for God's word to go forth and for Christ's name to be glorified, leaving to God himself for their own circumstances. And they prayed for more miracles to serve as vehicles for this bold and confident preaching. So in verses 24 to 28, it's all about the reaction of the church in these things.

They rushed together. They rushed together in great unity and oneness in all of these things. The unity was strengthened in all of these things. And they were all moved to God to prayer, a short prayer, but a very powerful prayer. Now, there's one thing I wanna point out before we move on. It's almost like this church heard me say something like this. They should have a mighty expectation for the church. You see, persecution caused them to have an impromptu prayer meeting. And out of their reaction, we see that they had a mighty expectation for the church. They didn't hunker and bunker like so many do.

But then number three, last, the results, verse 31. The results. Now, let's go back and read verse 31. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continue to speak the word of God with boldness. Now, here we see some unusual things that can be confusing for some, but I want us to see three things here. First, their gathering place was shaken. Now, what do we make of this? If we believe this happened, does this make us Charismatics? No. We need to remember that we saw something like this before when the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost.

Simply what we have here is a visible or tangible manifestation of the Spirit. And the purpose of these things was to validate the church and the message of the church. And that was the purpose in all of the miracles. All the miracles were to validate the message, validate those preaching, and validate the work of the church and the work of the gospel. The second, they were filled. The believers were filled. Now, we do not need to make a mistake here. This was not a second Pentecost, no. That is because there can only be one Pentecost. Simply, they were filled with the Spirit. They were controlled by the Spirit.

They were Spirit inspired with the boldness, the confidence and the freedom to declare the gospel that they ask for. I like one thing that William McDonald points out here. He points out that seven times in the book of Acts, men are said to be filled with the Spirit or full of the Spirit for certain purposes. For speaking in Acts 2.4 and 4.8. For serving in Acts 6.3. For shepherding in Acts 11.24. For rebuking in Acts 13.9 and for dying in Acts 7.15. So the believers were filled. Third, they spoke God's word boldly as a result.

As a result of being filled with the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit, inspired by the Spirit, God answered the prayer that they prayed. They spoke the word with boldness. Now, a question. Do we need to pray for a new fullness, a fresh fullness? Do we need to pray for a Holy Spirit filling and inspiration so as to speak and to preach the word of God boldly? Have we grown stale here? Have we grown apathetic here? Have we grown sinful here? So in verse 31, we see the results of all of these things. The place was shaken by the Spirit. They were filled by the Spirit. And as a result, they spoke God's word boldly.

Listen to the amplified, verse 31. And when they had prayed, the place where they were meeting together was shaken, a sign of God's presence. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness and courage. I like that. So tonight, this is all about the church's reaction to persecution, a prayer meeting. Now, I wanna ask five rhetorical questions in closing. This won't take that long. One, if one of our anchored in truth churches were to face true and legitimate persecution like we see here, how should we react? Two, if we face legitimate persecution like we see here, how should we react?

Three, if we face COVID shutdowns and we can be arrested for opening the church, how should we react? If someone from our church went on a mission trip to a not so safe place in the world, and they were arrested, how would we react? And the last question, are we very disconnected from this kind of thinking and mindset that we see here in the verses? I will answer the last one by saying I think we are, because we've been living under peace for so long. Not that that is a sin now, but we have to be on guard about having the wrong mindset here. And I'll revisit these questions again. So the church's reaction to persecution, a prayer meeting.

And wow, what a prayer meeting.