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What does a passage
like today’s do for you?
Does it stir the blood?
Encourage you - or discourage you
because we’re so unlike the church described here?
Does it make you long for life as it
was then or feel you don’t want this kind of religion here!
These are clearly changed people! Compare them with the
people they were after Good Friday.
1. Their first thought on being released is to get back to
the fellowship.
Only a few weeks ago they were arguing over who would be the
greatest in the kingdom. Now there is a need for each other.
Here they found support, a family which would nurture and
encourage them. They depended on each other in a way which was intimate and
deep. Have we lost what true fellowship means? This was the first home group!
2. The second natural instinct is to pray - and pray
together. This was
a spiritual people who’s natural desire was to pray
together in thick and thin. Though they aren’t theologians or philosophers
they’ve been with Jesus enough over 3 years to know what God is like! Jesus has
revealed God to them, has shown them the love, mercy, power and the
irrepressibility of God!
What they knew of God moulded their prayers and moulded
their lives.
God’s nature revealed in Jesus rubbed off on them
all!
We only get the gist of their prayer. But I get the
impression they prayed up a storm together!
We don’t know for sure what happened here. Whether they all
prayed individually at the same time, or whether they waited for each other. But
this wasn’t all written down and carefully crafted! As Simon said last week
about the way the church developed ‘they made it up as they went along prompted
by the Spirit’ - so was this prayer time. Wouldn’t it be amazing if our home
groups were like this one! Maybe you reckon not!
Look at what they prayed.
3. ‘Sovereign Lord’. Jesus had told them they could call God their Father - and
they did but in this situation they saw the sovereignty of God at work!
The guards may have been strong and intimidating. The rulers
and teachers of the assembled Sanhedrin may have been full of earthly authority
with the power to end their lives. But
God was in charge - He was still sovereign!
These disciples, a year or so ago, were quaking in their
sandals when a storm hit their ship.
And a few weeks ago they hid from the authorities. Here they
call on the God who is Sovereign!
One of the marks of growing maturity in Christ is a refusal
to be shaken when bad things happen. You have seen God at work in other
situations and you trust more and more that he will not leave you or forsake
you in this one. Such experience gives you stability, steadiness and the
ability to encourage others younger in the faith.
4. They also draw strength from the Old Testament. Psalm 2.
It’s a Psalm about kings and rulers, authorities who rise up
against God’s people and God’s anointed one. But vv4-6 give
these disciples cause for confidence
4
The
One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and
terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6
"I have installed my King on
-- words they recognise came by the
Holy Spirit, the same Spirit who has been with them throughout this ordeal -
the first of many.
Kings had conspired against Jesus a few weeks ago - Herod
and Pilate tried to put him down but the sovereign Lord would not be thwarted
then - and He would not be thwarted now!
I think I’d be tempted to pray for a change in the law, the
defeat of the Sanhedrin, their partnership with Rome destroy them and the
throne of the anointed one be established in Jerusalem.
5. Instead they ask for more opportunities to be picked on! They were
irrepressible!
‘More, Lord, more’ they cry!
30
Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through
the name of your holy servant Jesus."
They’re prepared to go on doing the same again knowing the
cost! There is a Russian saying -'when the night is darker the stars shine
brighter' The darker the night, the brighter these
shone!
In Acts 5:12-16 we read of their next episode. The Spirit
uses them again and sends them into trouble. And of course this holy activity brought the
wrath of the jealous religious authorities crashing down on their heads. They
were slung in a holding cell overnight put on trial and flogged for obeying God
rather than men. Once again they were ordered not to speak of Christ.
And again 41 The apostles left
the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering
disgrace for the Name. 42
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they
never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
And so they went on - throughout their lives - many
eventually to their deaths. It has been said that ‘The world has a lot of
starters but very few finishers’ - these were finishers! I’m not talking about unwise or ‘maverick’
Christians, exhibitionist and flash-in-the-pan Christians - those who bring the
name of Christ into disrepute because they have acted foolishly, these were
Christians settling in for the long haul, directed by Jesus, their source of
all wisdom and whose leading will always be good.
In our own days Mahe - 76 yr old
Ethiopian Christian imprisoned 20 times, planting 160 churches in his first 25
years alone. In his 50s he longed to take the gospel to
Under
the Spirit of God ...
· These people were irrepressible!
· It showed in the fellowship they
craved
· It showed in the prayers they
shared.
· It showed in the desire they had to
tell others
· It showed in their willingness to
face hardship for Jesus
· And it showed they had been with
Jesus – Acts 4:13
This challenges us over the reality
and depth of our Christian lives -
·
Do
our lives have a bit of Christianity in them or are they lives with the Spirit
setting fire to us?
·
Is
Jesus the
wallpaper of our lives - attractive and comfortable but most of the time
forgotten. Or is Jesus the centre and reason for our lives?
·
Does
Jesus mark our prayers? Are we prepared to be adventurous in our prayers?
·
Are
we prepared for the cost of discipleship? If you were brought before the court
accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to prove it?
Discussion
questions –
Home groups – read Acts 4 and select from the following… 1. What had Jesus shown them over the
3 years he had been with them? What would have stood out for you? 2. What showed that these people
had been with Jesus? (see 3. The disciples saw changes in
their prayer life – how has our prayer life changed over the years, how may
we see changes come about in the future? 4. What did they use to inspire
their prayers? What steps might we take to inspire ours? 5. Persecution has been a routine
part of true Christianity over 2000 years. What form might persecution take
for us? What might we do to prepare the next generation for any persecution
that comes their way? What example / role model do they see in us? 6. Pray for the authorities and
rulers (use Psalm 2 as a basis for prayer) 7. Pray for persecuted groups of
Christians. 8. Make their prayer (Acts