The Prayer for Believers, A Prayer of Strength

Pastor Phillips' Sermon

Sunday, June 5, 2005

From God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for gathering us again in this place, your house. We thank you for the relationship you have established between us and you and we pray that, by your Holy Spirit working through your word today, we will gain an even greater appreciation of what this relationship means, forgiveness of sins, access to the power of heaven through faith in Jesus. Bless us now in Jesus' name. Amen.

I have to tell the story behind the story so you can understand the story and the application, the context, the story behind the story. Again, these are the events immediately following Pentecost and Peter standing up and preaching that bold sermon where 3,000 people were baptized in one day. 3,000 people. I've told people if I ever preached a sermon that brought 3,000 people to Christ, I'd retire. I think that's a pastor's dream or the preacher's dream just to be able to see that kind of power, that movement of God in people. Peter and John had witnessed that. They'd seen all the events of Pentecost and now they were kind of walking in the afterglow of that wonderful and glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

It said the believers gathered daily for prayer, the breaking of bread, and worship. But on this particular day, in the beginning of Chapter 3, it says that Peter and John were going up to the temple. You might be familiar with this story. They were on their way to the temple at the time of prayer, 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and as they were entering the temple courts, they saw a man being carried. Now this man was born crippled, and he was in his 40's so he'd lived his whole life that way. I don't know what that must have been like as a little child watching other boys running and playing and having fun and all those things and yet he had to watch from the side. Somehow God kept him strong in the rest of his body, and he was alive and healthy at 40-some years old. And now he was being carried to the gate called Beautiful. Kind of ironic, isn't it? At the gate called Beautiful, it was the custom of this man to sit and beg. And as he saw Peter and John approaching, he looked at them and he said, “Give me something. Give me some money.” Peter looked straight at him, and he said, “Look at us.” And they made eye contact. And he said, “Silver and gold I don't have but what I do have I will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And the scripture says that, instantly, the man's ankles and feet became strong and he jumped to his feet, the first jump he'd ever made. Now he was walking around in amazement. And the people watching were also amazed. They knew this man. They'd seen him many times sitting at that gate called Beautiful begging.

He's so thrilled with the change God has accomplished in his life, it says he followed the disciples into the courts. The disciples just kept on going. They didn't stop to soak in the glory and get pats on the back or anything like that. They just kept on going. They were going to the temple to prayer. The man followed them, walking, jumping, praising God, drawing attention to them. I don't know about you, that would have probably embarrassed me a little bit. “Go away. Go away.” But he followed them. He was just so overjoyed with what God had done for him. He was leaping as he wished he could have as a child.

Suddenly, a crowd gathers. People recognize this man as someone who was born lame and now walking. So the crowd gathers and has questions, and they are trying to find out what happened. “How come he's healed? What happened?” And Peter gives all the glory to God. All the glory to God. He said, “This man whom he see before you has been healed in the name of Jesus and that's the same name by which you can be saved. Jesus died for our sins. He rose from the dead. When you repent and confess your sins and turn to God, you are forgiven in Jesus' name.” And on and on he went, Peter filled with the Holy Spirit.

And then the authorities arrived on the scene. Now they were at the temple. The people who controlled the temple were called the Sadducees. This was a group of the Jews called the Sadducees. They did not believe in the resurrection. They did not believe in angels, but they controlled the temple and they were wealthy. And they controlled the temple guard. They heard Peter preaching about the resurrection, which they did not believe in. So they called the temple guard, “Go get those guys.” So they got Peter and John and arrested them.

What crime had they committed? I can't see anything. They're teaching and preaching. Somebody's been healed. And maybe their teaching is offensive to the people who control the temple, but no crime has been committed. But they're arrested and they're put on trial. And they stand before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest. Now the High Priest is as close to God as you could get at that time as far as authority and respect in the religious life of the Jews. So here are Peter and John in the court before the High Priest. And the High Priest is saying, “By what power did you do this?” Like they had done something bad, but it was all good.

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stands up and speaks, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked to say how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel, it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but God raised from the dead that this man stands before you.” Imagine the courage that took on Peter's part to stand before the greatest authority in his world, the High Priest, and speak and say, “You crucified Him, but God raised Him from the dead and that's the name by which this man now is healed.”

It says in the scripture, when they saw the courage of Peter, they took note. These men were ordinary fisherman. He wasn't a trained public speaker. He wasn't some person of great authority and influence and wealth. These were common fishermen. How do you explain the courage? It's the Holy Spirit. Courage that doesn't make sense, at least not from our perspective. Courage in the midst of opposition. Courage in the midst of pain. Courage in the midst of fear from the Holy Spirit. That's where it came from.

So they speak this bold testimony in front of the greatest authority in their world, the High Priest, and they say, “He's healed in the name of Jesus.” Well they don't want to hear that name. They know what they did to Him. It was only a month and a half ago. He was healed in the name of Jesus. “People are only saved by the name of Jesus.” That's Acts 4:12. “And you crucified Him.” Of course, the High Priest and the Chief Priest and the Sadducees did not take lightly to this testimony, so they warned them, “Don't you teach any longer in this name. Don't tell anyone what you just told us. Go on.” So they released them because if they had imprisoned them further, the uproar, praising God from the crowd, would have caused a huge scandal for the Chief Priest and the Sadducees.

So they were released. And here comes the prayer. On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the Chief Priest and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. Listen to this prayer, “Sovereign Lord, you made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them. 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 vein? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed one.” This is the foundation for their faith, the foundation for the faith of the Jews and the foundation for our faith, too. God created all things, and the creator of the universe loves us and we have an intimate relationship with Him.

What a great thing to start a prayer with. You did it all, God. You created it all. You are all powerful. Then he goes on to speak of God as having revealed himself. “You spoke through our father, your servant, David. We know him as King David. You spoke prophetic words, words that we only understand through time as you unfold your plan in history. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vein and the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His anointed one?” All these oppositions to God and God's people and God's leaders are orchestrated by God to accomplish His objective. That's what it says in the next verses. 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. They did what your power and will decided beforehand should happen. So what happened to Jesus was not an accident. It wasn't evil triumphing over good. It was God allowing the flow of history to fulfill His great plan, His great good for us and for all people.

God allowed the circumstances of a tragedy to be an incredible victory for us all. This is what they're saying in their prayer. Why are they talking about that tragedy, pain, suffering, how God works through that? Because that's where they are standing. They are, as this infant Christian church, 5,000 people but they're scattered and it's 5,000 against 1 million. Why are they scared? Because of the threats of the ultimate authority in their community, the High Priest. They are not just directed against Peter and John but against all believers, and they know that. And so from a place of fear, a context of fear, they have courage by faith that God can help them, that God will hear them, that God will use them. And this is what they say, “Now, Lord, consider their threats. Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders throughout the name of your holy servant, Jesus.” And after they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. These people were on their knees in fear, but God raised them up through the Holy Spirit and the victory we have in Jesus Christ.

So now they speak the word of God boldly. They're filled with the Holy Spirit. What is the result? Verse 32 says, “All the believers were one in heart and mind.” We have a meeting this afternoon. Do you think that's going to happen? All the believers, one in heart and mind. That's what happens when the Holy Spirit fills us. There is no division. There is no pettiness. There is no argument. There is no complaining. There is just one heart and one mind, and it is the heart and mind of Jesus. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and much grace was upon them all.

How do we apply this? How do we make this fit into the life we live? Well, when life brings you to your knees, this is what Christians do. They remember the great power of God in creation and then that God, the creator of the universe, can certainly come down into their situation, their life, their struggle, and lift them up and chase away the darkness and defeat their enemies and work a tragedy into something wonderful and victorious. The Holy Spirit gives believers the strength and the boldness to be the people of God in the midst of a tragedy.

The direction we see from this story in the bible is that, in our tragedy, we call out to God and He lifts us up. And we ask Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit just like He did those disciples so we can be bold witnesses. I believe those tragedies we experience, those struggles, those hardships, those difficult times are the most perfect television screen for the world to view Jesus. Because as they see how we react to our pain and suffering, they see our faith coming out. Everything else is gone, all pretense, all ego. Everything else is gone, and all they can see is Jesus in us.

So when we're in those situations, we simply ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen? Amen

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church