The Believer's Prayer - Acts 4:23-31 - Comments by Mike Kines

Peter and John healed a lame man and preached about Jesus, which upset the religious leaders. They were arrested and threatened not to speak in Jesus' name. They returned to the disciples and reported everything. The disciples responded by praying and being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking God's word boldly. They quoted scripture about opposition to Jesus. Our response to opposition should be to pray, be filled with the Spirit, and preach the gospel boldly. The gospel is that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. So we're covering the Believer's Prayer today, Acts chapter 4, verses 23 through 31. So here's a summary. So what's happened so far, just to kind of jog your memory, Peter and John were on their way to the temple to pray. And there was a man that was lame from birth, who was over 40 years old. And Peter and John said, silver and gold have we none but such as we have in the name of Jesus Christ. Rise up and walk. And they healed the lame man. And a crowd gathered. And when the crowd gathered, they took the opportunity to preach the gospel and they preached about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And this alerted the temple security and the religious leaders there who were very upset with Peter and John because they preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so they arrested them. They put them in jail overnight. And the next day they had this trial. And they really couldn't do that much to them because everybody knew this was a notable miracle that had done to this man. And so there wasn't much they could do to Peter and John, but they threatened them. And they forbade them to speak in the name of Jesus. And of course, Peter and John let them know that they should judge themselves whether or not that they should obey their orders or that they should obey God. So by this time, the religious leaders were putting themselves in opposition to God. Now, after they were released, these disciples returned back. After Peter and John were released, they returned back to the other disciples and they reported everything that had happened. So how did they respond to these threats to the religious leaders? Well, what they did was they humbled themselves. They prayed. The place where they were praying was shaken. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Another thing to note here is that they quoted Bible prophecy from Psalm chapter 2 about the leaders of the world opposing the Son of God. And the place was shaken where they were assembled. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke God's word with boldness. So here's some points to consider in Acts chapter 4, verses 23 through 31. The disciples, they knew from the Lord Jesus these scriptures, these prophetic scriptures about the Son of God and they quoted this scripture in Psalm chapter 2 that talks about how the world leaders and the religious leaders gathered together to oppose the God's Son. And so they used these scriptures as a basis upon which they could pray and appeal to God. And so this is something that is very important in our prayers that we pray according to God's will, that we pray God's word, and we pray in God's way. And God answered their prayers and that place was shaken. So what happened as a result of their prayers? Well, the result of their prayers was they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they were able to continue to boldly proclaim the word of God. So we see here that the gospel is opposed by the world and by leaders of dead and false provision. And this has always been the case ever since the beginning. Ever since Adam and Eve, when God gave them the basic gospel message that the serpent would strike the heel and that there would come a man who would be the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent. And then ever since then, Satan has been attacking the seed of the woman. And so we see this constant persecution of the world against those who are filled with the Holy Spirit and those who believe in the Messiah. So what should our response be when we face opposition? And I know I made another video yesterday about this, talking about how Christians tend to respond by politicking and by raising a ruckus, by protesting, by getting on social media and doing all this stuff. But I think a more biblical response, Christian response to things that are happening in the world today is to humble ourselves and to pray and to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to continue to share the gospel boldly. I think that's what would be a more biblical pattern of a Christian response. So what should our response be? Pray, be filled with the Spirit and preach the word. Those who oppose the church will always fall eventually. Jesus says the gates of hell should not prevail against the church of the Lord Jesus. The important part about being filled with the Holy Spirit is the scripture in Zechariah 4, 6, which I really, I learned this when I was a young Christian because I was saved in a Pentecostal ministry. And one of the scriptures that I learned very early was Zechariah 4, 6. It is not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. So our response to the world's evil is not to protest or to politic, but it is to pray and seek the Lord for power from heaven to preach the gospel without compromise. And what is the gospel? Let's always remember, the gospel is clearly outlined in the Bible for us. First Corinthians 15, 1-4 says Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again from the dead on the third day according to the scriptures. Amen. The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and the Lord give you peace.