Sermon Title: The Church You've Always Longed For - Encounters the Living God
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. 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. 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? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’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 had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 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.
Theologian John W. Scott has written about this passage the following: "When ordered to be silent, the apostles make clear that they "cannot help speaking about what [they] have seen and heard" (4:20). How did they sustain such determination? They looked in prayer to their sovereign Lord and found the strength to continue its advances with boldness.
The first Christians were realists, and so must we be. These threats, coming as they did from the highest civil authority, had the force of law. Obedience to Christ in the midst of a hostile environment was costly. Will we realistically face that cost when confronted with the same scenario?"
The early Church was able to face and overcome great opposition because they knew and served the Living God. Through their love for God, they were able to see that God is over and in control of their past, future and present. And, we, too, can be comforted and inspired with the same perspective. On Sunday I will speak about this as continue our sermon series, "The Church You've Always Longed For..." Hope to see you then!
