Fire & Reign: Studies in the Book of Acts

Emboldened by His Courage

Acts 4

[Film Clip:  The Wizard of Oz – Cowardly Lion: “What have they got that I ain't got? 

Others: “Courage!”

Lion: “You can say that again!”]

How would you define courage?

The dictionary defines courage as

the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery

We see that definition displayed by people throughout history.

Theodore Roosevelt was and is considered an amazing example of courage.  Born with a week and sickly body, through personal discipline and hard work he overcame those hurdles to become a champion of strength.  He spent time in the rugged Wild West.  He went big game hunting, explored the remote, unknown Amazon River jungle.  In 1912, while running for president in Milwaukee, he was shot in the chest at point blank range.  He fell back in the car, and his aides wanted to take him to a local hospital, but instead, he went to the train station, took a train to Chicago, gave a speech, and then went to the hospital to have the wound dressed.  He said, “It takes more than that to bring down a bull moose!” 

Roosevelt once said,

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

-From a speech given in Paris at the Sorbonne in 1910

In these days at Gateway Community Church, we are looking at another amazing story.  It’s the story of a band of untrained, unschooled ordinary men and women, whose actions, sacrifice and courage resulted in the single most influential cultural impact in human history. 

The story of Jesus’ followers, and their influence, is told in the book of Acts.  Today we are going to look at chapter 4, and we are going to see that the early church was a church of great courage.  When we left the book last week, Peter and John were preaching  in the Temple courts to a crowd that had gathered after they had healed a man, in Jesus’ name, who had been lame since birth.  Read with me.

[Read Acts 4:1-31]

The word “courage” appears three times in that passage.  It is not always translated “courage” in our English Bibles, but the same Greek word was used by Dr. Luke when he wrote it – it’s found in verse 13, “When the saw the parrhesia – courage – of Peter and John…”  Then it is found in verse 29: “Now, Lord, consider their threats and allow your servants to speak your word with great parrhesia – courage…”  And again in verse 31: “And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God meta parrhesia – with courage…”

To borrow from the Cowardly Lion, “What did the early church have that we ain’t got?”  “Courage!”  “You can say that again!”

We need the kind of courage that marked the early church!  And we can have it!  IT comes from the same source today that it flowed from then.  I want us to look at the source of their courage.  This won’t take long – just three associations that they had that resulted in the courage of the early church, and that, if we adopted, would result in our being a courageous church, too.

First, they had the Spirit of God’s Filling Presence.  (vv. 8 & 31)

Both of the statements of the people’s courage is prefaced by a statement of the Spirit’s filling.  Peter was “filled with the Spirit,” before he began to speak to the Sanhedrin, in verse 8, and the people were “filled with the Holy Spirit” before they are described as speaking the word of God with courage in verse 31.

Now, as we have said almost every week of this study, the church had received the Holy Spirit and been filled with Him on the day of Pentecost in chapter 2 – but it is obvious from this chapter, from the entirety of the book of Acts, and from the entirety of the New Testament, that the filling of the Holy Spirit is both an event, and a process.  We are baptized with the Holy Spirit when we first believe on Jesus (I Corinthians 12), but the filling, the emptying of ourselves so that we can be filled with Himself – occurs on a day by day, moment by moment basis. 

Peter certainly had the Holy Spirit living within him prior to his testimony here – he had just brought healing to a man lame for 40 years!  And the church certainly had the Holy Spirit within them during this period of time – but in those special circumstances, they received an amazing new filling to encourage them through times of great challenge. 

That filling came for two reasons:  They were able to receive it, and they asked for it.  They were able to receive it because they made room in their lives for the Holy Spirit.  He cannot and will not fill a life that is already filled with other stuff.  If our lives are filled with our agenda, goals, attitudes, there is little room for the Holy Spirit to fill. Secondly, they asked.  The church prayed, in verse 29, “enable your servants to speak you word with great parrhesia.” 

Conversely, there are two reasons why the church is today not filled with the Holy Spirit.  First, our lives are filled with ourselves, and there’s no room for the Holy Spirit within us.  Quite frankly, many in the church today have never actually received the Holy Spirit because they haven’t really given their lives to Christ in the first place.  Oh, you come to church, and you think that you’ve got it all together – but have you really surrendered your life to Jesus?  Have you asked Him to forgive you? Probably.  But have you asked Him to rule you – to have control over you – to be your Master and Sovereign?

This week Elder Dino Calarco sent out a video via the internet that every person in this building needs to watch.  If you haven’t watched it yet, do it – it takes about 45 minutes, so plan accordingly – but watch it – with your kids.  The Holy Spirit will only fill us when we belong to Him, when we allow Him, when we are available to be filled, and when we have the boldness to ask.

Secondly, they had the Word of God’s Foundational Power (vv. 11 & 24-26 )

I just love the way these “unschooled, ordinary” (v. 13) people were able to quote Scripture!  Peter does it before the leaders of the Jewish nation and the Jewish faith.  Before the Chief Priest and his advisors!  Peter quotes Scripture, and draws amazing insight from it!  Then when the church begins their prayers to the Lord in verses 24-26, the entire first half is reference to the Scriptures.  “You made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and everything in them.” Is a quote of Psalm 2.  The quotes of verses 25 and 26 are from various Old Testament Scriptures that they apparently had been studying to gain insight into what had happened to Jesus and what was happening to them.  I believe that because they were studying the Word of God they were able to face the attacks of the world of man.  In the light of Scripture they could see that God was in control over His creation, and they had confidence that He ruled over the actions of human history, even if it seemed out of control to them at the time!  Do you see the confidence in them that came from study of the Word?  It is remarkable!

When I talk to people who are being beat up by the world, and at a crisis of faith, there is an inevitable moment of confession that they have abandoned their study of the Bible.  The old adage is true – “A Bible that is falling apart belongs to a person who isn’t.” 

Finally they had the People of God’s Faithful Prayer (vv. 24-31)

I’ve read this book of Acts from beginning to end many times, and the Bible many times, and this short prayer by the early church in the forth chapter of Acts is one of the simplest and best.  Just look at it. [Read vv.24-30]

From the first word, this is an unusually powerful prayer.  The word “Sovereign” there, is the Greek word despotes.  It is hardly ever used in the Bible – it is a word that means just what it sounds like – “despot.”  A despotic ruler is one who exercises complete, absolute control.  The first thing they do is recognize who is in control – things don’t have to seem fair to them, or easy, or even make sense – their lives are in the hands of a Sovereign God who is in control, and their position is one of submission to Him.  (Not at all like most of our prayers, is it?)

Their prayer shows complete reliance upon God, total submission to His sovereignty, honest presentation of their circumstance, and an outrageous plea for power, boldness and courage. 

Oh! To have such a prayer said over this church!  Oh! To have people so passionate that they did not pray for their own comfort, or that their circumstances be changed, but that they would be given courage to live godly lives in spite of their circumstances! 

No wonder the place shook!  No wonder the Holy Spirit filled them anew! No wonder they spoke the word of God with courage!  No wonder at all!

____________________

In making this practical, I want to direct our attention very quickly to verse 13.  We are told there that the powerful leaders of the Jewish nation were amazed by the courage of Peter and John, and the realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men.  They were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 

They had been with Jesus.

As we said last week, The Holy Spirit wants to take ordinary people, on ordinary days, and do extraordinary things in and through them.  But that can only happen when those ordinary people have been with Jesus. 

Let me ask you, “How do we spend time with Jesus today?”

Through the Spirit of God’s Filling Presence

Through the Word of God’s Foundational Power

And through the People of God’s Faithful Prayers

The formula for a courageous church is no different today than it was 2000 years ago.

This morning, we have a special opportunity for you to “be with Jesus.”  We take time regularly to celebrate communion.  The very word “communion” refers to intimacy and closeness.

If you've never been to Gateway before for communion, let me just set the stage for you.  The praise team is going to come and lead us in a number of songs -  you will have 15-20 minutes to worship the Lord during those songs.  There will be several ways to do that worship.  You may stay where you are and listen to the songs, meditate on the lyrics, sing along, and allwo the Spirit to minister to you.  Or you can go to the rear of the sanctuary, where you can pray and be prayed for by an Elder.  There's also a place in the rear where you can worhip by giving an offering - but only if its an act of worship!  Or you can come forward here and partake of the Lord's Supper, if you feel led.  You may do one, two, or all of those acts of worship during these moments - as you feel led by the Holy Spirit.

But I have to tell you, I suspect that there are many of us that need to spend this time of intimacy with Jesus back at the prayer station in the rear, before we come to the communion table in the front.  The Bible makes it clear that before we come to this table we need to “examine ourselves,” to confess sin, to make things right between brothers and sisters, to surrender to the risen Christ before we join in His Last Supper. 

As the praise team comes to lead us in song, and Elders take their place at the prayer station in the rear, and at the communion table in front, I ask you to be in humble, reflective prayer.  Does the Holy Spirit live within you?  Have you surrendered yourself to Jesus?  You believe in Him, yes – but have you made Him your Lord and Savior?  Do you see Him as the way to make your life easier and better on this earth, or are you willing to face persecution, difficulty, opposition, illness, prison and even death for Him?  If you’ve never made that commitment to Him, then this is all nothing but a religious waste of time – and you are on your way to a Christ-less eternity.  First things first – give your life to Christ, then come to His table.

If you have truly asked Jesus to be your Lord, to rule and reign in your life, and the Holy Spirit has set up residence in your heart – are you allowing Him to fill you?  Or have you allowed the world to press in, and fill your life with worldly goals and aspirations – wealth, ease, health, power, and comfort?  If so, you need to pray – you need to hit your knees and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you anew – you need to let go of all that other baggage, all your personal agenda items, and allow His priorities to be your priorities…Then, and only then, are you ready to come to this table – and partake of His body and blood.

We celebrate the new life we have in Christ that was bought by His broken body and His shed blood.  But Jesus Himself told said that “if any one would follow me, he must deny himself daily, take up his cross and follow me.”  We must be willing and thrilled to have the privilege to be broken and poured out like Him and with Him.  Is that your heart this morning?

“What do we need that we ain’t got?”

“Courage!”

May God grant it to us!

Prayer. 

Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.  You poured out Your Holy Spirit on those “unschooled and ordinary” men and women in Jerusalem as they sought You.  Now, Lord, consider the state of Your church today, and the threat that we face through false and apathetic faith.  Fill us as You filled them, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with great boldness.  Stretch out Your mighty hand to heal wounds of spirit, mind and body.  Perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your Holy Servant Jesus, in whose powerful name we pray, AMEN.

Personal Prayer Time & Communion.