THE PRAYER OF THE UNSILENCED

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 13, 2022 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: July 13, 2022 from Acts 4:23-31

Theme: When commanded to be silent about the gospel, the church should praise God and pray for the boldness to speak.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we come to a passage of Scripture that is profoundly practical—especially in the times in which we’re living. It teaches us how we—as followers of Jesus—should pray at a time when we’re commanded to be silent about His gospel.

Let’s take a moment to remember the background story. In Acts 3—just a few days after Pentecost—the apostles Peter and James went to the temple for prayer. There, they encountered a man who had been lame from birth. The Lord Jesus healed the man through the apostles; and as a result, a great crowd of Jewish people gathered within the temple. Peter—under the power of the Holy Spirit—preached the gospel of Jesus to them; and several thousand of them believed and were saved.

But then, in Chapter 4, the chief priests and elders of the people stepped in. They arrested Peter and John, kept them in prison overnight, and then brought them the next day before their council and commanded them to no longer preach or speak in the name of Jesus. That was when Peter told them;

“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20-21).

The leaders didn’t know what to do with that kind of resolute boldness—especially with the formerly-lame man standing there undeniably healed. So, all they could do was threaten the apostles and send them away.

It’s then that we come to Acts 4:23-31. It’s a passage that tells us about the threatened disciples’ prayer. And more; it also tells us about God’s remarkable response to that prayer. It says;

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?

The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:23-31).

There are some elements of this story that are unique to and confirming of their times—seeing as how this was the beginning of a new dispensation in God’s redemptive plan for the ages. Nevertheless, this is a model prayer for the church today … whenever it faces official opposition to the preaching of the gospel. It teaches us that when commanded to be silent about the gospel, we as God’s people should praise God and pray for boldness—knowing that our mighty God will see to it that His gospel through the church will not be silenced.

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Now; there are a couple of things that would be important for us to remember. First, we should recognize that what the early church was facing genuinely was official opposition to the gospel. The command of the leaders of the people to be silent was in clear conflict with the command of the Lord Jesus to speak. Sometimes Christian people make things out to be an attack on the faith when it really isn’t. We should always remember what Romans 12:17-18 tells us about how to behave. It says;

Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:17-18).

If we can submit to the ordinances of civil government without compromising the direct commandments of God, then we must—by all means—always do so. We should be sure to only resist the commandments of civil authorities when faithfulness to the clear commands of our Lord absolutely demands that we must.

And second, whenever that happens, we should also always behave and speak with the utmost respect for human authority. Peter had demonstrated this in verse 8; when he respectfully, and under the Holy Spirit’s leading, referred to the leaders as “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel”. This is important; because even when human government acts wrongly, it is still an institution established by God—and it must be respected. As Paul put it in Romans 13:1;

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God (Romans 13:1).

Human government is capable of great error and evil; and when it commands us to disobey God, we must obey God rather than men. But we must never do so in such a way as to disrespect authority in its proper God-appointed realm. To do so would be to rebel against God.

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But when the civil government threatens the people of God if they obey the Great Commission, how should God’s people react? It should not be in the form of hostile rebellion or disrespectful name-calling. Instead, it should be with worshipful prayer. That’s how these early Christians responded.

Notice how their example shows us that we should first …

1. TURN OPPOSITION INTO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR WORSHIP (vv. 23-26).

We shouldn’t focus first on the authorities who threaten us. Instead, we should focus first on the God who reigns over those hostile authorities. Verses 23-24 begin by saying;

And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them … (vv. 23-24).

The apostles reported accurately to the church what the leaders said. And then, the church responded by taking a good, long look at who God is—that He is the maker of all things. It is to Him alone that they owed their complete and total obedience. What a great way to keep perspective in times of opposition!

They even prayed in accord with the Scriptures. They went on to quote Psalm 2; saying in verses 25-26 of God;

who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?

The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’ (vv. 25-26).

That whole psalm is a great ‘victory declaration’ of God’s sovereignty over all kingdoms and nations that oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ. That psalm speaks of the rebellion of human authority against God’s “Anointed”; which is another name for Christ. And so; the way that the disciples quoted from that psalm put things into scriptural perspective. This teaches us that when we are faced with official opposition to the gospel, the very first place to go should be to the place of worship.

A second thing we should do in prayer is …

2. AFFIRM THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD OVER THE SITUATION (vv. 27-28).

In verses 27-28, the gathered disciples prayed;

“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done (vv. 27-28).

This affirmation of theirs sprang—in part—from what was said in Psalm 2. That psalm promised that kings and rulers would take their stand against the rule of the Lord and His Christ. But it also sprang from what the Lord Jesus Himself promised would happen. When He was with them, He had said;

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again” (Luke 18:31-33).

But do you also see how the disciples affirmed that this was all according to the predetermined plan and decree of God? Those leaders who crucified the Lord were, indeed, acting according to their own choice of will. But somehow—in the mystery of God’s sovereignty—they were doing exactly what God had already purposed beforehand that they would do in order to fulfill His prophetic promise. They meant to do evil to Jesus; and as a result, they ended up fulfilling God’s promise to provide redemption for humanity through the blood of His Son. And God’s sovereignty was still in operation—even in the opposition that the leaders were displaying against the disciples, and in their command for them to be silent about the gospel.

And so; we learn yet another thing from the prayer of these disciples. In times of opposition against the faith, we should affirm that God is in control; and that even hostile leaders are fulfilling God’s plan to advance the cause of His gospel through their opposition and resistance. Our sovereign God remains sovereign always and in all situations!

A third thing we learn from their prayer is to …

3. PASS ALL OF THE THREATS OVER TO GOD (v. 29a).

After looking at it all, notice how the disciples prayed in verse 29. They simply said,

“Now, Lord, look on their threats …” (v. 29a).

This was truly a victorious way to pray to the sovereign God; because the moment they turned the threats over to Him, those threats ceased to be their concern, and now became His concern. And whenever that happens, the battle is basically over. Our God wins every battle that He enters.

There’s a great story told to us in 2 Kings 19 of a great victory that God brought about for His people in the days of godly King Hezekiah. The mighty, fearsome Assyrian army came and threatened to destroy the people of Israel if they didn’t surrender to them completely. The situation was desperate. Humanly speaking, Israel was no match for this wicked enemy. The ambassador of the Assyrian king came and presented Hezekiah with a letter—outlining the terms of surrender. But King Hezekiah did something that truly turned the tide. 2 Kings 19:14 tells us;

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord (2 Kings 19:14).

Hezekiah didn’t answer the king of Assyria or make counter-threats against him; nor did he submit to terms of surrender. He simply went to the temple, laid the threats out before the Lord, and turned the matter over to Him. And as a result, God brought about one of the greatest and most miraculous victories recorded in all of the Old Testament. What a difference it makes when we follow the disciples’ example; and, in prayer, pass the threats over to the Lord.

And there’s one more thing we learn from their example; and that’s to …

4. PRAY FOR THE BOLDNESS TO KEEP ON SPEAKING (vv. 29b-30).

After turning the threats over to the Lord, the battle became His. But that didn’t mean that the disciples were to simply sit by passively. They were to get to work doing exactly what the Lord had commissioned them to do. So, they prayed,

“… and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (v. 29b).

It’s important that we pray for such boldness in those times. Otherwise, we would be relying on our own fleshly power—trying to stir up our own fleshly form of ‘boldness’. And notice further that, as a part of that prayer for boldness, there was a trust in God that He would confirm His own word. They asked God to grant them the boldness to speak;

“… by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (v. 30).

It’s not up to us to prove God’s word to the world. It’s not up to us to convince the unbelieving world that the gospel is the truth. It’s just our job simply to proclaim it with confident obedience to God—trusting Him to do the work of bringing the truth of it to bear in the hearts that hear it in His time and in His way.

Now; this was also the kind of prayer that the apostle Paul prayed. Near the end of his Ephesians letter—while he was in prison for the gospel—he told his brethren to pray; and added,

and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:19-20).

We are to pray for boldness to keep on obeying our Lord’s command to us—trusting Him to validate the truth of His own word.

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So then, that’s how those early disciples prayed in a time of opposition. They turned it into a time of worship, affirmed the sovereignty of God over their situation, handed the threats over to Him, and asked for boldness to keep right on speaking the gospel. And what happened as a result? Verse 31 tells us;

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (v. 31).

God confirmed to those early disciples that, in their time of official opposition, this is the right way to pray. May we follow their example of prayer during our own times of opposition—trusting Him to further His gospel through such times.

AE