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Acts 4. We're going to look specifically 
at verse 23 to verse 31. But we'll read all of Acts 4 
and get acquainted with the context and understand what's going on 
in the life of the young church here as Peter and John are being 
brought before the unbelieving Jewish authorities for preaching 
the Lord Jesus Christ and healing in His name. This is Acts 4, 
beginning in verse 1. Now as they spoke to the people, 
the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came 
upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and 
preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid 
hands on them and put them in custody until the next day, for 
it was already evening. However, many of those who heard 
the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about 5,000. And it came to pass on the next 
day that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas 
the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as 
were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together 
at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in 
the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name have you 
done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy 
Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, 
if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless 
man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to 
you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of 
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised 
from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. 
This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become 
the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any 
other, for there is no other name under heaven given among 
men by which we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness 
of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and 
untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had 
been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been 
healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 
But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, 
they conferred among themselves, saying, what shall we do to these 
men? For indeed, that a notable miracle 
has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, 
and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further 
among the people, let us severely threaten them that from now on 
they speak to no man in this name. So they called them and 
commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of 
Jesus. But Peter and John answered and 
said to 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. So when they had further 
threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing 
them because of the people, since they all glorified God for what 
had been done. For the man was over 40 years 
old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. 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. Amen. Well, again, we're going to look 
at verse 23 to 31, but most of the scene we read there, what 
we didn't read was the account of Peter and John healing a man 
outside the temple at the temple gates. A cripple was healed, 
and they used that as an occasion to preach the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. They heal this man, and then 
they use that pattern of apostolic preaching, which is in the book 
of Acts and elsewhere, to disclose and proclaim that this Jesus 
of Nazareth is the promised one of old. He is the one that the 
prophets promised would come from the first to the last Old 
Testament prophet. They foretold of this coming 
one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would come in the fullness of 
the times to redeem his people from their sins. And this word, 
of course, comes to the rulers, the elders, the scribes, unbelieving 
Jewish religious leaders of the day and they bring them before 
them in order to threaten them and call them, charge them not 
to proclaim in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to do anything 
in his name. We read the scene. They threatened 
them more than once and they are unable to do anything else 
because this report has gone out. It has been witnessed by 
many And as verse 21 says, when they had further threatened them, 
they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because 
of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been 
done. And so they are let go and they 
come back to their companions, as verse 23 says, and they bring 
this report of everything that took place to their companions, 
everything that the chief priests and elders had said to them. And then we read in verse 24, 
the account of this congregational prayer that is brought before 
the Lord God Almighty. And that will be the focus, our 
focus this evening. And we're going to try to look 
at four things this evening. And those four things are first, 
the congregation's unity. Secondly, the congregation's 
confidence. Thirdly, the congregations request, 
and then lastly and fourthly, the divine response. So first, the congregations unity 
notice verse 24. So when they heard that the report 
from Peter and John, they raised their voice to God with one accord 
and said, this language here is something that ought to mark 
every Christian church that is this one accordness, this unity 
in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the things of God. They raised 
their voice to God with one accord. Now, first off, generally, again, 
this is what the church ought to be marked by. And if you stand 
with me through some passages in the book of Acts, this is 
what we see the church marked by. If you back up a little bit 
to Acts chapter one, notice what we read in Verse 14, these all 
continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with 
the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and with his brothers. In Acts 2 and verse 1, when the 
day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord 
in one place. Again in Acts 2 at verse 42, 
and they continued steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine and 
fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers and then 
in verse 46 so continuing daily With one accord in the temple 
and breaking bread from house to house this language Continues 
and I mean we won't read every instance but one more after acts 
4 in acts 5 we read this at verse 12 and through the hands of the 
Apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people and 
and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Now, no doubt, 
circumstances demanded a congregational unity in the early church with 
persecution at the hands of the Jews, later at the hands of the 
Gentiles, as that portion of early church persecution grew 
and strengthened against them. But it is generally the case 
that the church is to be unified in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember 
that oft-repeated passage of scripture, Philippians 127. What 
is the hope of the apostle? He says, only conduct yourselves 
in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I 
come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that 
you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together 
for the faith of the gospel. Christianity, Christians, the 
church, the church is to be marked by one-spiritness and one-mindedness 
in the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, that is not 
fellowship with tea and crumpets, though tea and crumpets are fantastic. It is fellowship around the gospel 
of Jesus Christ and those things most surely believed among us. 
It is a striving for the faith of the gospel in that one-mindedness 
and in that one spirit. So generally, there is to be 
a unity of God in all things. Specifically here, we have that 
generally, but specifically here it is one accord or one-heartedness, 
one-mindedness in the theological content of the prayer that they 
are rendering to God. Remember, this comes in a response 
to persecution, not the full-blown persecution that we will yet 
see in the book of Acts. For example, when we get to Acts 
chapter 7, and there is the stoning, the horrible stoning of godly 
Stephen after he gives the wonderful confession of Jesus Christ and 
Old Testament fulfillment in him. But nevertheless, this persecution 
is here. This report comes back to the 
congregation, and they all, with one accord, bring to God this 
blessed prayer. And that content is what we get 
to now. The congregation's confidence. 
Well, actually, just before we get there, it might be good to 
note that most likely what's not going on in this congregational 
prayer is that every single one of the members of that congregation 
are raising all of their voices loudly at once to God. it very well may be the case 
here that we do have hundreds, if not perhaps thousands, of 
Christians gathered. If it is the case that they're 
gathered in the temple, then we have many Christians gathered 
together praying to the Lord God and supplicating, bringing 
supplication to the Lord God Almighty. It's probably one or 
perhaps a handful of persons praying And the prayer, the congregational 
prayer, is marked quite clearly by the fact that it is brought 
in one accord to the Lord God. So let's look then at the congregation's 
confidence in three things under the congregation's confidence. 
First off, their confidence is in God, the sovereign creator. Their confidence is in God, the 
sovereign creator. Notice what we read here, again, 
beginning in verse 24. So when they had 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. One of the things that is very 
good for Christians to acknowledge in prayer is the God that they 
are praying to and the blessed attributes and glories of the 
Lord God. We acknowledge in Christian prayer 
this sovereign creator. Lord, you are God who made heaven 
and earth and the sea and all that is in them. It's a recognition 
of the greatness and the glory of God. And remember, this is 
what the psalmist very often does throughout the Psalms. If we read any of the Psalms 
and the major prophets as well, the minor prophets, if we read 
the scriptures, we very often come across that reality that 
the creator, the sovereign creator, the Lord God, the only living 
and true God is acknowledged and recognized. And very often 
in the Psalms, for example, this recognition comes within the 
character of the Psalm or within the type of Psalm where it is 
wholesome mockery being Cast upon the pagan deities that surrounded 
Israel in order to extol and to lift I the living and true 
God remember Psalm 115 for example The psalmist there says why should 
the Gentiles say so where is our God? You know the the Israelites 
were not like the pagans around them. They did not manufacture 
in fashion a and whittle or carve from stone and wood their deities 
and their gods. They did not have some weak-standing 
half-fish, half-man depicting the confidence of their nation. 
The pagan nations around them would carve of stone and carve 
out of wood their deities. In fact, that's what he would 
go on to say after he says this. But our God is in heaven, in 
the heavens, he does whatever he pleases. Their gods are idols 
of silver and gold. They have eyes, but they see 
not, ears, but they hear not, et cetera. And the psalmist, 
the point is, acknowledges the sovereign creatorship of the 
Lord God. He's the one who fixed the stars 
in place. He's the one who set the galaxies 
spinning in their orbit. He's the one who upholds all 
things by the word of his power. He's the one that creates the 
red dwarves and the massive supergiants in the universe, and he's also 
the one who fashions the earthworm and the starling. He's the one 
who puts breath in our lungs and gives us strength from day 
to day. It is the acknowledgement of 
God the Creator. And this would serve, as the 
other things will serve as we get to them, but this would serve, 
as they're praying it, build their confidence and to increase 
their strength and their faith in the face of opposition and 
in the face of vile enemies. You see, the recognition of the 
God that we serve and the God that we believe in and the God 
that we pray to serves to bolster our courage in the face of opposition. I love Spurgeon's words, for 
example, on Psalm 19, which speaks of God as sovereign creator. What speaks of his general revelation 
in creation, remember Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory 
of God, the firmament shows his handiwork, day after day utter 
speech, night after night reveals knowledge, there is nowhere where 
their voice is not heard. Spurgeon says on that, in strengthening 
the faith of his congregation and to indict those who would 
oppose such a glorious God of sovereign creation. He says, 
in the expanse above us, God flies as it were his starry flag 
to show the king is at home. And he hangs out his coat of 
arms bearing shield to show the atheist how much he despises 
their denunciations of him. And you see, that is the glory 
of the expanse of the heavens is a testament to the God who 
made them And the people who profess faith in that God and 
who own that God recognize that and pray to that God in order 
to arouse their strength and their courage, in order, rather, 
to avail of God's spirit, who is given from on high, in order 
to grant courage and strength as they face the trials, in this 
case, of the vile, unbelieving Jewish leaders. And so they have 
a strong confidence in the sovereign creator. And notice, secondly, 
under the congregation's confidence, they have confidence in God the 
sovereign revelator. What does that mean? A revelator 
is simply someone who reveals. God is the first and prime revelator 
who does reveal through human instruments of inspiration. But notice what we read here 
in verse 25, who by the mouth of your servant David have said. You see, God is the sovereign 
creator and in that creating activity and creating power and 
in his creation, he has revealed his glory. He has revealed righteousness 
and he has revealed the reality that there is a God. And then 
in special revelation though, he peculiarly reveals his will 
and his law and his mind to men. Verse 25, who by the mouth of 
your servant David have said. And notice the special revelation 
that is brought out here. The gathered Christians return 
God's word back to him, which is always a good thing to do 
in prayer. If we are going to speak words 
in prayer, why not speak the infallible, the inerrant, the 
living and true word of our blessed God. And that's what these people 
do. And it's not just haphazardly choosing a section of scripture 
to lift and to send back to God in their prayer, but rather it's 
something that serves their particular time and occasion in bumping 
up against the leaders of the land and the leaders of the age 
of that day, as well they are acknowledging that the events 
contemporaneous to them, that is the events that happened during 
their generation and in their midst, are a fulfillment of Psalm 
2. And that is the text that is 
being quoted there. And just turn there for a moment 
because all of Psalm 2 isn't quoted, and so we'll read the 
Psalm here and you'll see what their confidence is in as they 
quote this prayer and as they quote Psalm 2 verses 1 and 2 
and then continue in their prayer. Psalm 2, again, this is what 
the saints are raising with a loud voice with one accord back to 
the Lord God, Creator and Revelator. Why do the nations rage and the 
people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves 
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against 
his anointed saying and that's where they stop before we read 
saying there that's the section that they quote but let's read 
on let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords 
from us you see they're ascribing that portion of the psalm rightly 
to as we as we read later Herod and Pontius Pilate the people 
of Israel and the Gentiles who all conspired together against 
the Lord Christ That's what we're reading there. The kings of the 
earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel against the 
Lord and against his anointed saying. And what the psalm is 
speaking about is the fact that ungodly rulers of the earth, 
the kings and the judges and the rulers are taking counsel 
in order to try to oppose the sovereign mastery of God over 
the nations of the world. Let us sever these ties that 
bind us to his sovereign rule, to his juridical gaze and to 
his governance over us. We do not want this man to rule 
over us, would be the language of the parable that Christ brings 
in Luke 19, something that no doubt touches upon the content 
and the reality of this psalm. The idea is that the ungodly 
rulers do not want Christ, do not want the sovereign God to 
rule over them. And then notice what we have 
here, and this, as we read on here, this is the confidence 
that is in the back of the, this is what is in the back of the 
minds of these Christians singing with a loud voice, or praying 
with a loud voice, rather, in one accord. The stuff this that 
follows verse 4 he who sits in the heavens shall laugh the Lord 
shall hold them in derision you see our God is not up in the 
heavens worrying and hoping that things really work out well for 
the inhabitants of the earth for his people particularly he's 
not up there and just fretting over the the situation that the 
the kings of the earth and the rulers are conspiring together 
to oppose my people, to oppose my Christ and these sorts of 
things as if he's up there and he can do nothing. He is not 
shaken. He is not moved. He is the one 
who upholds all things by the word of his power. You know, 
when, when very often, and you've heard this before, when natural 
calamity comes, we have pseudo Christians who seem like no Christians 
at all, if they are, coming on the news and saying, well, you 
know, when the tsunami comes, and the hurricanes come, and 
the tornadoes come, and these are tragedies, let us never bring 
the bar of tragedy down. These are tragedies. But you 
see, they'll come onto the news, and they'll say, oh, well, you 
know, the interviewer will ask, what's God doing? What is your 
God doing? Well, you know, our God is up there, He's crying 
along with you and He wants you to know that He is there for 
you and He can't really do anything. And they'll go on and on and 
pose this God who is really no better than an angel or a man. 
Our Bible sets forth this and the people who are in the midst 
of trial and affliction, natural whatever it may be, physical, 
whatever problem or affliction or trial, as small and grand 
as it can be, they need to know that God is the one who raises 
the stormy winds which lifts up the waves of the sea, and 
he is the same one who calms the storm so that its waves are 
still. And so when the tumult and when 
the hurricane of persecution comes, and rulers of the earth 
are conspiring against Christians, they need to know that it is 
God who raises up the stormy winds of persecution and God 
who calms those winds so that the storm is still. And he is 
unmoved and unshaken by these things because he is the one 
who sits in the heavens and laughs at those who would think that 
they can conspire against the living and true God. He is the 
one who holds them in derision as if they can do Anything that 
will escape the the the gazing and blazing fiery eyes of Jehovah 
and they would have confidence in this as we read on he then 
shall speak to them in his wrath and Distress them in his deep 
displeasure yet. I have set my king on my holy 
hill of Zion you see verse 6 and Answers verse 3 these conspiring 
These conspiring wicked men say let us break their bonds and 
pieces and cast away their cords from us the Lord returns Unshaken 
from heaven. I have set my king on my holy 
hill of Zion He's replying with the fact that Jesus Christ has 
been given dominion and glory in a kingdom that And he has 
been set upon the holy hill of Zion as the judge of heaven and 
earth. And the nations of this earth 
have been given to our God and to his Christ. And they would 
have confidence. The saints in acts four would 
have confidence in that blessed truth. Verse seven, I will declare 
the decree. The Lord has said to me, you 
are my son. Today I have begotten you ask 
of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance 
and the ends of the earth for your possession, you shall break 
them with a rod of iron, you shall dash them to pieces like 
a potter's vessel. You see, the saints in Acts chapter 
4 were to be anxious in nothing. But like they do there, and that's 
before Paul's letter to the Philippians, well before it, they, with prayer 
and supplication mingled with thanksgiving, make their requests 
known to God. because they know that God will 
bring them peace through Jesus Christ the Lord. And so they 
have this certain confidence in the stuff of 7-9 as well. You see, we should call to our 
minds the Great Commission, shouldn't we, as we read that. The post-resurrection 
Savior comes to his disciples and he tells them Psalm 2-8, 
in effect. All authority has been given 
to me in heaven and on earth. And so their going, therefore, 
is with the confidence and the courage that Christ is the one 
who has dominion and glory in a kingdom. He has it now. He 
has all authority. Therefore, we also will not be 
moved and we also will not be shaken because we have this God 
and we have this Christ on our side. And the warning comes then 
to the rulers and the judges of the earth in verse 10. Now 
therefore, be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of 
the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. 
Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way when 
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put 
their trust in him. You see, Jesus is not Jesus, 
lowly, meek, and mild, unable to affect anything. in this, 
our lower world, but rather he is the one who rides upon that 
white stallion, who is victorious, who is a conqueror, who has the 
authority to break with a rod of iron and to dash to pieces 
those who would oppose him. And they perish in the way, if 
they oppose and if they rebel, they perish in the way when his 
wrath is only kindled but a little. You see, it is with the smallest 
exercise of the voice of the Lord that he can splinter and 
shatter the cedars of Lebanon, which are symbols of strength 
and symbols of impenetrable rigidity in the ancient world. But God, 
with the simple exercise of his voice, can splinter the cedars 
of Lebanon. Christ, the reigning king, with 
but a little exercise of his wrath, will cause those who oppose 
him to be cast asunder and to be dashed to pieces like a potter's 
vessel. So you see, as we now move back 
then to Acts chapter 4, you see the stuff of great courage and 
the stuff of great comfort that would be in the minds of the 
Christians there bringing this prayer to God. They are not, 
and they would not be marked by some sort of earthly and human 
anxiety, but rather they're praying and returning Psalm 2 to God 
because they know that God is in the heavens and he's laughing 
at those who think that they can conspire against the one 
who sets stars in place and who upholds galaxies as they spin 
in their orbit. You see, Christianity has, those 
within Christianity in our modern church have brought the God of 
heaven and earth down way too far and too close to men. way too far. They depict him 
as just some gray-bearded man with a cane who returns back 
a smiling face from the pages of some comic book, seeming feeble 
and weak. Our God is unconfined. We think of the immensity of 
the the objects in our universe. Think of the size of the earth. 
Think of the size of the moon, the size of the sun, which is, 
I don't know, someone might know the number, Jonathan, somebody 
with twice the brain that I have, the size of the sun in comparison 
to the earth. And I don't know if it is the 
case when we pray to God and the Bible speaks of him being 
a dwelling in unapproachable light as if he dwells somewhere 
beyond the sun. Our God is above and beyond time 
and space. He doesn't dwell somewhere beyond 
Neptune in his own universe. He is above time and space, beyond 
time and space. He upholds all of these things 
by the word of his power. The sun is but an infinitesimal 
speck in relation to the Lord God Almighty who cannot be defined 
by size, space, time. And this is the God that these 
Christians have on their side. There is no anxiety. Now we may, 
of course, as Christians in this lower world, have a brief time 
and a brief instance and a brief circumstance where our hearts 
do pump faster and where we do have a moment of anxiety and 
moments of sadness, etc. But you see, it is not like the 
world, it is not like the pagan, it is not like the heathen, because 
God has said, be anxious of nothing through his servant Paul. but 
with prayer and supplication, mingled with thanksgivings, send 
me your requests, and I will bring peace to you through Jesus 
Christ, the anointed one." And these Christians, no doubt, had 
great faith in their God. God the sovereign revelator, 
and then thirdly, under the congregation's confidence, in God the sovereign 
governor. In God the sovereign governor, 
because notice what we read here in verse 27. 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 God the sovereign governor you see nothing goes 
on in the world certainly outside the purview of God outside the 
oversight outside the sovereign and watchful eye of the Lord 
God Almighty, but He does, as our confession rightly brings 
forth, with the weight of Scripture behind it, He has decreed whatsoever 
comes to pass. Our confession says this, God 
hath decreed in Himself from all eternity by the wise and 
holy counsel, most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely 
and unchangeably all things whatsoever comes to pass, yet so as thereby 
is God neither the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with 
any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, 
nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, 
but rather established in which appears his wisdom in disposing 
all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree. This is what we have here. God 
for ordaining whatsoever comes to pass and His power and faithfulness 
in accomplishing that decree. This language here speaks with 
the utmost clarity to the certain doctrine of God's unmitigated 
and universal sovereignty over all things, including the salvation 
and damnation of men and angels. This language has been used previously 
in Acts 2.23 to speak of concerning the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Notice in Acts 2.22, men of Israel 
hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you 
by miracles, wonders, signs, which God did through him in 
your midst, as you yourselves also know. Now, read here. Him being delivered by the determined 
purpose and for knowledge of God, you have taken by lawless 
hands, have crucified and put to death. You see, the Bible 
completely upholds with no apology, because there need not be one, 
the unmitigated sovereignty of God as well as the moral culpability 
of man in doing wickedness. God had ordained according to 
the determined purpose and foreknowledge of himself, Christ's crucifixion 
upon Calvary's tree. And it is nevertheless the case 
unbelieving Israel that you have taken by lawless hands, have 
crucified and put to death the Lord of glory. This language 
is used. Sorry about that. This language 
is used in Luke 22 as well concerning Judas. Luke 22. And I believe it's verse 22. 
In Luke 22, verse 22, we have the account of the betrayal of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, at least getting towards the betrayal 
of the Lord Jesus. And notice in Luke 22, beginning 
at verse 20, likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, 
This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for 
you. But behold, the hand of my betrayer is with me on the 
table. and truly the son of man goes at it as it has been determined, 
but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed." Truly Judas would 
go and is going as it has been eternally foreordained, but woe 
to that man. You see, we have God's divine 
intention, His pure, ethically pure and divinely a glorious 
intention in decreeing and bringing to bear providentially an event, 
but man's wicked and vile intention as the second cause in bringing 
to bear that event in time and in history. That's why, again, 
Luke can write, or Peter can preach, and Luke can write Peter 
having preached. He determined, according to his 
determined purpose and foreknowledge, Christ is delivered to the cross, 
but you by wicked hands have delivered him up to that Roman 
implement of execution. And so we have God the sovereign 
governor there clearly brought forth. And this is something, 
this is something again that serves as comfort and courage 
for the soul in those opposing or those being opposed by the 
political and religious rulers of the day, wouldn't it? To know 
that our God is in heaven and he does whatever he pleases. 
To know that our God does according to his determined purpose and 
foreknowledge. To know this though, that those 
who in that second cause reality by wicked hands perform things 
by their wicked intention, God answers from the throne room 
with that with that measure of calm dignity to use, whose term? Calm dignity of the throne room? 
Thank you, Walt Chantry. From the calm dignity of the 
throne room, they know that the sovereign decreeer and providential 
governor of all things will judge in time and in history, or on 
that great and final day, those who oppose the risen and the 
glorious Christ and his people. The God, the sovereign governor. It's something that is the great 
leveler for those who are like Job's friends in Job 12. Remember what Job always has 
to do and what God, of course, does at the end of Job, but what 
Job is doing and interacting with his friends is he's bringing 
to bear the reality that God is in the heavens and he does 
whatever he pleases. that God is in the heavens and 
has decreed whatsoever comes to pass, and in time and in history, 
providentially governs by His most powerful and faithful accomplishments. Job 12 verse 13. He's already indicted his friends 
for speaking foolishly, if I can just simply sum up verses 1 to 
12. And then he goes on to say, With him, that is with God, are 
wisdom and strength. He has counsel and understanding. 
If he breaks a thing, it cannot be rebuilt. If he imprisons a 
man, there can be no release. If he withholds the waters, they 
dry up. If he sends them out, they overwhelm 
the earth. With him are strength and prudence. 
The deceived and the deceiver are his. He leads counselors 
away plundered. He makes fools of the judges. 
He loosens the bonds of kings. He binds their waist with a belt. He leads princes away plundered 
and overthrows the mighty. He deprives the trusted ones 
of speech and takes away the discernment of the elders. He 
pours contempt on princes and disarms the mighty. He uncovers 
deep things out of darkness and brings the shadow of death to 
light. He makes nations great and destroys them. He enlarges 
nations and guides them. He takes away the understanding 
of the chief peoples of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless 
wilderness. They grope in the dark without 
light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man. You see the 
comprehensiveness of God, the sovereign governor. He would 
go on to say, Job goes on to say in Job 13, oh, that you would 
be completely silent, and that it would be your wisdom. You 
see, man's wisdom is in silence. God's wisdom is clearly seen. It is the case that men are too 
shut up before the living and true God when they oppose him 
and when they offer answers to life's realities and hardships 
that rub against the biblical doctrine of his unmitigated sovereignty 
and his providential love and care. The fact and reality of 
Romans 8, 28, that he works all things for the good of those 
who love him, to those who are the call according to his purpose. So we have the congregation's 
unity We have the congregation's confidence. Now we have, thirdly, 
the congregation's request. The congregation's request is 
we're now back in Acts 4 and we read verse 29. So they've 
acknowledged God's creatorship, the fact that He is the sovereign 
revelator, the fact that He is the sovereign governor, the one 
who has decreed and governs all things. And now they bring their 
request before Him in verse 29. Now, Lord, look on their threats. So the first thing that we see 
here under the congregation's request is a request for juridical 
oversight. And what do I mean by that? Juridical 
oversight. It means simply the administration 
of justice. What they are requesting God 
for, the one that they have already acknowledged, is they're requesting 
for the administration of justice, to look with eyes set beneath 
a furrowed brow upon those who would seek to oppose Christ already, 
to oppose the resurrected and exalted Christ now by persecuting 
his saints in this lower world. They say, now, Lord, look on 
their threats. That isn't to look with the eye 
of omniscience, because God always does that. but rather it is, 
God, look with peculiar judging attention upon these who are 
opposing your saints in this lower world. Look with the eye 
of your pure justice, your pure holiness. Look with the eye of 
your wholesome severity on those who would seek to oppose the 
saints of the living Christ in this lower world, those who are 
seeking to interrupt and to stop the propagation of the gospel 
of Jesus Christ. You see, they're bringing their 
prayers before God because it is gospel proclamation that's 
at stake. They have threatened Peter and 
John after healing and preaching the gospel, they have threatened 
them to no longer preach in the name of this Jesus of Nazareth. 
And so they bring this prayer to God for juridical oversight, 
for God to bring the administration of justice so that the faithful 
propagation of the gospel of Jesus Christ can most certainly 
go on and be victorious. Turn to Psalm 66 because we have 
something of this in view in Psalm 66. Juridical oversight, 
the administration of justice by the pure gaze of Jehovah and 
his strong right arm. Psalm 66. To the chief musician a song, 
a song. Make a joyful shout to the Lord 
all the earth. Sing out the honor of his name. 
Make his praise glorious. Say to God how awesome are your 
works through the greatness of your power. Your enemy shall 
submit themselves to you. All the earth shall worship you 
and sing praises to you. they shall sing praises to your 
name, Selah. Now, before we move on, notice 
this recurring theme that we see in Acts 4, that we see here, 
the recognition of the greatness and the glory of Yahweh. The 
recognition of His awesomeness, as verse 3 sets forth. Verse 
5, come and see the works of God. He is awesome in His doing 
toward the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land. 
They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice on 
him. He rules by his power forever. His eyes observe the nations. Do not let the rebellious exalt 
themselves, say lie. You see the connection there 
to Acts chapter 4. His eyes observe the nations. 
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. That has direct application 
to what we're reading in Acts chapter 4. You see, it's not 
eyes observe the nations in your general omniscience, which is 
glorious and perfect, but rather observe the nations by the administration 
of justice. Look with eyes of wholesome severity 
and let not those who are your opposers exalt themselves in 
the earth. And that's what they pray here 
in Acts chapter 4. The second thing under the congregation's 
request is that we see a request for Christian courage, a request 
for Christian courage. Now, Lord, look on their threats 
and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak 
your word. So they request this administration 
of justice for God to look with the eyes of wholesome severity 
upon the opposers of his gospel. And now they pray that they would 
have the courage that they would have the fortitude, that they 
would have the strength to proclaim boldly the riches and the excellencies 
of Jesus Christ to a needful world, that these threats would 
be nothing to them, that these threats would not be borne out 
into into more persecution, or perhaps not necessarily that, 
because they know that they will have persecution, but rather 
that those who exalt themselves or seek to do so and oppose the 
gospel will not be successful. Though yes, persecutions will 
come, nevertheless, whether in jail or out of jail, whether 
stoned or not stoned, whether mocked, whether pillaged, whether 
they have their goods taken away, whatever comes upon the saints, 
God owns and blesses that for the propagation of truth, for 
the spread of the Gospel, that Jesus Christ would be named from 
sea to sea. And so they pray for Christian 
courage. And this is something as well 
that we see in the Psalms. For example, in Psalm 44, we 
see a similar theme. Psalm 44, in verse 1, we have 
heard With our ears, O God, our fathers 
have told us the deeds you did in their days. You drove out 
the nations with your hand, but them you planted. You afflicted 
the peoples and cast them out, for they did not gain possession 
of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them. 
But it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance, 
because you favored them. You are my king, O God, command 
victories for Jacob. You see what they're rehearsing 
there. They're rehearsing the fact that 
with courage, the nation of Israel gained the possession and gained 
the land, but it was not by their own sword, but rather it was 
by the right hand of God, his arm and the light of his countenance 
because they favored them, because he favored them. And so in the 
new covenant with the New Testament church with the early church, 
here in Acts 4, they acknowledge the greatness and the glory of 
God, His sovereignty, and they plead that with like courage, 
or in a like way, God would bless them with courage, that they 
might, not in their own strength, but in the strength of the triune 
God, prevail in the lower world for the cause of Christ and truth. So they request Christian courage. We'll see this in a moment, but 
it's a wonderful thing, a blessed thing, that that God who does 
in the expanse of the heavens declare his righteousness and 
his glory and declare his kingship and lordship, that same God who 
sets galaxies in orbit gives strength to his people and blesses 
his people with courage. Psalm 29 has always amazed me, 
and you don't have to turn there, but there's a rehearsal of the 
greatness of God in And one of the many things rehearsed is 
one of the things we mentioned earlier This evening the fact 
that God by the exercise of his voice splits the cedars of Lebanon 
the God is the one who sat enthroned the flood and he sits enthroned 
forever and you see what's amazing is what it says next because 
it's been a rehearsal of his glory and his majesty and in 
his sovereignty over creation. And it's been a rehearsal that 
is being directed at the pagan deities around him for them as 
if they had eyes and if they had ears. for them to pay attention 
to this one who is truly God over the universe. But then it 
says, the Lord will give strength to his people. The Lord will 
bless his people with peace. As if to completely change gears 
from the immense and the majestic and to go this direction and 
say, to men, to his people, he gives strength and peace. And 
that's what they have in the back of their minds, is they 
know that we have the God of Psalm 29 who breaks the cedars 
of Lebanon with the smallest exercise of his voice and has 
promised to give strength and peace to his people. So they 
pray for Christian courage. And they pray for continued confirmation. Notice as the text continues 
in verse 30, by stretching out your hand to heal, and that signs 
and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant 
Jesus." So they pray for juridical oversight, Christian courage, 
and continued confirmation. You see, what had just happened 
in Acts chapter 3 was that Peter and John heal this man, and that 
healing, that event of causing this crippled man of over 40 
years of age to be healed, was in order to validate, in order 
to confirm, in order to establish the veracity of the claims that 
they would then make, which is that this Jesus of Nazareth is 
the promised Messiah. He is the King of Kings and Lord 
of Lords. He is the one promised by your 
fathers, or by the prophets that spoke to your fathers. This is 
the one that is the consolation of Israel. And so they pray that 
they would have boldness to continue to proclaim that same message 
of the saving and glorious Christ and that the continued confirmation 
would come by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs 
and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant 
Jesus. And then lastly and fourthly, then we have the divine response. So congregational unity, congregational 
confidence, the congregations request. And then lastly, the 
divine response. And what we simply see here is 
that God does answer prayer. That is what we see here. Notice 
verse 31. And when they had prayed, the 
place where they were assembled together was shaken. Which means 
first we see an indication of His presence. An indication of 
His presence. It wasn't just some sort of haphazard 
and perfect coincidental timing that there was an earthquake 
right when they finished praying. but rather this is an indication 
of divine approbation, divine presence, more specifically, 
that God is with them, that God is favorable to them, as Psalm 
66 brought forth. We have instances of this, or 
we have occasions of this same sort of presence rehearsed, for 
example, in the Psalms. We've been there, but very quickly 
as we move towards a close in Psalm 68, we have this same reality 
rehearsed there by the psalmist in Psalm 68, beginning at verse 
four, sing to God, sing praises to his name, extol him who rides 
on the clouds. By his name, yaw and rejoice 
before him. A father of the fatherless, a 
defender of widows is God in his holy habitation. God sets 
the solitary in families. He brings out those who are bound 
into prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. Oh God, 
when you went out before your people, when you marched through 
the wilderness, say la, the earth shook. The heavens also dropped 
rain at the presence of God. Sinai itself was moved at the 
presence of God, the God of Israel. The reality of what's going on 
in Acts chapter 4 is that they had finished praying, And God 
gives an indication of his presence that he is with them, that the 
God that they had prayed to, that the sovereign creator, revelator, 
and governor is most certainly with them. He gives this indication 
of his presence, and then he continues to answer the prayer, 
secondly, by the giving of his spirit. And they were all filled 
with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, that one that 
Christian men and women, boys and girls, can do nothing without. That section of Jude ends with 
a means by which they are to keep themselves in the love of 
God, and they say, praying always in the Holy Spirit. We can only 
pray in the Holy Spirit. There is no other way to pray. 
Christians are always praying in the Holy Spirit. And here 
they are given the Holy Spirit because without the Holy Spirit 
they would have no means whereby they could avail against their 
opponents, against their enemies. The Lord God answers their prayer 
for boldness and God gives them, God sends His Holy Spirit to 
them so that they might boldly proclaim the riches and the excellencies 
of Jesus Christ by the continued confirmation of those signs before 
spoken of. And thirdly, the provision of 
courage. So the divine response is an indication of his presence, 
the giving of his spirit, and the provision of courage. And 
they spoke the word of God with boldness. You see the connection 
there to the prayer. It's a wonderful instance of 
God always answers prayer, of course, according to his most 
wise will and his most wise counsel. But we see what they pray for 
and we see the God that they pray to immediately answering. They say that you would give 
your servants or that your servants with all boldness may speak your 
word And then the Lord God fills them with his Holy Spirit and 
they speak the word of God with boldness. You see that that providential 
way whereby we participate in the goings forth of the kingdom 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has ordained prayer such 
that when we pray he answers and when his early church prayed 
for boldness he answers and they go forth and do mighty works. 
in the name and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
what we find after this is the reports that we often find throughout 
the book of Acts. Whether it's a victorious proclamation 
of the gospel and multitudes, and Jews and Gentiles believe, 
or whether it's persecution that then initiates a further spread 
of the gospel, we always have this constant report that the 
word of the Lord grew. multiply, that believers or that 
sinners came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we 
have here a prayer rendered in the face of opposition, and we 
have God answering so that his blessed message would march forward. 
And we are 2,000 years removed from that, the blessed beneficiaries 
of this reality that they spoke the word of God with boldness, 
aren't we? God answers the prayer so that 
his message would go forth. And we follow the book of Acts, 
and we see the gospel being preached in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, 
and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. And here we are 
now by virtue of this blessed God, the creator, the revelator, 
the sovereign governor and sustainer who gives strength to his people 
to preach the message. And we're now here believing 
in that blessed Christ, the same Christ of apostolic and early 
church confession. We'll let us close in prayer, 
and then by all means, if you have any questions, please ask. Heavenly Father, we do rejoice 
in your word. We rejoice in what we can read 
of here in Acts 4 in the early church. We just rejoice in the 
progression of the gospel throughout the ages. We rejoice that you 
give strength and aid to your ministers of the gospel and your 
saints generally, that you cause men and women, boys and girls 
in Christ Jesus to have the boldness to face to face an unbelieving 
and a wicked world, and we just rejoice in the fact, Lord God, 
that you have eternally, or that you have always, since the beginning 
of time, been with your people and granted them strength and 
peace. And we thank you that 2,000 years 
removed from that prayer, that we can avail of the same strength, 
that we can avail of that same God. And Lord God, we do pray 
that you bless us in this lower world, that whatever trial, whatever 
affliction, whatever may come upon us, that we would know the 
stuff of Psalm 2, that we would know the stuff of Psalm 115, 
that our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases, 
and that stuff of Romans 8, 28, that you work all things for 
the good of those who love you, to those who are the called according 
to your purpose. And we just pray that you'd help 
us to have opportunity to speak of Christ to others, that you'd 
give us many of these occasions, Lord God, where we can tell sinners 
of their sin and their need of Christ and we just pray that 
you'd go with us now that you'd help us in this remainder of 
the week to rejoice in Christ and to live for your glory and 
that you would bring us together on Sunday that we might worship 
you with great joy and it's in Christ's name that we pray amen