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You can turn in your Bibles to 
Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4, the specific 
focus for our sermon this morning will be verse 24 to verse 31. That is the section that we'll 
read, actually beginning in verse 23, and we'll read to verse 31. But just a little bit of the 
context before we read that, portion of scripture and pray. 
Peter and John, not soon after, or very soon after rather, very 
soon after the day of Pentecost, the church has been added to, 
3,000 souls were added at the end of the account in Acts chapter 
2, at least 3,000. We have the Christians gathering 
daily in the temple, we have the Christians gather together, 
being of one mind, being one accord in the Apostles doctrine, 
fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers. We get to Acts chapter 
3 and we see Peter and John going to the temple at the hour of 
prayer and they come across a lame man. And this lame man is at 
the temple asking for alms, for the giving of riches, if you 
will. Peter and John say is silver 
and gold we do not have but what we do have we give to you freely 
and they They heal him and they say that this healing comes in 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ And people are amazed when we 
get to verse 11 in Acts chapter 3 We read as the lame man who 
was healed held on to Peter and John all the people ran together 
to them in the porch and which is called Solomon's Greatly Amazed. And so Peter uses that as an 
occasion where all this multitude of people, these multitude of 
persons are gathered. He opens up the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and he drives the nail of guilt, if you will, 
into the hearts of those who come, who are amazed at the healing. 
And he says in verse 14, but you denied the Holy One, that 
is Christ, and the just, and asked for a murderer to be granted 
to you, and killed the prince of life whom God raised from 
the dead of which we are witnesses. So this multitude comes to Peter 
and John and they would have been those who were present at 
the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. They would have called 
out, give us Barabbas, crucify this Christ. We will not have 
this king to rule over us. They would have been those who 
would have mocked and laughed at and even spit upon this Lord 
Jesus Christ of glory. And so Peter brings the gospel 
message again with that nail of guilt to the heart of those 
who were gathered before him. And then what happens is that 
the priest, the captain of the temple, the Sadducees come and 
they accost or they arrest, if you will, Peter and John. And 
they bring them before them and Peter brings these words to them 
as they're calling upon Peter and John to no longer heal and 
to no longer preach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
Peter closes that section with verse 12, not closes it, but 
this particular section, nor is there salvation in any other 
for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which 
we must be saved. The chief priests, the captain 
of the temple, and the Sadducees then conspire together to come 
up with some sort of a plan whereby they won't offend the people 
who are amazed at the healing that was done because they could 
not deny the power. They could not deny the fact 
that this lame man that everybody knew was actually healed. So 
they beat them a little bit and they command them and say, and 
severely threaten them, verse 17, that from now on they speak 
to no man in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they 
call them to them, and we read in verse 20, for the man, or 
excuse me, in verse 21, so when they had further threatened them 
and 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. So they concede, if you will, 
in their decision. They don't want to cause an uprising 
with the people, but they also don't want to just let Peter 
and John go and say, go about your merry business, but rather 
they are still in opposition to the proclamation of the gospel 
of Jesus Christ and healing in his name, which lands us now 
then at verse 23 of Acts chapter four. So let us read beginning 
in that verse 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 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, 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, let us go again to 
the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we do pray that 
you would help us now as we engage in this act of worship, the preaching 
of your word. We pray, Lord God, that you would 
bless this exercise, and we pray that you would be the recipient 
of praise and honor, that the Lord Jesus Christ again would 
be exalted upon the praises of this gathered assembly. And we 
would ask, Lord God, that saints would be instructed and edified, 
that sinners would be saved, and that all of that would be 
done unto the praise of your high name and the praise of your 
glorious grace. So do be with preacher and helper 
now, Lord God, and might this be unto the praise of your name. 
In Christ's name we pray. Amen. So with that introduction 
in view, we get to a prayer of the early church. We see what 
should be the content of the prayer of the modern church as 
well. If we have We have lots in this 
verse, and if we have anything, we most certainly have, when 
we get to application later on, the stuff that should be the 
content of our Christian prayer here in this lower world. Though 
we do not have the identical circumstances of the early church, 
nevertheless, we do have circumstances. We have the same God. We have 
enemies. of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
and we are to imitate, if you will, the early church in bringing 
to God in prayer the content of our brothers and our sisters 
from so many years ago. One thing that's always good 
to do, doesn't necessarily have to be done every time, but one 
thing that's always good to do when we come to the Book of Acts 
is to recognize that the Book of Acts has a connection to the 
gospels that preceded it in our New Testament canon. We don't 
have the Book of Acts coming to us in a vacuum where we read 
it with a detached reading from the gospel narratives of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. some of the passages, whenever 
we read an account like this of the early church proclaiming 
Jesus Christ and coming up against hot persecution, we should have 
some verses in the back of our minds. And one of them is this 
Matthew 16, 18. You should know that verse where 
Christ says, I will build my church and the gates of hell 
will not prevail against it. These brothers and sisters gathered 
in Acts chapter four would have heard of those words of our Savior, 
I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it. And so they come to God in prayer 
with the stuff of that promise. in their minds, in their hearts. We should have a passage such 
as Matthew 28, 18 to 20 in the back of our minds, the Great 
Commission, because these gathered Christians would have had the 
confidence of those words of our Lord Jesus Christ, all authority 
has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore and 
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and lo, I 
am with you always, even to the end of the age. So when they 
go about, when they do their going, therefore, and when they 
disciple the nations, and when they baptize and instruct, they 
would know that even though they come up against hot persecution 
and the enemies of Christ, nevertheless, Christ Jesus has been given all 
authority in heaven and on earth. They should have, they would 
have passages such as Matthew 23, 34 to 36 in, or we ought 
to, have passages such as Matthew 
23, 34 to 36 in the background where we come to the book of 
Acts and we find the rulers of Jerusalem delivering up preachers 
of the gospel to persecution, even unto death. And we read 
this in Matthew 23 at verse Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, 
wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and 
crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues 
and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the 
righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel 
to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered 
between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all 
these things will come upon this generation. You see, When we 
later talk about the confidence of this early praying church, 
they would have likewise have heard of Christ's words in Matthew 
23, that those who would persecute them, the disciples who go about 
proclaiming the Lord Jesus Christ, the wrath of God would be poured 
out upon them. All the blood, the righteous 
blood spilled from the beginning of Old Covenant proclamation 
to the end of Old Covenant proclamation. and truly the blood spilled by 
the persecution of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, that 
would come upon them. They would have the confidence 
in this, that God, the judge of all the earth, would do right 
in punishing those who would seek to persecute the saints 
of Christ. And as well, and finally, before 
we look at the passage specifically, they would have in the back of 
their minds, and we ought to have in the back of our minds, 
this fact of John 14, 26, John 15, 26, John 16, 7, that God and Christ, 
that God the Father and God the Son would send God the Spirit 
in time. Christ promises that it is a 
good thing for me to go, for when I do go, I will send to 
you the Spirit who will guide you and strengthen you in all 
things. So in Acts chapter 4, we want 
to notice two things this morning. Two things from Acts chapter 
4, and then two things this evening. So we break apart this prayer 
of the early church. The two things that we'll notice 
this morning are the congregation's unity and the congregation's 
confidence. We find the congregation's unity 
in verse 24A. So when they heard that, they 
raised their voice to God with one accord and said, we see the 
congregation's confidence in verses 24B to 28. where we see the invocation, 
if you will, the calling, the calling and prayer to God, the 
maker of heaven and earth, the giver of revelation and the predestinator 
and governor of all things. And then we'll see tonight the 
congregation's request in verse 29 and 30, and then the divine 
response in verse 31. But first off, let's look at 
the congregation's unity again, a simple sentence, a simple statement 
that we read in verse 24. When they heard that, they raised 
their voice to God with one accord and said. When they heard the 
report by Peter and John of what the elders and the scribes and 
the captain of the temple had said, when they heard that, they 
raised their voice with one accord and said. We don't have in this 
instance, and sometimes when you maybe hear this language 
of a gathered multitude raising their voice with one accord, 
we don't have every single individual in that assembly raising their 
voice. It very well could have been 
that this is thousands, certainly hundreds, but maybe even thousands 
of gathered Christians at Solomon's portico, at Solomon's porch, 
at the temple, raising their voices to God with one accord. You see, it would be quite the 
thing if every single one of Those thousands of people were 
opening up their mouths and speaking the same things. Surely God could 
do that because with God all things are possible. But what 
we most likely have here is probably one, maybe more than one, but 
a handful at the very most of persons bringing a representative 
prayer to the Lord God for the gathered church. they raised 
their voice with one accord and said. And this brings a very 
important aspect of Christianity and church into the fore. And 
that is that Christians are to be marked by a unity. The Old 
Testament and the New Testament are in agreement at this very 
point. One of the smallest or shortest 
Psalms that we have, if you turn with me to Psalm 133, In Psalm 133, maybe not the shortest 
because Psalm 134 is shorter. But nevertheless, in Psalm 133, 
we have a short Psalm and one that speaks to the blessedness 
of unity, the blessedness of the one accordness of Christianity. Notice Psalm 133 and verse one, 
behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together 
in unity. It is like the precious oil upon 
the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running 
down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, 
descending upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded 
the blessing, live forevermore. Behold how good and how pleasant 
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Christian gathering 
together is to be one that is marked most certainly by a unity 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it is important and 
we know that it is Christian unity. Because in the Lord Jesus 
Christ's high priestly prayer, that's what he prays for. Lord 
God, that they might be one, just as you and I are one. The 
importance of the unity is founded upon that unity that Father and 
Son have in the ontological trinity, in that blessed union that they 
have, the union of the persons in the one divine and infinite 
being. That unity is the foundation 
upon which Christian unity is built. And so we are to have 
a unity, generally speaking, but we are also to have a unity 
particularly that is a unity in the fellowship of the gospel. 
You see, our unity is not a unity of some sort of general like-mindedness. whereby, you know, the unity 
is such that we are united around common inclinations or common 
hobbies. You see, when we have a fellowship 
luncheon, we're not to have the beard growers in one section 
and the head shavers over here because they have things in common. 
There's a unity of head shaveness and a unity of beardness. And 
then, you know, the antique-ers over here. and the farmers and 
the hunters and gatherers over here, or something like that. 
You see, the unity in Christianity is not a unity of peculiarities 
or a unity of hobbies. And it is not unity simply for 
unity's sake. You see, unity for unity's sake 
means that we then do away with those things that rightly divide. 
But you see, unity in Christianity is in and around and by and for 
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anything that would compromise, 
anything that would doctrinally steal away from the pristine 
doctrine of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, what we find 
in the Holy Scriptures, we are not to be unified with such. who would steal away the glory 
of the Bible and the glory of the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And hopefully as we read the content of the prayer, we 
see that their unity is in that very thing. The gospel of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the continued propagation, proclamation, and 
defense of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so our 
unity is a congregation's unity is not a generic unity, regardless 
of the content of belief, but their unity is because of the 
content of belief. You see, Philippians 1, 27 to 
29 should drive that certain truth home. That you see, we 
don't interlock arms with those who deny the gospel of Jesus 
Christ in some sort of unity for unity's sake. But rather, 
you see, Paul writes, only conduct yourselves to the Philippian 
church. 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. You 
see, the one-mindedness and the one-spiritedness that Christians 
are to be marked by is marked by striving for the faith of 
the gospel. And that is the particular unity 
that Christians are to be marked by. And contextually, this unity 
is seen in the sameness of purpose with regards to the content of 
the prayer. In other words, they don't have 
this gathered assembly as not some of them wanting to beseech 
God for confidence and courage in proclaiming the gospel of 
Jesus Christ. And then others have this mind 
to pray for other things, but just sit there in silence, not 
with a one spiritedness with those bringing the prayer to 
God, but rather all of them with one accord, with one purpose, 
with one thing in mind, the defense and proclamation of the gospel 
come and they bring their supplications before the God of heaven and 
of earth. Secondly, so that's the congregation's 
unity. Secondly, we have the congregation's 
confidence in, well, spend the majority of our time here. And 
when we say the conflict, the congregation's confidence, we're 
not necessarily speaking of the virtue, if you will, of the confidence 
of the saints, but rather, wherein do they find or where do they 
find their confidence? And the prayer brings that clearly 
into view. Notice the congregation's confidence 
first seen in God, the sovereign creator, God, the sovereign creator, 
they say, or we read in verse 24. 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. In their prayer, in their invocation, 
if you will, in recognizing the God that they are praying to, 
they first identify God, the sovereign creator. You are God 
who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. The congregation acknowledges 
the creatorship of God and finds confidence in the God who made 
all things. You see, when we come to God 
in prayer, We're coming to a God who is not the ghetto deity, 
to use borrowed language, or a God confined to a certain aspect 
of the cosmos or reality, the God of the land, or the God of 
the sea, or the God of the vineyard. When we come as Christians, we 
come to the only living and true God who is that same God who 
has made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that 
are in them. And this is a pattern that has 
marked the saints throughout the ages. For example, you can 
turn with me to Psalm 121. Psalm 121, you see, as their 
confidence, they would be praying with this in view that the God 
who is the recipient of their prayer is the one who has created 
all things. And in Psalm 21, we see exactly 
that right beginning at verse one. I will lift up my eyes. 
to the hills. From whence comes my help? My 
help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. You see, 
they would have looked to the hills or they would have looked 
to the hills, if you will, of the majesty and the glory of 
the Lord God of heaven and earth, and they would know that from 
that God comes their help, from the only living and true God 
who has made the heavens and the earth. And the same thing 
we find by our Old Testament saints in Psalm 146. In Psalm 
146, you see, it is a consistent pattern that the confidence of 
the people of God is seen in the sovereign creatorship of 
God. And notice what we find in Psalm 
146 at verse five, happy is he who has the God of Jacob for 
his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, who made heaven 
and earth the sea, and all that is in them. You see, there is 
no discord between the Old Testament saints and the New Testament 
saints. The Old Testament saints prayed 
this way, but on this side of a crucified, resurrected, and 
ascended Redeemer, we pray this way. Now, certainly more revelation, 
the actual coming of Christ being accomplished, no longer anticipated 
in that Old Covenant way, Nevertheless, there is absolute consistency 
between the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints. 
Here in Acts 4, they repeat what the psalmist wrote 1,000 years 
previous to them. And they say, and they call upon 
that God who made the heavens and the earth and all that are 
in them. You see, when we come to prayer, 
Well, let's say when we come up against difficulty and trial 
and affliction or when we open up a newspaper or turn on the 
news and we see such violence and we see the so-called advance 
of Islam and those sorts of things, we have it in our minds and we 
might have it in our hearts to entertain that fleshly and ungodly 
anxiety. But you see, these saints would 
have nothing of that because they come to the Lord God who 
made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. When 
we consider the expanse of the cosmos, when we consider the 
starry hosts in the heavens, these things are not so many 
weapons in the atheist's armory, but rather they are the canons 
of the Christian. that we launch back at those 
ungodly God rejecters who would say that the stars testify to 
the absence of God. The heavens declare the glory 
of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day after day 
at her speech, night after night reveals knowledge. There is nowhere 
where their voice is not heard. Once again, Spurgeon on that. 
You probably heard me say this 832 times. So here comes 833. You see, Spurgeon and other men 
in history had a way of bringing a passage into the view of the 
hearers and instilling confidence and courage in their God. Spurgeon said of Psalm 19 and 
speaking in denouncing atheists and lifting the confidence of 
his hearers, He said, in the expanse above us, God flies as 
it were his starry flag to show that the king is at home. See, 
that's what God has done in the expanse of the cosmos and with 
the starry hosts of heaven. They are not so many weapons 
in the atheist's artillery armory. But rather, they are. It is the 
fact that by that, God is in the expanse of the heavens and 
those stars are his starry flag to show that the king is at home. 
And he goes on to say, and he hangs out his coat of arms bearing 
shield so that he might show the atheist how much he despises 
their denunciations of him. You see, these would have had 
that mind. as they're bringing this prayer 
to God, as John and Peter come back saying, these elders, these 
chief priests, the captain of the temple, and these Sadducees 
have commanded us not to proclaim the glorious name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. And knowing that they must obey 
God rather than men, knowing that they must endure whatever 
would come upon them for the cause of God and truth, they 
go to God in great confidence and they acknowledge his sovereign 
creatorship. He is not the God confined to 
land who acquiesces to the reign of Poseidon who rules over the 
sea, but rather the only living and true God Yahweh, our great 
and holy and triune God is the God who created the earth and 
the sea, the heavens, and all that is in them. And you see, 
it wasn't the case that God dwelled in some cosmological reality 
where there was already matter and form that he tinkers with 
in order to create the world and all things, as if the material 
by which God creates sprung up alongside of God, but rather 
God out of nothing by the breath of his mighty mouth brought things 
into being. Creation, ex nihilo, creation 
out of nothing. He spoke and it was. God, our sovereign creator. And 
this would be something, and this is something, that marked 
the Old Testament Church as they rubbed up against, and the New 
Testament Church as they rubbed up against the so-called gods 
of the heathen nations. Whenever you read the Psalms, 
keep that in mind, or keep this in mind, that there is a wholesome 
mockery that we can bring against such who would conceive of a 
God who can be manufactured out of wooden stone, who can be hewn 
out of trees and hewn out of rocks, having men fashion eyes 
and ears and nose and arms and all those things. You see, have 
you ever considered this? And I know this has come out 
in our study on the doctrine of God, but have you ever considered 
this? When we come to Psalm 15 and 
we read, why should the Gentiles say, so where is their God? They're 
saying, where is their God? Because unlike us, they don't 
have a God standing with eyes and with nose and with arms in 
whatever pose and in whatever posture that's supposed to communicate 
some measure of confidence to idolaters. So where is their 
God? The psalmist responds and the 
Christian is to respond, but our God is in heaven and he does 
whatever he pleases. You may have hewn your gods out 
of rocks and trees, but our God created those rocks and those 
trees. He goes on to say they have eyes, 
but they do not see. If you ever consider this, our 
God does not have eyes, and yet he sees all things. Our God does 
not properly have eyes. The Bible says His eyes are in 
every place, beholding the good and the evil. But you see, God 
is spirit, invisible, a most pure being. He does not properly 
have eyes. The idols have eyes, but they 
do not see. But our God, who does not have 
physical eyes, nevertheless sees all things. They have ears, but 
they do not hear. God, who properly has no ears, 
hears all things. They have arms, but they cannot 
handle, they cannot touch, they cannot move. Our God has no arms, 
and yet He stretches His outstretched arm to redeem people from the 
bondage of sin. The Bible speaks about stretching 
out your arm to heal and these sorts of things, but our God, 
a most pure spirit, need not arms in order to affect with 
absolute perfection His decree, His plan, and His will. the God, 
our sovereign creator, who has created the earth, the heavens, 
the seas, and all things that are in them. And that would instill 
great confidence. Secondly, we see that their congregational 
confidence would be in God, the sovereign revelator. So their 
confidence is in God, the sovereign creator, verse 24B, and then 
in God, the sovereign revelator, verse 25 and verse 26. Notice, who by the mouth of your servant 
David have said." God has revealed himself in creation. The heavens declare the glory 
of God. The firmament shows his handiwork. But that general revelation 
doesn't proclaim to men that the nations raged. 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. The cosmos doesn't proclaim that 
the nations of the world will unleash their rage upon a Messiah, 
but that Messiah has been set upon the holy hill of Zion. Where 
from? He judges and he crushes the 
enemies of God. We see God, the sovereign revelator, 
bringing his mind, bringing his will to men who by the mouth 
of your servant David have said. And you see, This wasn't just 
a random picking of a text by the early church. They didn't 
just pick Psalm 2, if you will, out of a spinning plexiglass 
lotto cylinder and incorporate this into their prayer. It is 
always good, and perhaps not necessarily for a particular 
and peculiar reason, to bring God's word to God in prayer so 
that we are acknowledging his revelation and the goodness of 
the words that he speaks to us in his revelation. But nevertheless, 
we have here the early church picking Psalm 2, and they pick 
Psalm 2 for a specific reason. And let's turn there for a moment 
to Psalm 2, because you see, first, these gathered Christians 
have confidence in God, their sovereign creator. From whence 
does our help come? Our help comes from the Lord 
who made the heavens and the earth. And then they find their 
confidence in God, the sovereign revelator. And kids, and everyone, 
revelator just means someone who reveals. God is the sovereign 
revelator, that is, he reveals to us. And in Psalm 2, we have 
the content, at least the first two verses, we have the content 
or the passage of scripture that these early church gathered Christians 
had in their minds and that they speak back to God and notice 
the first section there is what we find that they quote in their 
prayer why do the nation's 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, let us break 
their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. You 
see what the early church is doing here. They're applying 
Psalm 2 to the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as to those who suffer 
in his name. But why would this Psalm be of 
confidence to the early church? Why would they pick Psalm 2? 
Well, because as we move on, notice what we read. Remember 
the nations of the earth and those plotting against the Lord 
and his Christ say, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast 
away their courts from us. That means that what they wanted 
was or what they did not want was this one to rule over us. We will not have this man to 
rule over us. The parable goes in Luke 19. And so what we have here is the 
governments of the world, the nations and the kings of the 
earth, the rulers conspiring together to end the moral government 
of God. However, they think that they 
can actually do that. So they say, let us break their 
bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. But notice 
the response from the throne room of heaven. He who sits in 
the heavens shall laugh. You see, when these Christians 
gather together, get this report of the people of Israel who were 
supposed to be the teachers of the nation, they were supposed 
to search the scriptures and find Christ therein and bring 
the balm of Christ's gospel to their people. Instead, they bring 
them into bondage and blindness and darkness of religion. And 
they would have known that this is just the beginning when they 
are threatened a little bit, Peter and John, and returned 
and commanded not to preach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
That was just the beginning because Christ promised you will scourge 
some and kill some and crucify some when he's pronouncing those 
woes upon the unbelieving Jews. And so they would have great 
confidence as they reply Psalm 2 back to God in prayer and they 
recognize that This psalm, this God rather, who revealed by the 
mouth of the prophet David through King David, That God is the one 
who sits in the heavens, who laughs, who holds them in derision. And verse 5, you see, they say, 
those raging unbelievers who govern over, they say, let us 
break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. 
But notice verse 5, then he shall speak to them in his wrath and 
distress them in his deep displeasure. They say this thing, but the 
God who will laugh, at the notion that anyone could break his bonds, 
that anyone could snip his cords of moral government and sovereign 
rule, he replies with verse six, yet I have set my king on my 
holy hill of Zion. Do you get the connection here? 
They're saying, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast 
away their courts from us immediately. God replies, yet I have set my 
king on my holy hill of Zion. You cannot usurp. You cannot 
take away. You cannot steal away from the 
absolute sovereign, the unmitigated and absolute sovereignty of this 
ruling king, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have set this perfect king 
upon my holy hill of Zion. As great as David was, as great 
as David was, he was a sinful man, wasn't he? Saved by grace. 
You see, as much as great as David was and as great as the 
early Christians being saved from out of their Judaism, as 
much as they would have respected King David as a figure, a respectable 
figure in religious history, they would know That this one 
who has been set upon the holy hill of Zion would never send 
them into the forefront of the hottest battle to be killed in 
a murderous plot. That he wouldn't, this one, would 
not have the stains of sinful humanity, but being the perfect 
God-man and the perfect king would rule in righteousness and 
in equity and in absolute perfection. So you see the confidence that 
they have and why they would quote Psalm 2 as we read on, 
I will, Declare the decree, verse 7. 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 see, they would have in the 
back of their minds, in the four of their minds, actually, as 
Christ is giving them the commandment, the great commission, All authority 
has been given, or all authority on heaven and on earth has been 
given to me, they would know Psalm 2, and that's why they 
pray it later, because I will give you, God says to Christ, 
the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for 
your possession. You see, in Revelation, when the beast of 
the land and the beast of the sea are raging, The recipients 
of John's apocalypse would know what he had already written in 
that letter. The nations of this world are 
the nations of our God and of his Christ. And so when the nations 
rage and when the people's plot vain things, Christians have 
confidence in this fact, that Christ, verse nine, shall break 
them with a rod of iron, the enemies of Christ, and shall 
dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. And so hopefully, moving 
back now to Acts chapter 4, when they're praying this prayer, 
we see that it was not a random or haphazard picking of a text 
in their prayer, but rather they see in God, the sovereign revelator, 
the confidence that he had disclosed to the church even a thousand 
years prior to this event, even more, that all things are under 
the sovereign governance of a thrice holy God. They, the congregation, 
acknowledges the sovereign revelatory activity of God and finds confidence 
in the knowledge of the God of Psalm 2 and of the installed 
King Jesus who judges the nations. Now notice thirdly, under the 
congregation's confidence, thirdly and lastly, under the congregation's 
confidence, they have this gathered assembly of believers had confidence 
in God, the sovereign predeterminer and governor. Notice as they 
finish reading or quoting Psalm 2 in their prayer, they immediately 
give the interpretation of the Psalm. You see, it isn't the 
stuff of modern day preachers to say when we read the Psalms 
that these are about, even from the Lord Jesus Christ, that they 
have a Christotelic interpretation. That is, they point towards the 
Lord Jesus Christ. They are Christo-centric in their 
nature. The Psalms are not pre-Christ 
and then Christ comes along and we have some sort of disconnect 
or disharmony between the Psalms and Christ. What does Christ 
say himself in Luke 24? The law, the prophets, and the 
Psalms were all written concerning me. And so immediately they provide 
this interpretation, the the hermeneutic, if you will, the 
science of interpretation of the early church is finding Christ 
in the psalm. Verse 27 for truly against your 
holy servant, Jesus, whom you appointed anointed rather both 
Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of 
Israel. Now note, we're gathered together 
to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before 
to be done. You see how the confidence would 
build. Not that there is somehow a lack 
of confidence in acknowledging God as the creator of the heavens 
and the earth and all that is in them, because really the logical 
thing that we are to arrive at is that God then is the sovereign 
predeterminer and governor of all things. In fact, just for 
a moment you can turn to Psalm 135 because there we see Something of a connection between 
God as creator and God as sovereign governor. It links creation to 
the sovereign governance of creation in Psalm 135. Notice in Psalm 
135 and verse 6, whatever the Lord pleases, he does. in heaven and in earth, in the 
seas and in all deep places. So this is you are Lord God, 
the one who created the heavens and the earth and the seas and 
all that are in them. And you are the God who Thereby, 
by virtue most certainly of your nature and being, but also by 
virtue of the fact that you created all those things, you therefore 
do whatever you please in the heavens, in the earth, in the 
seas, and in all the deep places. So these early church gathered 
Christians bringing this psalm, they interpret Psalm 2 as applying 
to Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The nation's 
rage, the rulers and the kings counsel together against the 
Lord and against his Christ. They apply that to the persecution 
unto crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they note in 
that in order to do away with, in order to completely divest 
any of the Christians of any fleshly anxiety, they say that 
Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the people of Israel, 
We're gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose 
determined before to be done. You see, we do not live in a 
world where God is up in the heavens biting his nails and 
hoping that everything works out for these people on earth. 
Oh, I wish that I could intervene, but I have left them unto their 
own devices, and the world spins, and they must determine their 
own destiny by the execution of their own libertarian free 
will. Our God is in the heavens, and he does whatever he pleases. 
And Herod and Pontius Pilate, though complicit and guilty for 
the crimes against Christ, Gentiles and the people of Israel, though 
complicit, guilty for their crimes against the Lord Jesus Christ, 
Nevertheless, we're gathered together to do whatever God's 
hand and God's purpose determined before to be done. When we arrive 
at passages such as this, but passages such as Genesis 50 and 
verse 20, we need to understand and perhaps sometimes correct 
our language. You can turn to Genesis 50 and 
verse 20 for a moment. Because it's very often the case 
that we will use, Christians will use language such as, you 
see what the wickedness of men in Genesis 50, but God overruled 
it for good. In other words, they did something 
that God had not predetermined to do, but then God came along 
in cleanup duty, if you will, and formed it and molded it and 
shaped it, overruling it for good. The things that came upon 
Joseph were not simply overruled by God for good, but rather they 
were predetermined and purposed to occur for a good end. Notice in Genesis 50 at verse 
20. Now remember what happened. The 
brothers of Joseph, some wanted to kill, but they ended up leaving 
him in the ditch. The story goes on, slavery, et 
cetera. And we arrive, and the idea is 
that the brothers are no doubt afraid for their lives. And we 
arrive at verse 20. In verse 19, Joseph said to them, 
do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for 
you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in 
order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people 
alive. You see the same English word there. You meant evil against 
me, but God meant it for good. It's not that God came along, 
having not predetermined it, and said, well, I'm going to 
overrule this and just turn this unfortunate event unto good. 
In the Hebrew and in the Greek, the Septuagint, the Greek translation 
of the Old Testament, where we find meant with the wicked and 
meant with God, it is the same word used. In other words, we 
could read it like this. But as for you, you intended 
or purposed evil against me, but God intended or purposed 
it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to 
save many people alive. You see, the divine intention 
in decreeing whatsoever comes to pass is pure and perfect and 
unto the end of the praise of his glorious grace, but the intention 
of men comes and in the means whereby God brings about his 
decree, their intentions are wicked and impure and imperfect. God doesn't overrule it. That 
word can be qualified to understand what we're saying, but they intended 
it for evil. God intended it for good, that 
he might save many people alive. And so when we get back to Acts 
chapter four here, we are seeing The confidence of this gathered 
assembly, the congregation acknowledges the predestinating and guiding 
hand of God and finds confidence in the knowledge that God uses 
the conspiring of wicked men to bring about holy ends and 
advance his cause. You see, we need not fret. And we need not worry like the 
world worries when trial and when affliction comes. Be anxious 
in nothing is a command by the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 
four. Be anxious in nothing, but in 
prayer. and supplication, mingled with 
thanksgivings, make your requests known to God, and the peace of 
God, which surpasses all understanding, will be yours in Christ Jesus. 
You see, the reason why, one of the reasons why we need not 
be anxious in anything is because God has purposed with his hand 
and determined things, all things, that are done in this lower world. 
So when we rub up against difficulty and trial and affliction, we 
need not say, God, where are you? And we need not and we should 
not conceive of a God wherein our comfort in him is found that 
he suffers along with us. Maybe you've never heard that 
before, but there are quotes out there and sermons out there 
and articles out there that our comfort is in a God who suffers 
along with us. How selfish is that? That we 
find comfort in a God who is affected in the same way we are 
with the events of the world? God suffering along with us? 
Be still and know that I am God. Why are we to be still? Because 
God does not suffer with us, but rather is the insufferable 
who is pure and perfect and altogether lovely in all of his perfections 
and is a constant aid, a constant rock of comfort, helping those 
who actually do suffer. Don't conceive of a God who is 
weeping and suffering and crying with you. Conceive of a God who 
is infinite in his perfections, who is most loving, who is most 
strong, almighty, powerful, and able to affect all things, whether 
good or evil, for the good of those who love him, to those 
who are the cold according to his purpose. We find comfort 
in God our rock. not in God, our co-sufferer. We need a God who is immutable, 
impassable, who cannot suffer passions like men. We need this 
God, who they pray to, the God who creates, the God who reveals, 
the God who is the predeterminer and the governor of all things, 
so that we can find that confidence, have that courage, and when trial 
comes, it might not be this trial, but whatever trial comes, we 
go to that God in prayer. And we know, as we'll find tonight, 
that God provides, that God responds, that God gives peace, that God 
gives strength. If we learn anything from these 
things, hopefully we learn first off that we should be marked 
by a sameness of purpose. As Free Grace Baptist Church, 
we are marked by, we should be marked by a sameness of purpose. 
Again, not in those things mentioned earlier. But in the advance of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the proclamation, the gospel of our 
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the main thing at Free Grace 
Baptist Church is a crucified and resurrected and ascended 
Savior. We should, you see, oh, it was 
just for Paul to say, we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews 
a stumbling block, to the Greeks, foolishness. It should not be the case that 
it was just for Paul's time in dealing with the Galatian heretics 
and the Judaizers of his age to say, but God forbid that we 
should boast saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. But 
you see now, 2,000 years later, we need to boast in our programs. 
We need to boast in everything that we do. We need to boast in parachurch 
organizations. We need to boast in this. how 
many conferences we have, how expensive our tickets are. Do 
you know there's a conference on leadership being delivered, 
being head up by a heretic who's charging $1,000 to attend a so-called 
Christian conference and learn probably some of the, probably 
just some really bad things. If you want me to elaborate, 
I can send you a link. But $1,000 to attend a conference? How about you go to church? Where 
the gospel is free. where you can go and you need 
not money. You can buy things without price. And it's not, you know, it's 
not the riches of this fleshly ignominy of our lower world, 
but it's the riches and the excellencies of Christ that you can buy without 
price, without money. Go to church, give your $1,000 
to the church and hear preaching. and be in one accord in this 
sanctuary, bringing your prayers, bringing your supplications, 
bringing your thanksgivings. Don't buy lobster and stay in 
a hotel room and give money to a heretic to drive away in his 
Cadillac and take his private jet to Hawaii. Go to church, come together as 
the saints, go to the creator, the revelator, the sovereign 
governor, and bring your praises and your petitions. And as we'll 
see tonight, that God answers, that God provides, that God strengthens 
His church. We should see here the content 
of prayer, the acknowledgement of our God. When we come to God 
in prayer, you see, we don't immediately dive into, Lord, 
help us. Though God is gracious, God is 
merciful, God is kind, if we were to immediately break into 
prayer and say, Lord, help us, there's time for that. But you 
see, Christians immediately say, Lord. You are God who made the 
heavens and the earth and the seas and all that is in them. 
When we go to our God, we call upon the God, the one and only 
living and true God who did make all things, who does uphold all 
things, who has spoken by servants, who has predetermined and who 
governs. We go to that God of unmitigated 
sovereignty. It always amazes me And it should 
amaze you. You know, we speak about the 
sovereignty of God in this place, and well, we should. Hopefully, 
our eyes don't roll whenever we use that great S word, the 
sovereignty of God. The Bible discloses that page 
after page, chapter after chapter, but you see, it should warm the 
heart of the Christian. that that God who by the simplest 
and smallest expression of his voice splinters the cedars of 
Lebanon, who by the smallest exercise of his voice can crack 
those symbols of the ancient world of rigidity and resilience. that that same God, according 
to Psalm 29, gives strength to his people and blesses his people 
with peace. Our God is not some far removed 
God of transcendent sovereignty with no imminent grace and love 
and help, but rather is wholly other and transcendent, but as 
well imminent. Always helpful, always loving, 
most absolute, most caring. We rejoice in that God and we 
acknowledge him as we go to prayer. And as well, before we close 
in prayer, this stuff of Acts chapter 4 should bring an end 
to fleshly anxiety. Shouldn't it? Should it well 
up in us to not go to God in prayer, but rather to flee to 
all manner of solutions when trial and affliction come? We 
go to the God who created all things, who upholds all things, 
who has decreed all things, who governs all of those things. 
We ought not to have anxiety because of the God that we go 
to in prayer, the God that answers prayer, and the God who has blessed 
us richly through Jesus Christ the Lord. Let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we do rejoice in your truth. We rejoice in your revelation 
that we read from Acts chapter 4. We thank you for the stuff 
of the early church and the prayer that they bring before you as 
Peter and John come back to them with this report. We rejoice 
in what they return back to you in prayer, what they bring to 
you, acknowledging your creatorship, acknowledging the fact that you 
bring special revelation, the revelation of your will and your 
Christ to man. the fact that you have predetermined 
all things and you govern all things by your hand and by your 
purpose. And we, Lord God, of course, 
come to this same God now in prayer. We would ask that you 
would help us to have that confidence and that courage. Whatever comes 
upon us as we come to you in prayer, as we approach you on 
a daily basis, might we recognize who you are, what you have done 
and what you are doing. we might recognize that the fact 
that you have created, that you are sovereign revealer, that 
you are sovereign governor, and that we might not be marked by 
anxiety, but rather with prayer and supplication mingled with 
thanksgiving, we would bring our requests to you, knowing 
that we have the audience of the high king of heaven. And 
we would pray, Lord God, that you would cause us to be marked 
by a unity, that you would help us in this church to be marked 
by that unity around the gospel, that we would stand as one man, 
in one spirit, striving for the faith of the gospel. Go with 
us now, Lord God, help us as we go into this upcoming week. 
We would ask you to help us to live in a manner worthy of our 
calling by grace, to conduct ourselves as we ought to, knowing 
that we've been saved by such a God and by such a great salvation. So go with us now, and might 
all that we do today and each and every day be done unto the 
praise of your most high name and your glorious praise. And 
it is in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.