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welcome to everyone for our call to worship this evening you turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 20 Psalm 20 Psalm 20 I'll begin reading in verse 1 to the chief musician a psalm of David may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble may the name of the God of Jacob defend you may he send you help from the sanctuary and strengthen you out of Zion may he remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice say law may he grant you according to your heart's desire and fulfill all your purpose we will rejoice in your salvation and in the name of our God we will set up our banners may the Lord fulfill all your petitions now I know that the Lord saves his anointed he will answer him from his holy heaven with the strut saving strength of his right hand some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God they have bowed down and fallen but we have risen and stand it upright save Lord may the king answer us when we call amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnal to him number 2 hymn number 2 will stand as we sing together [Music] let us pray a blessed God and our Holy Father we gather together on this Sabbath day to call upon you to gather in the name of the Great God of heaven and earth to worship to glorify and to honor you we acknowledge that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are the true and the Living God there is none like you and as the prophet and the seer asked who would not fear thee O king of the nations for indeed it is thy due we know because of sin and transgression and rebellion all we like sheep have gone astray how we thank you that you have sought us out how we thank you for your great grace how we thank you that you have redeemed us through the blood of your son the Lord Jesus Christ you've called us out of darkness into marvellous light you have given us a desire to proclaim your excellencies to praise you through song and prayer and hearing the Word of God as it's proclaimed we praise you for bringing us together in this local church and we pray that even now you would rend the heavens and come down be found among your people here be enthroned upon the praises of the Israel of God and may you be glorified and praised and worshiped and honored we confess our sins to You Lord God we acknowledge your holiness we see our our own unholiness we see our own waywardness and our proneness to wander or proneness to leave the god that we love we confess our transgressions of your holy law and our lack of conformity unto it and we pray that even now you would plunge us and that fount that is open for sin and uncleanness wash and purify us and cleanse us Lord God we praise you for your promise that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness may we walk by faith and the Son of God loved us and gave himself for us may we pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight those things the word calls us unto and may you fill us with the Holy Spirit that we may indeed shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and give us boldness and courage to hold forth the word of truth we ask as well Lord God for any and all who have come here tonight that are outside of Christ we pray that this would be the day of salvation that your Holy Spirit would bless the preaching of your word she would open eyes and hearts to see the sinfulness that each of us have in our hearts and may they see the supremacy in the excellency of Jesus Christ as the alone Savior for sinners we ask that you would bless our young people and our children we pray that early they would be fearing the Lord God Most High that they like godly Josiah would seek the Lord in their youth and they would strive to honor you in the totality of their lives that you would protect them and hedge them in from the various temptations and the assaults in this present evil age we ask that you would look with favor upon all those in our myths that are struggling with physical trials we know there are several God and we commit them to you and to the word of your grace and pray that your daily uphold them to a daily strengthen them and though the outer man does decay we pray the inner man would be renewed day by day we ask that you would look with favor upon this nation not in terms of economics or politics though those things are important we pray spiritually Most High she would have mercy that you bless the preaching of the word as it goes forth in this land we pray you'd revive your churches and cause us to be a prayerful people than to be a people of the word and may you awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we look forward to those days that the prophets testify concerning and David and the Psalms where Christ will have dominion from sea to sea we were taught by the Savior to pray that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven so we pray for the spread of the Christian gospel here in this nation and in the other to the uttermost parts of the earth god blessed man and equipped them and send them forth into the harvest field to proclaim the excellency of Jesus Christ we pray God that your word would run swiftly and be glorified we thank you that it never returns unto you void but always accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it and Lord bless it as it goes forth even in this nation and do great and glorious things and turn sinners from their useless idols to the true and the Living God we our seed be merciful to our brothers and sisters that suffer in other countries that are that are persecuted for the cause of God and truth we pray for those in prison we pray for those facing death we pray father for those who have lost everything but nevertheless they have everything being found in the Lord Jesus Christ may you be merciful in these nations and may you use the faithful missionaries and gospel preachers to continually set forth Christ and him crucified to those who stand in need and we ask that you would continue with us now we pray for pastor Porter that you'd bless him tonight own him as he preaches the Word of God fill him with the Holy Spirit fill us with the spirit caused us to receive with Thanksgiving that that glorious word of truth and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you can turn with me to your Trinity hymnal again to him number 56 hymn number 56 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] amen well he can turn to the Prophet Amos for our scripture reading this evening Amos chapter 5 prophet continuing to indict and upbraid the people of the Northern Kingdom in about the year 760 not long after the Assyrian siege will occur in 722 and the Northern Kingdom of Judah of Israel will be shut down we're having offended violating and breaking the Covenant that God had made with them the curses listed in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 would indeed be executed upon them so continuing in chapter 5 I'll begin reading in verse 1 here this word which I take up against you a lamentation a house of Israel the Virgin of Israel has fallen she will rise no more she lies forsaken on her land there is no one to raise her up for thus says the Lord God the city that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left and that which goes out by a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel for thus says the Lord to the house of Israel seek me and live but do not seek Bethel nor enter Gilgal nor pass over to Beersheba for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity and Bethel should shall come to nothing seek the Lord and live lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it with no one to quench it in Bethel you who turn justice to wormwood and lay righteousness to rest in the earth he made the plea adds and Orion he turns the shadow of death into the more in the morning and makes the day dark his night he calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth the Lord is his name he reigns ruin upon the strong so that fury comes upon the fortress they hate the one who rebukes in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks up rightly therefore because you tread down the poor and take grain taxes from him though you have built houses hewn stone yet you shall not dwell in them you have planted Pleasant vineyards but you shall not drink wine from them for I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins afflicting the just and taking bribes diverting the poor from justice at the gate therefore the prudent keeps silent at that time for it is an evil time seek good and not evil that you may live so the Lord God of hosts will be with you as you have spoken hate evil love good establish justice and the gate it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph therefore the Lord God of hosts the Lord says this there shall be wailing in all streets and they shall say in all the highways alas alas they shall call the farmer to mourning and skilful the mentors to wailing in all vineyards there shall be wailing for I will pass through you says the Lord woe to you who desire the day of the Lord for what good is the day of the Lord to you it will be darkness and not light it will be as though a man fled from a lion and to bear met him or as though he went into the house leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bid in is not the day of the Lord darkness and not light is it not very dark with no brightness in it I hate I despise your feast days and I do not savour your sacred assemblies though you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings I will not accept them nor will I regard your fat and peace offerings take away from me the noise of your songs for I will not hear the melody of your strained instruments but let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream did you offer me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness 40 years old house of Israel you also carried sick of your king and chiyan your idols the star of your gods which you made for yourselves therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus says the Lord whose name is God of hosts amen let us pray a blessed father we thank you for this warning given to the Northern Kingdom I pray that you'd give us ears to hear and hearts to receive the truth may we heed not only Amos but James in the New Testament and guard our hearts against the sorts of sins that are condemned by both men grant us grace to love worship and glorify you and grant us grace to love our brothers and sisters to have a love for all men we ask that you would be glorified in our church and that you'd help us to honor you help us to be faithful to you and that said God we acknowledge our absolute dependence upon you where the Lord Jesus set apart from him we can do nothing and we pray that he would indeed fill us with the Holy Spirit enable us to comply with your your word and grant us grace to do so with Thanksgiving and with joy and with glad hearts we ask again that you'd bless our brother as he preaches tonight being with the Brethren in South Surrey we RCB with Mike and help him as he preaches and continue to watch over that local church and we pray these things through Christ the Lord amen for our final hymn you can turn to the very back of the hymn book to be thou my vision should be taped into one of the blank pages in the bath be thou my vision [Music] good evening you can turn in your Bibles with me to Acts chapter 4 acts fors it's a passage of Scripture in this particular section of Acts for is one that pastor Butler and I have visited probably on more than one occasion it's a an address of holy read oft returned to because it sets forth the the diligence of the church the the courage and the boldness of the church in fact a prayerful church praying for boldness in the midst of a current distress and a unified church as well that approaches their God that comes to their God that appeals to their God to grant them courage in the midst of difficulty and we'll read Acts chapter 4 beginning in verse 1 and we'll read to verse 31 so this is acts 4 beginning the beginning of the chapter this is the Word of God 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 anise the high priest Caiaphas John and Alexander and as many as were of the family of the high priests 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 Coroner storm 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 forty 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 nation's 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 or 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's go to our God again in prayer God we thank you for this time now in the preaching of the word we pray that you would bless this time help us to remain worshipful in this context Lord give us the grace to engage in this act of worship with the receiving hearts might we take in your word might we rejoice in the Christ to whom it points and might you be honored Lord God in this exercise of worship do be with us now in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord amen well as we move through the beginning portions of the book of Acts we have a number of things that have preceded this particular occasion we have the the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost by a spirit-filled man Peter is central in that in that occasion we're filled with the Holy Spirit he brings the message of the risen and exalted Christ to those in need to the the men and brethren that were gathered together in Jerusalem and we see a growing persecution from the Jews at this particular time the unbelieving Jews upon the Christians a growing persecution because they are proclaiming Jesus Christ and doing mighty deeds in his name in the midst of that persecution though we see him we see a repeated summary report we see that the number of them grow the number of Christians grow in fact as we were reading in verse verse 4 of chapter 4 we see one of those reports however many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000 it's a very interesting observation and a glorious one as Christians as we read the book of Acts we see persecution pouring out upon the church but we see God blessing and owning that persecution to grow his church in the midst of difficulty proof positive that our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases here in acts 4 what we see then is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ continues John and Peter preached the gospel healing this man in fact the healing of this man is the occasion upon which they have this opportunity to preach the riches of Christ the unbelieving Jews do not like it so they bring them into custody and command them not to proclaim in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord and we see them then returning to their companions and this is the section that we want to take up verse 23 to 31 of Acts chapter 4 and we're going to look at four things and I'll tell you what those four things are now we're going to look first at the occasion for the congregation's prayer the secondly the character of the congregations prayer thirdly the content of the congregation's prayer and then lastly the answer to that congregational prayer so first off the occasion for the congregations prayer noticed the text here in verse 23 and being let go they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders said to them so when they heard that they raised their voice to God so the occasion for the prayer is Peter and John's released from custody first they're released from custody the the Jewish leaders the unbelieving Jewish leaders make a a prudent decision if we can use that language of them they do what they do not want to be those who receive the the they don't want a mob charging upon them because as they testify here themselves as they're as they're conducting this business they say that they had seen the man healed standing with them or they see the man who had been healed standing with them and they could say nothing against it verse 15 they commanded them to go aside out of the council and then they conferred among themselves and notice verse 16 what shall we do to these men for indeed that a notable notable miracle has been done through them is Evan to all who dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it verse 17 again just to rehearse 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 in fact this is exactly what John and Peter report back to the people in this in the words of verse 23 when we read and being let go they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them an interesting point that a number of commentators make here is that they didn't report back to their companions everything they said to the chief priests and the elders they weren't boasting in their own boldness the text clearly says that they were emboldened and we read that they proclaimed with great courage in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord but you see they don't go back to their companions in the pre Facebook world and say look what we did in boldness and encourage in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord they simply report what the chief priests and elders said to them what they probably rehearsed to their companions was verse 17 where the chief priests and the elders say 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 in fact that wasn't said to Peter and John but the next section was 18 so they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus so that's what they report back to their companions what the chief priests and the elders say to them and we're going to be getting to this in a moment but this is what precipitates the specific prayer that the church brings to their great God that he might grant them boldness to proclaim his word the reason that they render that prayer that appealed that petition to God is because they know that in the face of this command by the chief priests and the elders they need to please God and not men and to proclaim the riches the glories the excellencies of Jesus Christ in the face of an ungodly command not to do so so that's the occasion for the congregate Asians prayer and I I would want to submit here that when John and Peter themselves received this command from the chief priests and the elders to not preach in the name of Jesus Christ and they received these severe threatenings that they would have gained confidence by this fact and then the Companions would have as well gained confidence in hearing this of the fact that this is a fulfillment of the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ you can turn with me to Luke 21 for a moment you see the the persecution of the unbelieving Jews in this context the persecutions that are being poured out upon the church here in this context are the fulfillment it is the fulfillment of the words of Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 21 notice in Luke 21 at verse 9 and this is this is the the Olivet discourse companion text to Matthew 24 but notice in Luke 21 at verse 9 but when you hear of wars and commotions do not be terrified for these things must come to pass first but the end will not come immediately then he said to them nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom and there will be great earthquakes in various places and famines and pestilences and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven but before all these things they will lay their hands on you and persecute you delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons you will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony now if you if you listen to those words or if you read those words we have the exact thing that's going on in Acts chapter 4 there they we have the very same words in fact used in verse 12 lay their hands on you and persecute you that's the very language of the that we have in Acts chapter 4 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead they laid hands on them and put them in custody and we read on in the text here you will be brought before and rulers for my name sacred before that delivering you up to synagogues in prisons notice verse 13 but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony now we're going to be getting there we're not there yet but that's exactly what happens this bringing into custody this laying on of hands by the ungodly Jewish rulers here in Acts chapter four turns out to be an occasion for testimony they confess well Jesus Christ before these enemies of the gospel and then afterwards the prayer of the gathered church having heard this report they bring their prayer to God Most High and they pray for boldness that they might do what John and Peter did in the midst of distress and persecution proclaim with great boldness Jesus Christ the Lord so the occasion for the congregation's prayer notice secondly the character of the congregations prayer if you're back with me in Acts chapter 4 notice in verse 24 the character of the congregation's prayer so when they heard that that is the report of what the chief elders and priests said to Peter and John so when they heard that they raised their voice to God with one Accord and said the character of the congregation's prayer is seen there that they raised their voice and then emphasis on this with one Accord see the gathered church here prays in a unity the gathered church here prays with one Accord now we've said this before when we've preached from this passage when we read here with one Accord that isn't every single one of the gathered Church praying in unison at the same time that would be a loud cacophony is that the right word you can google that one later that would be allowed aloud multitudinous you know you know rambling almost if you will now that's not to set aside the the idea or the notion or the wholesome practice of responsive prayer many Reformed churches there is responsive prayer and that's fine but what I think what we see here is not this one Accord being characterized by every single person repeating the words that then follow in the prayer but a sameness of purpose a one mindedness in fact moving from the general to that specific we want to observe under this particular point that a general unity is to be evident in Christ's churches that's what we see here we see in the first a general unity that is evident here in this particular church and this is something that is model for the church throughout the ages we are to be marked by a unity and I'm not speaking here of that you know 20th 21st century godless ecumenical where we need to cast aside doctrinal purity for the sake of some sort of unbiblical oneness no I'm talking about a unity a Christian unity in fact if we read in the book of Acts and many points we see this report being brought to us by Luke you can turn to Acts chapter 2 for a moment in Acts chapter 2 we have one one of these reports that's repeated throughout the book of Acts in many places but this is probably the the more prominent one and the more well-known by each and every one of us Acts chapter 2 and verse 46 notice so continuing daily with one Accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart this is this is a report that's repeated and prior to this so it's not repeated it comes before it in 1:14 and in 2:1 but then repeated in five twelve of the book of Acts this one accordionist this one Accord character with regards to the church now this is not anything peculiar to the New Covenant it's something that is of course that was to mark the Old Covenant community and the church in the Old Testament you can turn with me to the book of songs just to see that this is something this is nothing new Psalm 133 this is nothing new is something that ought to be prayed this is something that is joist in by the church throughout the ages this unity that we have and it is a blessed unity to have as the people of Christ notice in Psalm 133 this begins with that word behold were to pay attention to look upon this with intent behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity it's something that we ought to cherish as Christians a unity you see we don't we don't come in here as Christians you know as so many individuals you scattered in the pew sitting sometimes close to some people sometimes further away from people just because you know this is where we go to church and when this is all done we you know we bolt off and and we do whatever you know whatever we want we do come in here as individuals we are individuals but we come here as individuals with an express purpose to be gathered together to be congregated as those who are marked by that blessed unity that happy unity that cheerful unity we are to be knit together our hearts as we are in Christ and for the purpose of Christ it is a blessed thing a happy thing a cheerful thing to be found in unity you know hopefully you've hopefully you've noticed this when we when Pastor Butler or I lead in worship and we we first have a call to worship a reading of a psalm usually and hope you hopefully you realize that it isn't just some liturgical box that we check we we read a psalm as a call to worship because it's a blessed thing to read God's Word to avail of his revelation to the sons of men and certainly in the context of worship when we sing a hymn we then pray and when we pray you may have noticed that we usually say let us pray you know we don't say let me now pray we don't say I am going to now pray but we say let us pray and that's not just rote it's just tradition hey that's you know what we've said for years let's just say let us pray and then check that letter Surgical box there's a led us that's deliberate is because it's we're to reflect the early church here we're to pray in unity we're to pray with one Accord so hopefully when we say let us pray and we bow our heads and we close our eyes or however you go about the posture of prayer that you don't say okay this is my time to shut off now for five minutes while the guy up at the front rambles on for a little bit and ends it with an amen you're to be with us in prayer you're to you might not be speaking we night might not all be praying and one Accord as far as a multitude of voices opening up and speaking to God but you should be speaking to God in unison United with the preacher at the front prank'd it's not time to to sign off for five minutes and you know rehearse your garbanzo bean recipe that you're gonna make for lunch or it's a you know reflect upon whatever it might be that is detached from that aspect of worship that blessed element of worship the communal prayer of God's people we're to be united we're to be marked by a one accord reality as as the gathered church even if it may only be one that is praying or a handful that are praying to the Lord God Almighty the goodness of unity is clear from the Holy Scriptures and we ought to remark as well that congregational unity is a consequence of Christ's sacrificial work the unity of the church is a consequence it's something that happens upon the heels of and by virtue of Christ's sacrificial work in fact in John 10 we see this John 10 at verse 15 notice the language there if you're quick enough to turn there as I now read it that's terrific notice in John 10 at verse 15 as the father knows me even so I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep and other sheep I have which are not of this fold them also I must bring and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one Shepherd he lays down his life for the Sheep and there is one flock and one shepherd were a United Church in fact as we if we fast-forward to John 17 Christian unity is a part of the content of Christ's high priestly prayer notice in John 17 at verse 20 I do not pray for these alone but also for those who will believe me through their word that they all may be one as you Father are in me and I in you that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that you sent me and the glory which you give me I have given them that they may be one just as we are one I in them and you and me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me see Christ dies and as a consequence of that we have a Christian unity there is one flock and there is one Shepherd and the very prayer of the high priest here prior to the rendering of that sacrifice is that that we would be unified that just as there is unity in the triune God so among the persons of the triune God so too would there be unity among the people of God now specifically so that's the general unity evidenced in Christ churches but secondly there is a specific unity in and for the gospel that is in view in fact back in Acts chapter 2 as we were reading or prior to the summary report notice the language that we have in verse 42 of Acts 2 and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers so they're gathered together in one Accord and this one accordionists is marked by continuing steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship there is a specific unity in and for the gospel in fact turn with me if you will to the book of Philippians you see as we're as we're bouncing about in Holy Scripture hopefully that's not we're not bouncing we're going back and forth deliberately in Holy Scripture but hopefully as we're as we're doing this you're seeing the the consent of the parts here we're going back to between authors between different portions of Holy Scripture and we don't have you know we don't have disagreement but rather harmony we have consent because one author God through his superintendent prophets and apostles writing the Holy Scriptures but notice now a notice in Philippians 1 and this is this is instructive for us what you know what should be the content of our prayers a number of things that we ought to pray for as individual Christians and as a gathered church but hopefully this stuff that we're about to read populates your prayers or is is the content of your prayers as a Christian and as one who participates in a local church Philippians 1:27 only let your conduct be 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 know there's a there's a fourfold unity here the first off the implication that he's writing to Christians and the Christians are together when they're hearing this this letter read only let your conduct be worthies he's speaking as he had opened the letter to all the Saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and deacons but then secondly notice the repetition of language here with what we're talking about in mind a specific unity in and for the gospel the the language here that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel in that exhortation there is a three-fold Accord that is brought forth by the Apostle one spirit one mind and striving together and this is our point it's for something specific for the faith of the gospel when we talk about Christian Fellowship it is a delightful and happy thing to eat muffins and and Doritos and drink coffee and juice at the fellowship luncheon that's you know that's a nice consequence of our fellowship as Christians but our fellowship and our communion as Christians is in this the faith of the gospel that's what marks our our one accordionists our unity our oneness our unity is wrapped up in and our Accord is wrapped up in the Blessed stuff of the faith of the gospel and it is as we work our way back to act so that we can move on this unity is a consenting unity what I mean by that is the prayer that goes up to God the creator of heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them this is echoed by all of those in the congregation it has their stamp of affirmation it has their approval there is a unity or an Accord seen in the consent this sameness of purpose that this prayer that goes up to God is our prayer and hopefully like we mentioned earlier that you're with us when Jim and I pray as we lead worship hopefully no one is against us rejoicing and the living and true God who sent his son into this world sinners to save hopefully no one is you know departing from some sort of affirmation of the sameness of purpose when we pray for the governing authorities when we pray for the salvation of sinners when we pray that those persecuted Saints would have boldness and strength in the midst of their distress all of those things hopefully we're marked by a sameness of purpose moving on then thirdly to the content of the congregation's prayer notice in acts 4 beginning continuing here in verse 24 so the content of the congregation's prayer 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 now we'll just pause there for a moment because we want to see first off under the content of the congregation's prayer the Invo education and recognition of God they don't seek for answers to their present distress in themselves where do they go remember that Peter and John bring this report back to them the their companions they bring this report back and the response isn't okay we need to we need to sit down and hammer this out how are we going to answer these threatenings do we you know do we engage in guerrilla warfare do we you know engage in some sort of pre-emptive you know in the in the midst of in the midst of midnight attack upon these who have you spewed forth their threatenings against us do we handle this by ourselves with man's might with our might with human might do we come against these opposers know they invoke God recognizing him as the only God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them where's our where do we go first when we are distressed we go to God we go to God in trouble we go to God always we come to our Lord God you know morning noon and night with our prayers with our petitions with our supplications with our Thanksgivings with our praises but certainly in the midst of trouble when threatenings are spewed out upon us by opposers of the gospel we invoke God recognizing his sovereignty and he alone as the God who can help in the midst of trouble they do not seek for answers to their present distress in themselves but rather we see they raised their voices to God with one Accord and they say Lord you are God they invoke the Lord God Almighty and they go to him in that present distress and notices well they rehearse his works we see the invocation and the recognition of God we also see here a rehearsal of his works Lord you are God and notice who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them you this is again not something that's new to the New Testament church this is something that the old the the the Saints of old as well reflected upon when they brought to God their their petitions they reflect upon the power of God they reflect upon God's power and creation you can turn back in the Old Testament with me to Nehemiah if you know where Jobe is you can back up two books from Jobe to Nehemiah Nehemiah 9 we have these wonderful words being spoken blessing the name of the Lord God Almighty notice in well we'll pick up reading in Nehemiah 9 at verse 4 how about this in the at verse 5 rate as the prayer begins if anybody wants me to read all those names after the preaching I'll read all those names for you but we'll start it will start at stand up and bless the Lord your God notice this wonderful these wonderful words stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever blessed be your glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise you alone are the Lord you made heaven the heaven of heavens with all their hosts the earth and everything on it the Seas and all that is in them and you preserve them all the hosts of heaven worships you you see the the sameness with respect to our passage in verse 4 Lord you are God who made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them here verse 6 you alone are the Lord you have made heaven the earth and everything on it the Seas and all that is in them they're repeating that time old declaration of the glory of Yahweh that he created the heavens and the earth and and all that are in them notice that same language too with respect to invocation or the recognition perhaps more so of God as the only living and true God you alone are the Lord brethren when we read these words blessed be your glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise it hopefully it hopefully it pricks our hearts to a proper worshipful posture and appreciation of our of our glorious God it's you know getting sort of late for for us older folks I'm including myself and they'd seen it's approaching 6 p.m. on a Sunday evening we've had a long day / you know perhaps you are you know exhausted you're tired you know some of you the the eyes are starting to draw closer together the the top and the bottom lids are getting a little bit closer and sort of thing and you know preachers going on but brethren we're we're in the presence of this God we read off you're blessed be your glorious name yeah this is one of the things that we have here in Acts chapter 4 if you want to find your way back there these people are calling upon and recognizing this glorious God not some small G God who has the same passions as men who can even have his substance destroyed and dispelled and scattered throughout the cosmos this is a God who upholds all things who has created all things that he has that he does uphold it's one who is the most pure spirit infinite eternal and unchangeable and all of his glorious perfections so we heard this this morning from Pastor Butler not a God whose love abs and flows but a God who is most loving pure in his love most absolute in his love glorious incomprehensible immutable impassable that we approach this God here in our worship services we pray to the same God that these Saints prayed to blessed be your glorious name perhaps sometimes it might be unto a you know a destruction of church order if we were all to you know to fall on our knees and and you know it wouldn't be n to the destruction of church order it would be a wonderful act of worship if we are all just to stop and fall on our knees and say god bless it be your holy name I think sometimes we can be we you know we can go about our lives we can dance and prance about in the goings forth of our busy lives and and not stop enough to reflect upon that God before whom the Prophet declared blessed be your holy name we can sometimes not stop long enough to reflect upon the glory of this God who made all things get you kids everyone to think about this for a moment you drive it as we draw as we drive from abbotsford to Chilliwack not that you can't do the same thing when you drive with in Chilliwack to the church but as we drive down the number one highway from Sumas mountain and come out here to Chilliwack ii you look upon the majesty of mountains you look upon the you know the beauty of the the snow-capped hills there you see the the the majesty of the of the sky you can look emma we can cast our eyes upon so many things and i am pretty certain that we don't give enough attention to the fact that god has made all these things that between the palms of a glorious yahweh the galaxies were constructed yeah look we look up at the expanse of the heavens and we're not simply to marvel at the the size of the heavens though we can and stop there gaseous orbs burning you know however far away god made those massive balls of burning gas the stars might be amazing but the maker of the stars is absolutely blessed and glorious we come to a passage like this and you see the reason we're gonna get to the reason the reason why they identify and recognize this God who is the creator this one who has created all things is because they're calling upon this God for help and they know that if anyone is going to be able to help it's the one who made the heavens the one who made the earth the one who made the seas and all that are in them who better to help than that God who by the word of his power in the space of six days made all things and that very good his creation they rehearse his works turn turn with me again to Psalm 146 not again because we haven't turned there yet but turn with me again to a place in our Bibles to Psalm 146 I want you to see something there and then I'm gonna read just a small portion of John Calvin because he hits it on the head with respect to the utility of reflecting upon the Creator the power of God and in his creation but notice in Psalm 146 the at verse one praise the Lord praised the Lord O my soul while I live I will praise the Lord I will sing praises to my god while I have my being do not put your trust in Princes nor in a son of man in whom there is no help his spirit departs he returns to his earth in that very day his plans perish happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help whose help is in the Lord his God who made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them I don't think it would be crazy to say that they have Psalm 146 in their mind happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help whose help is in the Lord his God who made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them you see they have the God of Jacob for their help that same God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them listen to the words of John Calvin and it speaks well to the use of this prayer in the in the early church as we're reading in acts 4 this is Calvin on 146 6 God who made the heavens the earth the sea and all that is in them by all these epithets that is names or phrases ascribed to someone by all these epithets he confirms the truth previously stated for though at first sight it may seem inappropriate to speak of the creation the power of God bears most pertinent his helping us whenever danger is near you see why the early church is calling upon the power of God in creation which is pertinent for helping us when danger is near there they're being threatened by the unbelieving Jews they're being threatened that you know to stop preaching in the name of Jesus which is the very thing that they rejoice in and are commanded joyfully to do we know how easily Satan tempts to distrust and we are thrown into a state of trembling agitation by the slightest causes now if we reflect that God is the maker of heaven and earth we will reasonably give him the honor of having the government of the world which he created in his hands and power now listen to this there is in this first description then a commendation of his power which should swallow up all our fears I have you know I have this idea that the you know these these Christians here in Acts chapter four are kind of like David before before Goliath David had the God of the armies of Israel on his side he wasn't to tremble before this Goliath this giant as David is looking up probably almost straight up at this ten foot tall giant would however high you put him he's pretty tall looking up at this giant and and you know the the human heart wants to tremble the human heart wants to be found in fear as Calvin says here we are thrown into a state of trembling agitation by the slightest causes but you see David didn't come to Goliath with you no swords and spears and javelins he came in the name of the god of the armies of Israel whom that giant had defied these Christians have that same God on their side the god of the armies of Israel and they come recognizing their creator as the sovereign one who can deliver them from his present distress notices well the confession continues in this prayer the content of the congregation's prayer there's invocation and recognition there's a rehearsal of his works first seen in creation and then with regards to revelation notice in verse 25 of Acts 4 who by the mouth of your servant David have said why did the nation's 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 so they recognized God as the sovereign creator and they also recognized God in this prayer as the sovereign revealer is the one who has revealed himself to the sons of men in the holy scriptures who by the mouth of your servant David have said it's a one thing that perhaps we don't often reflect upon is the simple privilege and honor it is to have the revelation from God the fact that God said the fact that God spoke the fact that God under no obligation from anyone because he stands under no obligation God nevertheless reveals himself to us makes himself known to us it's knit a joy to know God all right our deliverance our happiness our cheer is not found in might and riches and and you know a false wisdom but it's found rather in this that we know God we know our God that is everlasting life we may know him the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent he spoke to us he's revealed himself blessed thing and you know it hopefully you've seen this hopefully you've heard this before but it is wonderful that they bring forth Psalm 2 with respect to a recognition of the God who spoke their God who has spoken and to the sons of men the Psalm 2 would instill much confidence in this gathered assembly the kings of the earth and the rulers set themselves and take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ but the Lord sits in the heavens and laughs he holds them in derision you see they would have taken great confid and God as creator and they would have taken great confidence here in God as the revealer who has revealed yes that the nation's the rulers the kings of the Earl the world take counsel together against God and against his Christ but that God is in the heavens he sits there and he laughs holding them in derision and he answers their their ramblings he answers their their their the madness of them saying let's cast away his cords and his bonds from us let's cast off his moral government and his sovereignty and his mastery over us God answer answers and says I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion speaking of the Messiah speaking of the Christ speaking of the one whom they get to hear in verse 27 and moving on from revelation from revelation to decree in Providence notice in verse 27 for truly against your holy servant Jesus that's the king that was set upon the holy hill of Zion the threats come at them the kings and the rulers take counsel together but this holy servant Jesus has been set upon the holy hill of Zion but notice as well they rehearse decree in Providence 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 we are your no strangers to this at free Grace Baptist Church but we are to take great confidence in the fact that our God has decreed all things and our God providentially governs all things for his own glory and for the good of his people you know what a what a mad mad mad chaotic world it would be were it not for the grip upon this fact that we have a god sovereign master over all things a glorious king who sits in the heavens and does whatever he pleases because we can take great peace in the fact that Herod Pontius Pilate Gentiles and the peoples people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose before it determined before to be done not rejoicing in the wickedness of Herod not rejoicing in the wickedness of Pontius Pilate not you know rejoicing in the wickedness of the Gentiles and the people of Israel but rejoicing in this fact that they did whatever your hand God and whatever your purpose God determined before to be done we rest upon the wisdom we rest upon the prudence we rest upon the decree we rest upon the Providence of the Lord God Almighty Father Son and Holy Spirit who works out all things for his own glory and for the good of his people we take great confidence in that imagine resting our heads we I don't know if resting is the proper word because it wouldn't be much rest but I'll use it anyway imagine resting our heads on our pillows at night with the terror of the idea that God is in the heavens biting his nails that God is in the heavens with hands off that God is in somewhere detached transcendently beyond Pluto without a care in the world or unable to intervene unable to act unable to do according to his most holy will that's not our God though we have this God of sovereign Providence and we have this reality that they were doing whatever your hand God and your purpose determined before to be done the content of the congregation's prayer is an invocation and recognition a rehearsal of his works and notice it's an appeal to his governance as we see here now Lord look on their threats they're appealing to God's governance they're crying out to God to look upon their confidently praying to God to look upon their threats this God who has been a invoked recognized as the only true God this God whose works have been rehearsed sovereign creator sovereign revealer the of decree and Providence they now appeal to his governance this isn't necessarily an appeal for juridical oversight that is it's not an imprecation they're not calling out upon God to destroy these men though that appeal would be a sound one psalm 66 Exodus 14 with the connection of looking upon and judging but this is most likely an appeal for the audience of the Lord and for his provision of courage and just briefly as we move towards a close you can turn with me there to Psalm 102 15 to 21 we're noting this appeal to governance when they're praying here now Lord look on their threats we want to look at Psalm 102 for a connection in this regard to see that this is the activity of God's people to call upon a divine looking and we we know of course God is omniscient he doesn't have ocular members by which he needs to turn and gaze upon a thing he is a most pure spirit without body parts and passions yet the languages is used there Lord look notice in Psalm 102 beginning at verse 15 so the nations shall fear the name of the Lord and all the kings of the earth your glory for the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory he shall regard the prayer of the destitute notice the connection here to prayer he shall regard the prayer of the destitute and shall not despise their prayer this will be written of the generation to come that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord for he looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven the Lord viewed the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner to release those appointed to death to declare the name of the Lord and his praise in Jerusalem I want you to see something here than the connection we have this command not this command excuse me we have this prayer God look upon their threats what follows immediately upon the heels of that is that God give us boldness that we may proclaim your word notice the language here again in Psalm 102 at verse 19 for he looked down from the height of his sanctuary from heaven the Lord viewed the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner the relief to release those appointed to death to declare the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem there praying this that God would look down from his sanctuary and that he would grant this declaration of the name of the Lord that name of the Lord which was banned to be proclaimed their calling upon the sovereign one to look down and to grant this strength that the name of the Lord would be proclaimed in Jerusalem there is an appeal here to his governance and now notice sort of finally we have a particular petition notice in verse 29 now Lord look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may preach 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 I want to I want you to notice something here notice they do not request that they be delivered from the present distress but rather that they have courage in the midst of it you see that's I think it's our go to first movements in prayer sometimes when distress does come upon us Lord deliver me from this present distress you know jut we condemn that particular movement in prayer on every occasion certainly certainly not I don't like to use cry I don't this is going to sound bad I don't like to use Christ as our model here but bear with me for a moment people will very often go to Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane you know father if it is possible let this cup pass from me I don't think I don't often think that Christians should invoke that because no one else other than Christ has ever bore the wrath of God you know no one else other than Christ has had the weight of all of his people's sins cast upon in the sins of his people imputed and and punished for those he bore in our own body our sins upon the tree that we having died to sin might live for righteousness so I don't think we can often and invoke Christ in the garden because there's only one Christ there's only one bearing of sin there's only there's only one bearer of the wrath of God in the stead of believers but I think it's noteworthy here they do not request that they be delivered from the present distress but rather that they have courage in the midst of it listen to Henry on this and hopefully this is helpful to us if nothing else tonight was hopefully this is helpful for you in understanding that in the midst of in the midst of trial it is very often God's design that we be refined through that fire not delivered from it in threatening times Henry writes our care should not be so much that troubles may be prevented as that we may be unable to go on with cheerfulness and resolution in our work in duty whatever troubles we may meet with that that isn't that isn't how we traffic normally it's you know I have a bad day at work sometimes where there's so many people have have called me and it's just a bad day problems going on and and everything else and sometimes I just turn my phone off you throw it away and grab a drink of pineapple juice and kick my feet up because I just don't want to hear anymore sometimes that's them that's the that's the first movement of of the human heart is to be dispatched from that present distress instead of asking for strength in the midst of it their prayer is not Lord behold their threatenings and frightened them and stop their mouths and fill their faces with shame but behold their threatenings and animate us open our mouths and fill our hearts with courage they do not pray Lord give us a fair opportunity to retire from our work now that it has become dangerous I see I need to read that but lord give us grace to go on in our work and not to be afraid of the face of man observe one that those are sent on God's errands those that are sent on God's errands ought to deliver their message with boldness with all boldness with all Liberty of speech not shunning to declare the whole counsel of God whoever is offended that's something that doesn't come to us naturally as Christians that's something that we need to pray to God for God would give us boldness they give this particular partition partition petition now Lord look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word this is a this is a wrist at ease on this and this is a connection between the knowledge of God we will close in in a handful of moments this is on the connection between the knowledge of God and our confidence our boldness and making a petition for God's aid the reason the reason that the Christians here are doing this reflecting upon their Creator reflecting upon the sovereign Revelator reflecting upon his decree in his Providence is so that if you will they can fill their minds in their hearts with the knowledge of their God or having already done so and now reflecting upon it they can then bring their petition to one who can answer to one who can help to the only one who truly can Father Son and Holy Spirit this is Arista T's in a Fenian philosopher in 126 ad you should you know I can't say you should because I can't bind your consciences but you would be well served by reading his apology letter to Hadrian not that he was asking for forgiveness but a defense of the Christian faith to Hadrian the emperor in 126 ad anyway after reflecting upon the folly of barbarians Greeks Egyptians and Jews in following after false gods he reflects upon what the Christians believe and he says this now the Christians oking by going about and seeking have found the truth and as we have comprehended from their writings they are nearer to the truth and to exact knowledge than the rest of the peoples that his barbarians Greeks Egyptians etc for they know and believe in God the maker of heaven and earth and whom are all things and from whom are all things he who has no other God as his fellow as men who know God they ask from him petitions which are proper for him to give and for them to receive in this case not asking to be delivered from out of present de-stresses but asking that with boldness they may speak God's Word which brings us to what will close with very briefly God answers the prayer God answers this prayer notice and when they had prayed verse 31 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 they had been denied they had been forbidden to preach the name of Jesus Christ to preach in the name of Jesus Christ to heal in the name of Jesus Christ they pray for boldness that they may continue to do so in the face of these threatenings and then we read here they spoke the Word of God with boldness the triune God of heaven and earth confirms his hearing of this prayer they were filled with the Holy Spirit the where they had assembled together was shaken and this answer comes to them and they speak the Word of God with boldness well brethren three quick things were to seek after and pray for church unity and we should be marked by this sort of same purpose this sort of one Accord we ought to foster that pray for it it's not a unity after non-essential things it's not a unity after weird things it's a unity that's wrapped up in the knowledge of the triune God and knowledge of the mediator Jesus Christ as we heard this morning and knowledge of the atoning perfection of Jesus Christ rallying around the faith of the gospel were to seek after and pray for that we are to know our God and from that gain confidence and encourage you know where were to pray and not necessarily ask for deliverance from difficulty but for the strength to endure through it I think that's definitely so we take away much from this but I think that's what our posture ought to be some in prayer because shipwreck has come to those professing Christians to some professing Christians who thought that faith was something like this that if I if I pray hard enough and if I have enough faith then I have confidence that God will answer my prayer as I want him to answer my prayer and then that family member for whom they prayed dies and all is lost or for the deliverance out of distress whatever that distributing some sort of trial comes some sort of affliction comes upon you some sort of danger some sort of trouble and rather than praying for endurance we pray for deliverance and deliverance doesn't come and we we stumble and we fall and we cast off our God no we ought to pray as these Christians pray for strength for for endurance for resolute determination in the midst of trial give me one minute and 14 seconds think about this for a second I often think about this and these these sorts of circumstances and you don't have to turn there I'm just gonna read it briefly but in Daniel chapter 3 you know we have an instance there where Daniel actually says God God might not God might not deliver us and there's a but that comes in the midst of that listen to this Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king o Nebuchadnezzar we have no need to answer you in this matter if that is the case our God whom we serve there facing the oven the fire that they're about to be thrown into if that is the case our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from this burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your hand O king but if not but if not see that that's a good posture there God is able to deliver us but if not let it be known to you O king that we do not serve your gods nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up we ought to be who we ought to be a bunch of Daniels yes confidence in our God but our faith doesn't rest upon some demand or the certain expectation that God will and our prayer for deliverance our faith rests upon the doing and the dying and the rising again of the Son of God that perfect amazing grace of God triune and yes God is able to deliver but if not we will not follow after other gods but the god of sovereign creation the God who revealed the God of decree and Providence the God who grants boldness that God that we believe and rest in and if you're you're here tonight and you don't know that God and His Christ his holy servant Jesus you know that that is the only way of salvation it's the only way in Christ Jesus the Lord we heard the report from Peter and John themselves there's one name given up under heaven among men by which we might be saved that holy servant Jesus believed on him and you will have everlasting life let us pray God we thank you for your word we rejoice in this narrative concerning the early church go with us lord help us to reflect with great joy upon your revelation to us we thank you for this account and we rejoice in the the prayer of this church we pray that this would also be our prayer that in the midst of distress and in the midst of in fact in the midst of anything Lord that we would recognize who you are that we would invoke your name the Lord our God and that we would reflect upon your power and creation your glory and revelation your sovereignty and decree in Providence and Lord we pray that you would help us to pray for that endurance in the midst of this lower world that we would not necessarily be delivered from de-stresses but in the midst of de-stresses as they come about us each and every day we pray that we would have that endurance and that strength and we pray Lord God that you would go with us now help us in this upcoming week to live for your glory sake knowing that we're saved by grace through faith in Christ we pray Lord God that you would be with us and help us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord and it's in his name that we pray amen well we'll have a brief time of Prayer and then you're dismissed when the piano is finished you