Snapshots Of A New Creation (Part 2)

We are studying the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament on Sunday mornings and if you'd like a sermon outline to follow along today or you'd like to borrow a Bible, let our ushers know They'll hand you one, happy to help you.

The other day I was very, very upset.

I was really mad.

I just had to yell, picked up the first thing I could see and I yelled right into a colander and I strained my voice.

You know it gets better.

Okay, sorry, instead of yelling into a colander I should have been praying Praying about my issue to God.

That's what we're going to look at today in Acts, chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

So if you have a Bible and want to turn there and follow along today, that'd be great.

We're going to continue to look at four marks of being a new creation in Christ those who believed in Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, and we're looking at these very first believers in the book of Acts.

Look at the radical changes that happened in their lives, and their changed lives, I think, become kind of a paradigm or a pattern example for us to look at of people's lives who have been changed from that point on by the Holy Spirit.

Bible tells us that when we believe in Jesus, we do become a new creation as far as God's concerned.

Jesus, we do become a new creation as far as God's concerned, and we get a glimpse of what that looks like in these first century believers in Acts, chapter 4 and 5, which we'll be continuing to look at Now.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Last time we learned that the first mark of their lives of being a new creation in Christ was they continued to serve God no matter what.

Even when it got hard, when they started suffering, they continued, they didn't quit and they were filled with the Spirit to do that.

And today we're going to look at the second mark we see in their lives, mark of the new creation in Christ, and we're going to look at it.

I'm going to read the passage in Acts, chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

I'm going to break in at verse 18.

Acts 4, 18.

When they had summoned them, they commanded them not to preach or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John answered and said to them whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God.

You be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking about what we've seen and heard.

And when they threatened them further, they let them go, finding no basis in which to punish them on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened, for the man was more than 40 years old, on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them, and when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said O Lord, it is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, who, by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father, david, your servant, said why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples devise a feudal things?

The kings of the earth took their stand, the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.

For, truly, in this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant, jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predetermined to occur.

And now, lord, take note of their threats and grant that your bondservants may speak your word with all confidence, while you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders take place through your name and your holy servant, jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place where they gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak the word of God with boldness.

As I said last time, the same Jesus, the same Holy Spirit that's doing this work in and through them, is the same Jesus and Spirit in us.

And the four distinctive marks of believers here who are filled with the Spirit will help us learn how the Spirit works in us today.

The first two marks show us how the Holy Spirit helps us to endure and triumph in suffering.

They not only served God continuously, they didn't quit.

Today we're also going to see that they prayed to God personally and biblically.

So really, today is all about prayer that we see happening here in these first believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

How did they pray?

That's what we'll look at First.

Their prayer was I don't know, I don't have a better word it was personal.

When Peter and John are released from prison, they join the others and lifted their voices to God in prayer.

And they weren't just praying prayers, they were talking to God and he was talking back to them.

Acts 4, the early Christians give us an example of what it means to pray to God personally.

If you notice their conversation, their prayer to God is a personal one.

A relationship with God is only personal.

If it's two-way, the thing is about 80, service.

If so, about 80% of the people in this country say they pray to God regularly for their needs.

But if that's your whole relationship with God, it's not really a relationship, is it?

You're just talking.

You are giving God your grocery list, talking about yourself, asking things for yourself.

Let me ask you a question.

Maybe some of you do, but do you have a relationship with Uber, eats or HelloFresh or DoorDash?

Probably not.

You just order what you want.

They bring it to you.

You don't have a personal relationship with them.

You use them to get what you want.

Is that how we pray to God?

That's not what they're doing.

Eugene Peterson love his books to God.

That's not what they're doing.

Eugene Peterson loved his books.

In his book, by the way, he wrote the message translation.

If you're not familiar with him, he passed away some time ago.

But in his book answering God, he says that prayer is not really talking to God.

True prayer is listening and answering God by responding to God from what he's told us already in his word.

How did you learn to talk?

You know, if nobody talked to you, you'd probably just be babbling.

The only way we learn to talk is because somebody talked to us first and then we responded you talked back.

Some teenagers are really good at this too.

Now, if we have a personal relationship with God, a relationship, personal relationship with God we talk to him and he talks to us.

That's a relationship, it's not Uber Eats.

God has spoken to us in his word, by his spirit.

Imagine somebody pouring out their heart, revealing their incredible story to you, and then, in the middle, you opened your mouth and started telling them all about the things you needed.

That's how most everybody prays.

When Peter and John join the others in prayer, they don't come back and say, whoa, what good is it being a Christian if God's going to allow that to happen to us?

Oh no, they begin to focus on who God is, that they learn from the Scripture.

He's talked to them, they're listening to him, and then they start talking to him.

See Acts 4, 24 to 28,.

Sovereign Lord, don't miss it.

Sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and the earth.

How'd they know that?

The scripture.

You made everything in them.

You spoke we're.

We hear you.

You spoke by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of your servant, our Father David, and you said and this is in Psalm 2, why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord.

Now they're seeing that passage applied directly to what happened to Jesus.

Indeed, herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles, the people of Israel and the city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

They did what your power and will decided beforehand should happen.

By the way, it's interesting.

You see this quite often in the prayers of Scripture.

Jeremiah's response to his suffering is almost exactly the same as the apostles to their suffering in prayer.

Listen to Jeremiah.

He's focusing on who God is.

Jeremiah 32, 17-20.

Ah, lord, god, keep in mind he's being persecuted, he's being thrown in pits, he's being beaten.

Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power, your outstretched arm.

Nothing's too difficult for you, who shows loving kindness to thousands but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of children after them.

O, great and mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name, great in counsel, mighty indeed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds, who have set signs and wonders in the land of men giving to everyone according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds, who have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day, both in Israel and among mankind, you've made a name for yourself.

As to this day, all the while, while he's being persecuted, that's his response to suffering.

He has the Holy Spirit.

That's a mark of his presence.

The Holy Spirit.

That's a mark of his presence.

Listening, praying to God.

Two-way conversation.

It's personal.

I hear you, god, you are the creator, nothing's too hard for you.

Back in the book of Acts.

First of all, notice what Peter and John don't pray for.

This might startle you.

They're in a lot of trouble.

They're being threatened, jailed again or tortured.

They probably don't pray for probably the things you and I think they should or we would.

They don't pray that God would change their circumstances.

It's not there.

They don't pray for their own protection.

They don't pray for vengeance on these godless enemies.

Why?

Because of their faith in Jesus.

They believe that God created all things and is absolutely sovereign over all things Verse 28.

They recall, as they're talking to God.

They recall how God sovereignly controlled the events of Jesus' suffering and death, and he brought good from it Forgiveness of sins and eternal life for them.

They got it.

That's what God can do.

They believe good will result from their suffering as well, if that need be.

All they pray for is that God will allow them to speak God's word with confidence and boldness, and that God would use them to speak God's word with confidence and boldness, and that God would use them to glorify Jesus.

It's not Uber Eats, hello Fred.

No, no, no.

It's about you what you're doing.

So now, lord, consider their threats.

Enable us, enable your service, to speak your word with great boldness.

Stretch out your hand to heal, perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant, jesus.

Please note, by the way, quickly I add, there is nothing wrong with praying for your needs.

Don't get that misconception by what I'm saying.

Jesus taught us to do that in the Lord's Prayer, for heaven's sakes.

I'm specifically focusing on how we should pray, filled with the Holy Spirit.

If we're suffering in any way, well, talk to God personally and listen to him.

What we learn from the early believers?

To pray personally to God, our Father, by listening and responding to what he's already told us in his word.

If we're listening, he's the creator, he's sovereignly controlling everything, and nothing's too hard for him.

And on and on and on.

He's the Lord of hosts.

So in the Bible, god has told us his story, poured out his heart, revealed himself to us, and when we pray, we ought to be praying by responding to what he has said in his word, like people who know each other do, just like the apostles are doing and these believers in the first century.

They weren't just talking to God, they were answering him.

They have a relationship with him.

So when you pray, are you thinking about what God has said to you in his word?

Look carefully at what they do in Acts 4.

They're scared to death, really, but they go to the Bible.

They quote Psalm 146.6 to God.

We hear you, you said this, verse 24.

They refer to God as sovereign Lord, just like Jeremiah did.

Why?

Because they see it in Psalm 2.

They quote that, just like their father, david understood.

Nations are against them, against God's plan, based on what God has said to them in the word they believe everything is happening according to his plan.

Nothing happens except what God's power and will decide what will happen.

Verse 28 for truly, in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant, jesus, whom you anointed, both Her Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles, peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predetermined to occur.

They're scared, but they don't ask God to zap them with courage.

They strategically, prayerfully, take one thing about what they know, about what God has revealed himself in his word, one of his attributes his sovereignty.

And that attribute they choose to tell God about, what he said about himself, is the attribute that's antithetical to fear.

As a result, God is healing their hearts of any fear.

Their two-way communication, personal and biblical, is life transforming.

They're not the same.

Their two-way communication, personal and biblical, is life-transforming.

They're not the same.

It's where God gets done here with them.

This means that to know God and pray well, you have to know the Word of God.

You have to.

This is not a two-way conversation.

If you don't know it, this is just a grocery list, just two burritos.

You tell them what you want and expect it to be delivered.

No, that's not a relationship I want you to see.

So you've got to know what God has said, spoken to you about, in order to pray well, especially during suffering.

That's what's happening here.

Filled with the Holy Spirit.

This is how they pray.

Now I want you to see how God helps them continue their healing of fear and giving them the boldness they need in answer to their prayer.

They're asking for boldness.

Look at what God does to help them get it.

He responds with an earthquake.

This is really funny, I think.

In a sense, in answer to their prayers, the image God wants these believers and us to know and remember is not a fire like before, it is an earthquake.

Acts 4.31,.

When they had prayed, the place they were gathered together was shaken.

Earthquake Acts 4.31.

When they had prayed, the place they were gathered together was shaken.

This is amazing.

If I had time, I'd explore that word.

It's amazing.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak the word of God with an open notice.

He just answered their prayer and it's connected to what he did to tell them something Shaken Earthquake time Acts 4,.

The presence of God comes down on these Christians.

They're filled with the Spirit and remember the context, they're threatened by the powers that be, but in prayer they recall God's greatness, sovereignty.

And now God shakes the place.

The place is shaken, but they are not as the place was shaken, they just became more unshakable.

Oh, fourth century famous preacher, early Christian preacher, fourth century, john Chrysostom.

They called him Golden Mouth, but he was preaching on this passage and he said the more the place was shaken, the less the Christians were shaken.

That's great.

The shaking was God's answering their prayers, showing them that with him they can get through anything.

That is the message God wants us to know.

When we believe in Jesus, to receive God's Holy Spirit, he is with us to accomplish his good purpose in our lives, no matter what happens.

So the marks of a Christ changed life, filled with the Spirit we've seen so far, serving God consistently.

Don't quit.

Second, praying to God personally and biblically, in the confidence God is with us, through whatever we face.

Those who believe in Jesus receive God's Holy Spirit and, as I said, become a new creation, like the early believers we see in Acts 4,.

The mark of being filled with the Spirit during suffering and difficulty is not yelling into a colander like somebody did, it is praying personally, listening to what God has said in His Word.

And to do that, as I said before, you have to know the Bible.

So what are you doing to know the Bible better?

You know, if you want to explore that a little further, come and see me or Pastor Dennis.

We have reading programs, plans that might help you.

It's really important to pray well, to know what God has already said to you.

You need a two-way conversation in prayer.

That's how the Old Testament believers faced and also New Testament believers faced and endured their suffering and difficulties.

They prayed back to God the truth of His Word.

For instance, psalm 119 is a beautiful psalm.

I know the men's Bible study they're going through that psalm, but it's one of my favorite passages of scripture.

And Psalm 119, 49 to 52 says this the psalmist says remember the word to your servant in which you have made me hope.

This is my comfort in my affliction that your word has revived me, comfort in my affliction that your word has revived me.

What you've said, see what you said, the arrogant Utterly deride me.

Yet I don't turn aside from your law.

I've remembered your ordinances from of old, o Lord, and I comfort myself.

One more Psalm 119.92.

The psalmist says If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.

That's how important it is Know it, pray it.

Know what he said.

He's been speaking to us, but we have something the Old Testament believer did not the presence and prayers of the Holy Spirit himself inside us.

When we believe in Jesus, he, the Holy Spirit, is praying for us before our Heavenly Father.

Listen to Romans 8, 26-28.

In the same way, the Spirit helps our weakness, for we don't know how to pray as we should.

But the Spirit himself intercedes for us With groanings too deep for words.

And he who searches the hearts and knows the mind and spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit is a gift.

It's not something you earn or achieve by your devout religiousness.

It's a gift.

He's a gift to everyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior.

Listen to what Jesus said in John, chapter 7, 37 to 39.

John 7 · chapter mention

Now, on the last day, the day of the great feast, jesus stood and cried out, saying If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture says, as God has said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

But this he spoke of the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive.

I hope that's you.

I hope you believed in Jesus and received his spirit.

It's like living water running inside you all, through you and out of you.

And if you have never believed in Jesus, for that unbelievable gift, I invite you to believe in him for the spirit and for eternal salvation.

Let's pray together, father, thank you that you've spoken to us in your word and we have the privilege to answer you in our prayers.

You told us, father, that if your people, who are called by your name, humble themselves and pray and seek your face and turn from our wicked ways, then you will hear from heaven.

You will forgive our sin, you'll heal our land.

Now, today, as we humble ourselves and turn toward you and away from our sin, we ask you to forgive us and heal our land, that your name may be glorified, that the name of Jesus would be exalted as Savior and Lord of all.

I pray, amen.