The Bible makes it clear that God is not the cause of sin.

James 1:14: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.

However, the sinful acts of men are within God’s sovereign rule.  In this way God does not cause sin, but rather relates to sin.  There are four ways God relates to sin:

1. God can put a stop to sin – at times God prevents men from sinning.

Genesis 20:6:   Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

2. God can allow sin – God often allows men to commit the sins that they are determined to do in order to bring glory upon Himself.

Romans 1:24:  Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

3. God can use sin – because God is sovereignly in control of His creation He is able to permit sin, and use that sin to accomplish His holy purpose.

Genesis 50:20:  As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

4. God can limit sin – in many cases God restrains the sin of men.  This common grace is experienced by all, and it is the reason that despite being totally sinful we are not absolutely sinful.

Job 1:12:  Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

A. A High View of God

The church must be committed to a high view of God. An appropriately high view of God is the starting point of all wisdom (Prov 9:10), and when the church has this view of God then all other aspects of church life and theology fall into their proper places.

In order to have a high view of God we have to Know who and what God is.  So, what is God.  The Shorter Catechism answers that question for us:

God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power. Holiness, justice, goodness, and truth,

This means that  an appropriately high view of God must include (but is not limited to:)

o  His wisdom (Rom 11:33).

o  God’s sovereignty (Dan 4:17),

o  His holiness (Isa 6:3),

o  His righteousness/justice (Rom 3:24-26),

o  His goodness (Ps 34:8),

o  His Truth (Exodus 34:6)

Apart from a high view of God the church will inevitably tolerate sin and focus her attention on pleasing men rather than glorifying God. This is why the church must be committed to a God-centered ministry, and this requires a high view of God. When the church draws near to God in this way then God will most assuredly draw near to the church (James 4:8-10)

B. The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture

The church must be committed to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. If the church has a high view of God then by implication it should have a high view of God’s word. Every word contained in the 66 books of the bible has been breathed out by God (2 Tim 3:16). This makes it authoritative and
sufficient. The authority of Scripture means that it must be believed and obeyed. Whatever it says the church must do! The bible must never be trivialized, marginalized, or disobeyed. Every word that God has provided is necessary to feed and lead the church (Matt 4:4).The sufficiency of Scripture means that God’s word is the only standard necessary for the faith and practice of the church. It is relevant to deal with every conceivable situation. It may not specifically address every situation, but it does provide the principles by which we can faithfully follow God in every situation. Additionally, God’s word has been proven true. It always accomplishes it’s purpose (Isa 55:11). It is always effective for the work of ministry (2 Tim 3:16-17).  Apart from a commitment to the authority and sufficiency of scripture the church will not be guided by God. Personal experience and contemporary wisdom will replace the word of
God as the driving force of ministry. In the end, when the church is not committed to God’s word it can never live up to God’s standards. Thus, the church must be committed to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.

In addition to these 2 core principles I would add:

3. The Need for Sound Doctrine

4. The Significance of a Holy Church

5. The Priority of Biblical Leadership

We will delve deeper into these principles in the days to come…

[Sermon Audio for this material can be accessed HERE]

IV. A Dependent Church is Unified (v. 32a)

So far we have seen three traits of a dependent church: 1) a dependent church prays, 2) a dependent church finds comfort in the Sovereignty of God, 3) a dependent church boldly proclaims God’s word.  In the v. 32 we will see that the fourth trait of a dependent church is that a dependent church is unified.  In this verse Luke is done recording the prayer, and now he begins to describe the church.  The first thing that he says about this group of believers is that “the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.”  With this we learn that they were not only united in their prayer, but they were also united in heart and soul.  Or to put it another way, they were unified.

The terms heart and soul together simply indicate that they were unified in the entire being.  There was no part of them that was not unified with the rest of the church.  When I think of this it is quite amazing to me, and leaves me with several questions.  For instance, what does this kind of unity look like?  In response to this question Kent Hughes put it better that I can when he said that

This does not mean these believers saw everything eye to eye. It is wrong to suppose, as sadly some do, that when believers dwell in unity they will carry the same Bible, read the same books, promote the same styles, educate their children the same way, have the same likes and dislikes—that they will become Christian clones. The fact is, the insistence that others be just like us is one of the most disunifying mind-sets a church can have because it instills a judgmental inflexibility that hurls people away from the church with lethal force. One of the wonders of Christ is that he honors our individuality while bringing us into unity.^[1]

As we pursue unity in our own church Hughes’ quote is very helpful.  We should not be looking for conformity to one another’s preferences.  Instead, we should accept the different ways that God has gifted each one of us, and seek to use those gifts together to serve Christ.  This is the essence of unity.  Unity is a group of individual who have been joined together through the work of Christ, and who are willing to set aside personal preferences in order to better serve Christ.  The bible tells us that when the church is unified in this way there will be amazing results.  In fact, when Jesus was praying just before his crucifixion He made this request of the Father:

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. (John 17:20-21)

Here we see that the unity of the church is a testimony to the world that Jesus was sent by God as the Savior.

Another question that arises in my mind as I contemplate the unity of this early church is: where does this kind of unity come from?  I ask this in my mind because this kind of unity is difficult for me to pursue.  I don’t want to surrender my own preferences.  I would rather have everyone just do it my way, so this kind of unity is not going to come from within me.  In fact, this kind of unity is not going to come from within any one of us, it comes only from God.  This is why Ephesians 4:2-3 says “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Notice the it says that we need to preserve the unity, not create it!  This is because God has already provided it for us through the work of Christ, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. REMEMBER, Unity is a group of individual who have been joined together through the work of Christ, and who are willing to set aside personal preferences in order to better serve Christ.  You see, Christ died so that we could be forgiven of our sins and become a part of His spiritual body.  Additionally the Spirit has given each one of us individual gifts so that together we can effectively serve Christ.  This means that our unity come from God.  Or to put it another way, we must depend upon God for our unity.  When we are jealous of another persons gifts we are really failing to depend upon the God who gave the gifts.  When we refuse to humbly forego our own rights for the good of our brother we are really selfishly pursuing our own good rather than depending upon God to work all things together for our God.  I think you get the point.  Dependence upon God will result in unity.  This was certainly the case with this group of believers in Acts 4.  They were so busy depending upon God that they didn’t have time for disunity.  They were busy praying, preaching, and as we will see in a minute providing for one another.  They didn’t have time for disunity.  Rather, their dependence resulted in unity.

V. A Dependent Church Gives Generously (vv. 32b, & 34-35)

In vv. 32-36 we will see that a dependent church gives generously.  Here Luke further describes the church by saying,

and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

 To understand this passage we need to go back and remind ourselves a little bit about the situation that these people were in.  The church was filled with new coverts from every stripe of life.  Many of these people were very poor, and with the Jewish community persecuting them it would be hard to earn any extra money in the market place.  Additionally, many of the new converts were in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, but when they repented and accepted Christ they extended their stay so that they could learn more about their new found faith.  This meant that there were a lot of people in financial need.  But look at how the church responded to this need.  No one held onto their own personal property.  Everything they had they made it available for service to Christ.  They understood that God was the one who gave it to them, and so they had no problem giving it back to God for the good of His church.  Because of this generosity Luke tells us that there was not a needy person among them.  This does not mean that everyone lived in the lap of luxury, or even that everyone was in the same tax bracket.  It simply means that everyone had their basic needs provided for.  Verse 34 tells us specifically that this was because some of the more well off believers were able to sell of land and give it to the apostle to be disbursed among the church. Thankfully the Lord saw fit to save some individuals who were in a more stable financial situation.

By the way, I want to set the record straight.  This passage is not teaching some kind of Christian communism.  As Calvin notes, “…he meaneth not that the faithful sold all that they had, but only so much as need required.” (Calvin, 192)  People still retained their possession, however they were willing to generously give up their possession when the needs of others required it. Kent Hughes further explains it, “If we focus on what seems to be the impracticality of this, or upon the seeming communism, we miss the point. Communism says practically, ‘What is yours is everyone’s. ‘Christianity says, ‘What is mine is yours.’”^[2]

This kind of generosity can only come out of a heart that understand that God is the one who provides us with the material blessing that we have.  Or to put it another way, generosity comes from a dependent heart.  If we are depending upon God to provide for our needs then we will not fret giving away something the belongs to us.  The problem is that we very rarely view our money as a gift from God.  In fact, often times we depend upon our money rather than upon God.  We keep checking our bank accounts and as long as we have so much money we feel safe.  Or, we depend upon money to purchase the things that we think will satisfy our desires.  Either way we are depending upon our money, and when we do this it will be impossible to give generously.

What we must do instead is depend upon God to supply us with our needs, and then wisely use the resources that He has provided for us to serve Him.  Remember, whatever God has given you belongs to Him and He expects you to be a good steward of it.  He expects you to generously help your brother or sister in need.  And He expects you to regularly give to your church.  If you are depending on God then you will easily be able to do these things because you are not depending on you money.  The believers in Acts 4 were able to do this even though they were facing the kind of persecution that was eventually going to affect them economically, and they were able to do this because they were depending upon God.

VI. A Dependent Church Trusts God with the Results (vv. 31, & 33)

There is one more trait in the passage that I want to go back and look at.  Namely that a dependent church trusts God with the results.  Now I know I said earlier that the trust is synonym for dependence so this point is rather redundant.  But still I think that there is a helpful reminder here for us.  Look back at v. 31.  Here God answers the prayer of the people and look what happens, the began to preach boldly.  When the people prayed asking God for boldness they had no idea how He would answer that prayer, but they trusted Him.  Additionally, when they continued to speak the word with boldness they had no idea what would happen to them.  They didn’t know if a single person would accept their message, or even if the Sanhedrin would allow them to live.  But that didn’t stop them because they did not concern themselves with the results.  They were being faithful to what God called them to do, and they trusted Him to accomplish whatever results He intended to accomplish.

Now look at v. 33.  Here again we find the apostles testifying to reality of the resurrection of Christ.  But here Luke adds that they were doing so with great power.  I think that we can safely presume that this meant that they were experiencing great results.  I say this because the first time Peter preached 3,000 people were saved, and the second time he preached 5,000 people were saved.  One can only assume that when Luke says that they were preaching about the resurrection with great power that great numbers of people continued to believe.  However, I want you to notice why this was happening.  It was not because Peter knew his demographics well.  Or because the apostles had a great 10 year plan.  It was because “abundant grace was upon them all.”  In other words, as they were being faithful to their task the Lord took care of the results.

I want to be clear on this point.  I am not saying that God will provide thousands of converts to every preacher that faithfully depends upon him.  This is simply not how it works.  In fact, many of the prophets saw very few, if any people, respond to their message.  My point is simply that we must depend upon God for the results.  take this church for example.  Whether God fills up this building and we need eight services, or He keeps us where we are at our responsibility remains the same.  We cannot change the results, we can only dependently trust God with results.  This means that we don’t worry.  We are not anxious.  Instead, we trust in what God is doing.

Sometimes this is hard for us.  We worry about the results.  Rather than faithfully serve God we would rather manipulate the results.  This, however, reveals a heart that is dependent upon self rather than God.

Conclusion:

I this passage we have seen what a dependent church looks like.  Specifically, we saw 7 traits of a dependent:

1. A Dependent Church is Committed to one another. (v. 24a)
2. A Dependent Church God prays. (v. 24b)
3. A Dependent Church finds comfort in God’s sovereignty (vv. 25-28)
4. A Dependent Church boldly proclaims His word. (vv. 29-30)
5. A Dependent Church is unified. (v. 32a)
6. A Dependent Church gives generously (vv. 32b, & 34-35)
7. A Dependent Church trusts God with the results.  (vv. 31, & 33)

My prayer for our church is that these traits would become prominent marks of everyday life around here.  But the only that is going to happen if each of us individually seeks to live out these traits in our own lives.  So my challenge for all of us is that we would dependently look to God as our source of help in all circumstances.  That we would have a heart attitude that trusts God more than self.

Prayer Needs

1. On Sanctity of Life Sunday we prayed for the end of abortion.
2. We prayed that God would provide gifted and godly workers for our children’s ministry

Also, a few requests that weren’t specifically mentioned:

1. Pray for our study in the Gospel of Mark which will begin next week.
2. Pray that God would provide the financial means for us to act on a specific ministry opportunity for our church.

Sunday Morning: A Dependent Church (pt. 2)

We finally finished up are examination of what a Dependent Church looks like in Acts 4:23-35.  Here are the traits of dependence that we saw in this passage and are striving for in our church:

1. A Dependent Church is committed to one another. (v.23)
2. A Dependent Church God prays. (v. 24a)
3. A Dependent Church finds comfort in God’s sovereignty (vv. 24b-28)
4. A Dependent Church boldly proclaims His word. (vv. 29-30)
5. A Dependent Church is unified. (v. 32a)
6. A Dependent Church gives generously. (vv. 32b, & 36)
7. A Dependent Church trusts God with the results.  (vv. 33, & 36)

Listen to the sermon HERE.

Sunday Evening: “The Mission of Our Church” (pt. 1)

Last week we discovered that our mission as a church is to “spiritually prepare individuals for the Kingdom of God.”  As we seek to fulfill our mission there are some core principles that we must hold on to very tightly.  We saw the first 2 of those principles yesterday:

1. We must be committed to a high view of God.
2. We must be committed to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.

Listen to the sermon HERE.

Read the full Philosophy of Ministry HERE.

Questions to Think About:

Sunday Morning: Acts 1:23-35

• What does it mean to Depend upon God?
• How can we work to preserve the Unity God has provided?
• How can we look at our financial resources from dependent perspective?
• How should Christians view earning a living and sharing with others?
• What is a biblical definition of success? How does this affect our personal lives as well as our church body life?
• Evaluation: Are you trusting God with the results in your life? In what areas do you need to focus more on faithfulness and less on results?

Sunday Evening

• What are the core principles (Philosophy of Ministry) of our church?
• Why is it so important for us to uphold these principles?
• Evaluation: How are you doing at personally upholding these principles in your own life?

However, I read an article today by Jonathan D. Fitzgerald of  the WSJ online that provided an interesting opinion (especially since it was coming from a non-Christian publication):

This is the kind of Christianity in which I was raised, where a man with a high school degree and a “calling” can lead a congregation, where a pastor can spend millions advertising an apocalypse only he predicted, and where a church burns the Koran and leads to the unnecessary deaths of innocent people halfway across the world.

Stating that religions build churches at the expense of the poor, as Mr. Bethke does, turns a blind eye to the single greatest charitable institution on the planet. Blaming religion for wars ignores the fact that the greatest mass murderers in the 20th century—indeed in all of history—killed for nonreligious reasons. And advocating for a kind of Christianity that is free of the “bondage” of religion opens the door to dangerous theological anarchy that is all too common among young evangelicals and absolutely antithetical to biblical Christianity.

You can read the entire article HERE.

This does not mean these believers saw everything eye to eye. It is wrong to suppose, as sadly some do, that when believers dwell in unity they will carry the same Bible, read the same books, promote the same styles, educate their children the same way, have the same likes and dislikes—that they will become Christian clones. The fact is, the insistence that others be just like us is one of the most disunifying mind-sets a church can have because it instills a judgmental inflexibility that hurls people away from the church with lethal force. One of the wonders of Christ is that he honors our individuality while bringing us into unity.^[1]

Introduction

Why would God save sinners like us?  Why would He send His Son to die for us?  Why would he establish the Church?  What’s the point in all of this?

There are really no simple answers to questions like these, but there is an ultimate answer.  God saved men and created the Church ultimately for His own glory.  This has always been the point of God setting apart a people for Himself (Ezek 36:21).  In the Old Testament it was the nation of Israel that God set apart to be His people and the primary representatives of His Name on this earth.  After the redemptive work of Christ was completed God expanded the people of God to include the Church (Romans 11:11-24).  This too was ultimately so that the church could represent His name on the earth. Or, to put it another way, God did this for His own glory (Romans 11:36).

Before the foundation of the world God has been working to set apart a people for Himself that would represent His name well by bringing Him glory. He has been working to establish, equip, and enable His people to fulfill the purpose for which they were created—to bring God glory.  Thus, the eternal and ultimate purpose of the people of God is the glorify God.  As the Westminster Shorter Catechism so aptly put it,

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Ultimately the reason why the church exists is to glorify God.

Although it is a true statement, when it comes to the specifics of church life, it is not entirely helpful to simply say that the church is to glorify God.  It is sort of like telling a company of Marines that their purpose is to keep the country safe.  It is true.  But it does not really help them when it comes to how to fulfill this purpose.  That is why Marines are given specific missions.  The missions determine how a company of Marines is going to fulfill its ultimate purpose at that specific time and in that specific place.

Similarly, God has given the church a specific mission so that it can fulfill its ultimate purpose in a specific time (the “last days”) and a specific place (earth). Understanding what this mission is, and how it is accomplished will determine whether or not our church fulfills our ultimate purpose of glorifying God.

The Mission of the Church

The mission of the church is found in the Bible.  Specifically it is found in the passage commonly referred to as the Great Commission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-21

Here we find the specific mission of our church that will enable us to fulfill our ultimate purpose.  The mission of the church is to spiritually prepare individuals for the Kingdom of God.  This mission is why the church has not already been taken to heaven to glorify God there.  We have been left to glorify God in this time and in this place so that we can represent God’s name to those around us.  This is the essence of Jesus’ command.

The command to make disciples is a command for the church to have spiritual influence on individuals.  That is what discipleship means.  The church has the opportunity to impact the world in a number of ways (economically, socially, culturally, environmentally, etc.).  But if the church does not primarily use its influence for spiritual impact then it is failing to accomplish its mission.  The church represent the name of God on this earth by spiritually preparing individuals for the Kingdom.

The work in preparation for the Kingdom of God is of eternal importance.  Although the Kingdom of God has already been inaugurated in a spiritual sense, it will not be completely consummated until Christ returns and judges every single individual.  At that time, those who have not spiritually prepared themselves for the Kingdom of God by repenting and believing in Jesus will be eternally condemned for their rebellious sin. This is why Jesus’ words from Mark 1:14-15 remain true to this day:

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 Mark 1:14–15

The Kingdom of God is at hand and it is our job to help individuals prepare for this kingdom.  We can’t prepare for the Kingdom by helping to create the New Heavens or the New Earth; we can’t vindicate the saints; and we can’t judge sin.  Nowhere is the Church instructed to do any of this.  In our time (the “last days” not eternal glory) and in our location (plain ole earth not the new heavens and earth) our mission is not to help God bring about His kingdom.  He can handle that on His own.  The church’s job is to warn and spiritually prepare individuals for this coming Kingdom.  That is why the mission of our Church is to spiritually prepare individuals for the Kingdom of God.

III. A Dependent Church Finds Comfort in the Sovereignty of God (vv. 24b-28)

We have seen that the first reaction of the early church was to turn to God in prayer.  This is the first trait of a dependent church.  Now, as we look at the content of the church’s prayer we are going to see that the second trait of a dependent church is that a dependent church finds comfort in the Sovereignty of God.  As John Stott put it, “before the people came to any petition, they filled their minds with thoughts of the divine sovereignty.”[1]  We see this in vv. 24b-28.  Here we see that these believers began their prayer by turning their attention to the sovereign nature of God.  Kistemaker has pointed out that “The prayer that Luke records is typically Jewish and is molded after the petition Hezekiah uttered when the Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem (Isa 37:16-20).”[2]

The very name that they chose to refer to God in this prayer highlights His sovereignty.  They did not use any of the usual titles for God that are found in the NT.  Instead they used a unique title for God that is found only 6 times in the NT.  The title is δεσπότης, and it can be translated as Sovereign Lord, or Master.  It probably sounds familiar to you since this is where the English word despot come from.  However, the Greek word does not imply a despotic, tyrannical ruler.  It simply highlights God’s control, and authority.  By using this title they made it clear that God was in control of their specific situation.  Furthermore, they recognized that ultimately they would have to answer to their Sovereign Lord, not to the Sanhedrin.

In addition to being the Sovereign Lord, the church also recognized that God is “the One who made the heavens, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.”  The wording here is very similar to the wording found in Psalm 146:6.  And if we look at Psalm 146:6-9 we will see why the church chose to bring up God’s work in creation:

Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps faith forever; Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises up those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous; The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

The point being made by the psalmist is that the same God who created the world is the one who control what happens within it.  This is why he is able to set prisoners free, and thwart the plan of the wicked.  And this is why the church brought up this passage in their prayer.  As they prayed they found comfort in the fact that God is in control of all things.  As one commentator put it, “Confessing the truth about God’s relationship to our circumstances always brings encouragement, especially when we are aware of danger and feel out of control.”[3]  When we feel out of control we should find comfort in the fact that God is in control.  This is certainly where this group of believers was at, and in the midst of that out of control feeling they found comfort in the Sovereignty of God.  Or to put it another way, they depended upon His sovereignty.

This emphasis on God’s sovereignty does not end in v. 24.  In v. 25 the people turn their attention to a specific prophecy found in Psalm 2 to recall God’s control of their situation.  As the passage tells us this was a psalm written by David through the inspiration of the Holy Sprit.  Specifically, this quotation come from Psalm 2 which is a Messianic Psalm.  In this passage David prophesied saying,

“Why did the Gentiles rage, And the peoples devise futile things? ‘The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.”

In this Psalm David prophecies of the day when the people of the world will rise up against the Christ (literally the anointed one).  Revelation 17:9-14 teaches that this prophecy will be ultimately fulfilled in the end times, however the believers in Acts 4 had seen its initial fulfillment in the life of Jesus.  Verse 27 explains,

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.

Here we see that the events of Jesus’ crucifixion happened just as David, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prophesied.  The Gentiles represented the Romans and ironically the peoples were the peoples of Israel who both worked to have Jesus killed.  Furthermore, the Kings and Rulers were represented in Herod and Pontius Pilate.  Both of whom, by the providence of God, were in the city of Jerusalem on the day that Jesus was killed.  Luke 23:6-12 tells recalls the account:

When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time. Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate. Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.

Isn’t it amazing to see how God worked together all the details exactly according to the prophecy?  Evil men devised a plan to rid themselves of the Messiah, but it was all in vain.  In fact, God used their evil actions to accomplish His own plan.  This prophecy is a reminder that sinful men have always worked against Gods kingdom (and will continue to do so i.e. Rev 17), and so it was no surprise that this continued in the early church.  Nor is it a surprise that it continues today.  However, as Calvin reminds us, “we may persuade ourselves, that however all men, both high and low, do wickedly conspire together against this kingdom, yet shall they not prevail, for what is all the whole world compared with God?”[4]  This perfectly captures the attitude of the church on that day.  In fact, in v. 28  they go on to say the people conspiring against Jesus where only able “to do whatever you hand and your purpose predestined to occur.”  In this verse we find the point of the quotation from Psalm 2.  The church found comfort in the fact that even though evil men were plotting against the them, nothing could happen to them that was not predestined to happen by God.

Verse 28 says that God’s hand as well as His purpose.  His hand refers to His power.  This is the might by which He is able to accomplish whatever He desires.  His purpose is what He uses His power to accomplish.  This is the plan He has for the world, and this plan has been in place since before the foundation of the world.  This is why it says that nothing can happen that has not been “predestined to occur.”

The word predestined (προορίζω) is an important word for us to understand.  It occurs 6 times in the NT (Acts 4:28; Romans 8:29, 30; 1 Corinthians 2:7; Eph 1:5, 11).  Each time that it is used it has the meaning to predetermine, or decide beforehand.  It is not just seeing what will happen in advance; it is actually ordaining the events of the future.  Thus nothing can happen that has not been predestined by the hand of God, and in every situation God accomplishes his purpose.  No matter how bleak things may seem from our perspective God, by the strength of His hand, is accomplishing the plan that He laid out before the world began.  This is what comforted the believers in Acts 4.  They knew that the plotting of the Sanhedrin against them was in vain, just like the plotting against Jesus was in vain.  The early church saw the opposition that they were facing simply as a continuation of the opposition that Jesus faced.  Thus, they could be confident that no matter what happen to them God’s purpose would be accomplished.  This is what comforted them.

When we find ourselves in difficult situations we would do well to remind ourselves that the only thing that can happen to us is what God has predestined to happen.  And as we remember this we should be comforted by the sovereignty of God.  Not because everything is going to turn out like a Disney movie in the end, where the princess finds the prince, the hero learns his lesson, and the bad guy ends up with egg on his face.  Most of the time it doesn’t end up like this.  God’s predestined outcome may not always be the outcome that we would desire. Remember, God accomplished His plan, but Jesus was still killed.  So as the early church found comfort in the sovereignty of God they still knew that they could, and probably would be killed for their faith.  Yet, even this was an acceptable outcome because it would be used by God to accomplish His purpose.  Everything that the Sanhedrin did to oppose God would be in vain, but nothing that God did would be in vain.

Finding this kind of comfort in the sovereignty of God can only happen if you are truly depending upon Him, and His predetermined plan.  This means that we must not only recognize His control, but that His plan is a wise and good plan. (Romans 12:2)  There are times when this can be difficult.  Usually our problem with God’s sovereignty is not that we do not believe that God is in control, usually the problem is that we do not like the way that God is working out His plan.  This is when we must decide if we are going to depend upon God and how He is working out His plan, or if we are going to depend upon something else.  If we choose to depend upon God we will find comfort in the fact that He is in control.

IV. A Dependent Church Boldly Proclaims God’s Word (vv. 29-30)

Thus far we have seen that a dependent church, first of all, prays, and, secondly, finds comfort in the Sovereignty of God.  Now, as we turn our attention to vv. 29-30 we are going to see that the third trait of a dependent church is that a dependent church boldly proclaims God’s word.  Up to this point the prayer has been focused on God’s sovereign work in the past, but in these verses the people finally bring their request about the current situation before the Lord.  The idea is that since God has been sovereignly working in the past He is able to help with the current situation.

Here is the request that they make: “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence.”  If I am being honest with you this is not the request that I would have made.  My prayer would have been a lot like the prayer of John and James in Luke 9 when they were ready to call down fire on the Samaritans for not believing in Jesus.  It probable would have gone something like, “And now Lord take note of their threats and smote them down.  Let fleas infest their armpits if they arrest another one of the brothers!”  Needless to say, the prayer offered on this day was far more dependent–and mature–than my prayer request would have been.

Notice that the people do not pray for their enemies to be crushed, or for God to take notice of the threats and punish them.  The people knew that in God’s timing these things would be sorted out by the ultimate and perfect judge.  Their concern was not for personal and immediate vindication.  Their concern was that these threats would distract them from their task, and thus their plea was that God would allow them the courage to continue to preach with boldness.

It is interesting that church refers to themselves as “bond-servants.”  Really the word here means slaves (δούλοις).  This is interesting because it would have been unheard of for a slave to publically speak boldly.  That is, unless he had been commanded to by His master.  Which is exactly the case with the church.  This church recognized that they were slaves who had been left with a task, to spread the good news about Jesus.  Before Jesus ascended back into heaven he made it clear that it was the church’s task to proclaim the Word of God to the entire world.  They knew that they had received the command from Him, and they were dependent upon Him to obey that command.  This is why they requested boldness from God instead of safety.  They knew that the Sanhedrin was most likely going to follow through on their threats, and they were afraid of being afraid.  Like FDR they felt that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” They did not want their fear to keep them from obeying their master.

This church’s passionate desire was to align themselves with the work that God was doing.  This is why v. 30 adds, “while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”  Here the people are not asking for God to do these signs.  They are simply recognizing the special works that God is already doing.  You see, during this time in church history there were many miracles done by the apostles to authenticate the new message that they were proclaiming.  We do not need these miracles today because we have the entire New Testament to authenticate our message.  But you can imagine how helpful these signs must have been for the first generation of Christians who did not have the New Testament.  The miracles proved that there was power in the message, the church did not want to squander this kind of opportunity because they were afraid of the Sanhedrin.  They knew that God was already doing a special work, and they could participate in that work by boldly proclaiming God’s word.

In v. 31 we see how God answered this prayer.  Luke tells us that, “when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”  We will look at this verse a little more closely in a minute, but suffice it to say that God provided them with all the boldness that they needed.  In v. 29 the church had asked for courage, and here God provides them with a fresh endowment of the Spirit accompanied by a visible sign of that endowment in order to provide them courage.  We should not expect this same kind of visible sign, however, as the church we do retain the power of the Holy Spirit.  The reason that we no longer need a visible sign is because we have the bible to remind us of the Spirit’s ministry in our lives, and thereby encourage us to boldly proclaim the Word.

At this point I hope that you see just how important it is for the church to boldly proclaim God’s word, but you may still be wondering how is it dependent to boldly proclaim the word of God?  In this respect there are really several ways in which it is a sign of dependence to boldly proclaim God’s word:

• There are always consequences to proclaiming God’s word.  In the early church’s case those consequences were quite severe.  In our case the consequences are probably less severe, but nonetheless real.  When we proclaim God’s word we know that it will create controversy and we will have to deal with the consequences.  However, we know the benefits of proclaiming God’s word outweigh the negative consequences because we are depending on God.
• Proclaiming God’s word is also a sign of dependence because it is obedient.  As this early church understood, by proclaiming God’s word we are submitting to the command of our master.
• Finally, proclaiming God’s word is also a sign of dependence because when we do so we are depending on God’s methods. God have given us his word and we do not need to improve on it (2 Corinthians 4:1-2).  We simply need to proclaim it.  It is the power of God unto salvation and we should not be ashamed of it (Romans 1:16).

If we depend on God then we are going to use His word to do His work.  We won’t be concerned with the consequences because we can trust God with that.  We won’t be concerned with personal vindication because we are focused on the mission of our Master.  And we won’t be concerned with inventing new methods because we are using the instrument that Jesus left for us.

Sunday Morning: A Dependent Church (pt. 2)

We are still in Acts 4:23-35 looking at the example of what a dependent church practically looks like:

When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,

and the peoples plot in vain?

26 The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers were gathered together,

against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

27 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, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. 32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

So far we have seen 4 (out of 7) traits of a Dependent Church:

1. A Dependent Church is Committed to One Another (v. 23)
2. A Dependent Church Prays (v. 24a)
3. A Dependent Church finds comfort in God’s sovereignty (vv. 24b-28)
4. A Dependent Church boldly proclaims His word. (vv. 29-30)

You can listen to the sermon HERE

Sunday Evening: “The Mission of Our Church” pt. 1)

Sunday evening we discussed the mission of our church.  We looked at a number of a passages and came to the conclusion that our mission is to

“spiritually prepare individuals for the Kingdom of God.”

You can listen to the sermon HERE (More on this on Wed.)

Questions to Think About

Acts 1:23-45

1. What are some ways that we can practically depend upon God in our lives and in our church?
2. In times of trouble, where do you look for comfort? Why is God’s sovereignty the most effective source of comfort?
3. Why is it a sign of dependence for a church to boldly preach God’s word?

“What is Our Mission?”

1. Why did God create and save us? What is our primary purpose?
2. What is our mission?  Why is our mission different than our purpose?
3. Evaluation: Are you using your gifts and resources to spiritual prepare individuals for the Kingdom?

1. Pray for more opportunities to serve in this way.
2. Think of 1 area of your life where you can come into contact with more people in spiritual need, and pray for opportunities to meet those needs.

1. The supreme object of this work is to glorify God… The first object of preaching the Gospel is not to save souls… Nothing else, however good in itself, or however noble, must be allowed to usurp the first place.
2. The only power that can really do this work is that of the Holy Spirit…
3. The one and only medium though which the Holy Spirit works is the Word of God… The medium which is used by the Holy Spirit is the Truth.
4. The true urge to evangelization must come from apprehending these principles and, therefore, of a zeal for the honour and glory of God, and a love for the souls of men.
5. There is a constant danger of error, and of heresy, even amongst the most sincere, and also the danger of a flase zeal and the employment of unscriputral methods.  (Iain Murray, D.M. Lloyd-Jones vol. 2, 90)

L-J’s five principles, more than anything, reveal a trust for God in the area of evangelism.  Trust in the holiness of His character, trust in sovereign nature of Salvation, trust in the resources provided for evangelization, and a trust in God for the results.  In short, L’J's plea is for “Theo-centric Evangelism.”

What about you? Is your evangelism (if it exists) Theo-centric OR is it you-centric?