Acts 4:23-31: Praying Together

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Summary

1)     3:1-10 – Lame man healed.

2)     3:11-26 – Peter’s sermon to the crowd.

3)     4:1-22 – Peter and John’s boldness before the Jewish leadership.

4)     4:23-31 – Peter and John report what happened to their friends.

Content

1)     v. 23 – Lit. “They went to their own.”

A)   Trans.

1)     ESV – They went to their friends.

2)     NASU / NKJV – They went to their own companions.

3)     NIV – They went back to their own people.

4)     NET – The went to their fellow believers.

B)    BDAG

1)     Pertaining to belonging or being related to oneself.

2)     Pertaining to a striking connection or an exclusive relationship.

C)    Two related points:

1)     Bock – “The expression is not accidental, as it presses the point of how the early church saw itself as a community of mutually supportive friends.”

(a)   i.e. The church is my people.

2)     The Jewish leadership is not my people.

2)     v. 24 – What did they do? They prayed together.

A)   Notes

1)     “Together” again (1:14; 2:46; 4:24; 5:12, etc.).

(a)   cf. 4:32 – next story

2)     “Voice” is singular, not plural (NKJV gets it right).

(a)   Bock – “They speak as one voice in prayer…”

B)    Prayer: “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them…”

1)     Remember the context: They just stood before the full weight of Jewish power (4:1, 5-6).

2)     Their prayer acknowledges the one who ultimately matters, and who is truly in control.

C)    vv. 25-26 – Quote from Ps. 2:1-2.

1)     v. 27-28 – More about God’s sovereignty.

2)     Read Ps. 2:

(a)   vv. 1-3 is fulfilled in powerful people killing Jesus.

(b)   vv. 4-9 – God’s enemies can struggle against him all they want, but God will win.

(c)   cf. Is. 46:8-10

D)   v. 29-30

1)     God’s role – “And now, Lord, look upon their threats…”

(a)   They ask God to take care of judging.

(b)   cf. Hezekiah’s prayer (2 Kgs. 19:14-19).

2)     The Christian’s role – “…and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness…”

3)     God’s role – “…while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

4)     POINT

(a)   They ask God to do his work, and they ask God for the ability and boldness to do their part.

(b)   Bock – “The community leaves to God the moral judgment of the opponents and their actions. It does not pray explicitly for opponents to be crushed, nor does it seek to be spared opposition. It asks to face the opposition and suffering faithfully.”

(c)   My job is not to worry about making sure my enemies get what they deserve – that’s God’s job.

(d)   My job is not to prove that the word is reliable and true – that’s God’s job.

(e)   My job is the speak the word of God boldly.

3)     v. 31 – God’s response

A)   God gave them what they needed to do their work

Conclusion: This prayer…

1)     Recognizes God’s sovereignty – That all things belong to him and that he is in control of all things (even the things that it looks like are not God’s will, like Jesus’ death).

A)   This prayer is a prayer that says we trust God even when we don’t love our circumstances.

B)    That he is in control.

C)    And that he is able to do the right thing at the right time.

D)   It’s a prayer of faith.

E)    cf. Hab. 3:16

2)     They don’t ask for safety or salvation from persecution, but for the boldness to say God’s word to the world.

A)   They pray this prayer together.

B)    It’s easier to do hard things when we do them together.

C)    Phil. 2:27-29

3)     They ask for God to show his power to those who hear the word.

A)   1 Cor. 3:6 – “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”