All do you respond to trials in your life? How do you respond to confrontation? You may be one very quick to say, I don't like confrontation. A void confrontation. Well, when confrontation is inevitable, how do you respond? How do you respond when someone else is or someone disapproves of you? Sounds very similar. Those of you who were here last Lord's Day evening to the questions we asked from Psalm 17. How do you respond? How do you respond when you're frightened or when you feel that your life is unraveled or you're unnerved? When your troubles will Peter and John provide for us a pattern of how to respond. And the first thing I want you to notice is that they run to God's people. Beginning in verse 23 says, and being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all of the chief priests and elders had said to them. The understanding here, the meaning is, they immediately went. They instinctively went and reported to their own, according to the translation, we read, this morning, the New King James, their own companions. Your translation may say their own company, the NIV, I think says, their own people. The literal meaning is, they went to their own. Now, whether Luke has in mind the 5,000 new converts, male converts, which could have never been many more than 5,000, whether he went to the whole church or whether it was simply to those who had gathered in the upper room. It's really not important, it really doesn't make any difference. The point is, they simply ran to the church. They ran to the fellow believers, the Christians. They ran to those with whom they were light-minded, those to whom are from whom they would find comfort and encouragement and strength. You know, most people, you notice to be true, those people run from the church, don't they? When their lives are unraveling, most people run from the church when they find themselves in trouble, when their marriage is in trouble, when they have failed, when they think they've made an embarrassment of their life, they run, they feel that they will be humiliated in front of the church. So consequently, they run from the very place that they would find help. Why is that? Why is it you think that people would run an embarrassment from the very people who would love them the most? A contemplated that, and I thought, well, the only reasonable reason why they would run from the churches is that they would feel the church was cold, or that the church was unforgiving or not understanding or judgmental. They would fear that the church was full of people who were fault-finders or gossips. That would be reason enough to run, for fear that the church might spread the news that their life was in trouble. That's not true. The Trinity isn't. Trinity is loving. Trinity is caring and forgiving and understanding and compassionate.
Do you know that there are people in this church who long to talk to you about your problems? The state of your marriage. The state of your financial situation. The trouble you've gotten yourself in. There are people in this church who are actually geared toward that kind of ministry toward mercy. Ministry has met by the chairman of our mercy committee just this very morning. We've got a thank you note from one of our members from something that we have done for that individual. We'll talk about that later. We need to let the church know that they are the mercy committee. I don't know where I was going with that. All of a sudden we thought about Bill None meeting me at church this morning about that. I think one of my friends thought that I should have bought the letter today to read the thank you note from this individual. Trinity has those who are geared toward mercy. Trinity has individuals who are not only gifted but they are trained. The core is a group of individuals known as the congregation okay or committee on the session. But that committee has grown. There are now men and women. Some of you women might be glad to hear that. There are those in this church that you can go through and they are trained to help you again in marital situations and financial situations, crises, family of people. So I ask you again are you suffering? Are you in trouble? Is your life unravelling? Shake out the body. Shake out this body. This is your family. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you can't turn to this body who can you turn to? If you can't give them someone to trust without running to the phone and telling your best friend and telling them not to tell their best friend. And who can they tell? Run to the church please. Run to this this church's services. They're ministers. They're people because we're here for you. That's what these men did. They immediately and instinctively spontaneously sought out God's people and then with God's people we learned in verse 24 they immediately spontaneously sought out God himself in prayer. Look at verse 24. So when they heard that they raised their voice to God with one accord. About a month ago the session had a called meeting in which we went into executive session to deal with a situation in church. And it was one of those meetings that absolutely rips your heart out. One of those gut checking decisions that has to be made by the session that they're going to uphold the purity of the church and the glory of Christ, the glory of this body. We discuss a certain situation that's charged for two and a half hours and after a lot of discussion and then a pretty long silence. I remember one of our most elderly members on the session that I'll ever forget the same because his head was in his hands and he knew somebody had to make the motion. This is how much it hurts. It carried very some time with church discipline and he made the motion and soberingly it was seconded and then it was passed. The belt of the session didn't have a choice and it was just silence. Just hurts is very depressing. It's very hard and I remember the elder to my right. I think was the first one to just pull this chair back and get on his knees and then all of us, 19 men just for all practical purposes fell on our knees and in one voice prayed to God, prayed for that individual, prayed on our knees really prostrate our hearts that God would never allow us as the leaders in the church to allow that to happen in our own lives. That's what's happening in this verse. These individuals are scared. They are hurting. They are frightened and in one voice they prayed to God. This is not one of those panic prayers to some generic God. Help me. This is not the football prayer. Keep a safe. Help us to win. Amen. This is a crying out to God. This is a fleeing to God. The one who rules the world and overrules the world from every stormy wind that blows, from every swelling tide of woes. There is a call, a sure retreat to found beneath the mercy seat. Well, it's not so much that they prayed as it is, how they prayed and you need to know if you can understand this text that how they prayed made all the difference. Keep in mind, as I'm saying, it's a few times again, that these are vulnerable people. They are frightened. They are troubled. They are anxious to seek help from really the only one to whom they can turn. And notice again in verse 24 as they begin their prayer. They don't just jump into his lap and start reeling off this list of gimmies. You know, gimme this, gimme, gimme, gimme. But notice what they psyched first in verse 24. It says, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, you are God. They made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. This title, Lord, they immediately, by even using the title, using the name, they put their problems into perspective. And the meaning is sovereign Lord. Start translates to the ruler of unchallengeable power. To whom do they turn? You see, to whom, to whom do they pray? None other than the sovereign Lord, sovereign overseas or sovereign over the same hatred. Sovereign over heaven and earth and the sea and Luke wants to make sure he very can want to be very clear about it, that the first words out of their mouth is, God, you made you own it. And so nothing is too difficult for you. This is the God before whom the nations are dropped in the bucket. The God before whom the nations are fine dust on the scales. What problem can he not handle? You might want to ask yourself this morning. What power can he not overcome? The same type of prayer that has a kind of prayer when the conquering and steerings are knocking at the door. They are literally, for all kinds of verses, they literally, for all kinds of purposes, knocking at the wall of Jerusalem, ridiculing and threatening. This is what Isaiah prays. Isaiah 37 has a kind of prayer. I don't know if I said Isaiah. He has a kind of prayer with in Isaiah 37 at verse 16, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the one who dwells between the chair of them, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth. And climb your ear, O Lord, and hear upon your eyes, O Lord, and open your eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sinatra who has sent to request the living God. Now, therefore, O Lord, our God, save us from His hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord, you alone. You see, the same kind of prayer that these men and women are praying in the early church when they're troubled, when they find themselves frightened, passages like Isaiah 37 are like flashlights. You ever wonder where your flashlights are, when the lights go out, you wonder, once again, I wish I had known where I put the flashlights. The same thing is true in the darkness of your soul, and you wonder, where do I turn in Scripture? Isaiah 37 is one of those flashlights, because you need to know where it is, so you can turn it on in those dark times of your life. And it shines the light on truth, and the truth is, there is nothing too hard for God. There's nothing too difficult for Him. God can wipe out 185,000 of Syrian soldiers in their sleep. Surely He can handle your problem. Surely He can handle that thing in your life that is causing you heartache. Whatever that problem is, you think about what that is in your life right now, or maybe it's in the pastor, perhaps you know it's inevitable in the future. The one who made Mount Everest can handle your problem. The one who put the stars in the sky, there's nothing too difficult for Him. And really the profundity of the whole thing is that not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from His plan. Nothing can change His plan. That's the God that you talk to. That's the God before whom you can go and make your request known, that you can lay your problems in your suffering at His feet. I've heard it said that your prayers are usually the same size as your God. If your God is used and your prayers will be huge, if your God is small and your prayers will be small, well not only today praise Him as the sovereign creator, but as the governor of creation, when they close from so beginning in verse 25, He says, move by the mouth of your servant, David, have said, why does a nation's rage and the people plot it, plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. And then not only governor of creation, but the governor, even governor of the events of the cross, look at verse 27, for truly against your holy servant, Jesus, Him you in knowing it, both Herod and Pontius Pilate and with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together, look at verse 28, to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before it to be done. We've already seen this again and again in our series in Acts, where the disciples take the whole scenario, the trial and the crucifixion, this time in the context of prayer and they're saying, Father, those guys, they only thought they were in control. They only thought that they were upon them, that they thought you were not in control, they thought that your hands were tied behind your back, but we know different. We know that you are not only in control then, but you are in control now,
and that is their comfort and the midst of suffering and the midst of trial, and the midst of hardship is knowing that what is happening to them is happening by the hand of God.
I'm sure most of you from there were cushioners but while bad things happened to good people, and wish the author who had lost his 13-year-old daughter to Latina, came to the conclusion that the only consolation for the Christian is to believe that God is good, but he's not powerful enough to stop bad things from happening to good people because of God's work, powerful enough, and he didn't do it, and he wouldn't be good, and cushioner just couldn't live with that. A lot of people bought into that, in fact, a lot of prominent Christian personalities bought into it. I personally find it horrifying. For these reasons, first of all, you might write these down about God being in control, but the fact is, and suffering, but the fact is, if God is not in control, then there is no meaning to our suffering. Tell somebody like Blue Pitten has been through it this way. Tell Caroline Woodruff, God is not in control. Is that comforting? Of course not. It only gives meaning to our suffering when we know that what happens to it happens by the hand of God. It's only then that Romans 8.28 means anything, if God is in control. Secondly, if God is not in control, then there's something greater than God. If he's not powerful enough to do it, then something more powerful than him has caused that suffering in your life. Call it what you will. Chance or fate or luck? By the way, so when you're still using the word luck, we're going to get out of the habit of using that word here, okay? Pray that God would help you because it's not that it's a cuss word or anything. It's just that you have more to say. When somebody says, oh, this right thing has happened in your life, he's always lucky. What do you think that says to God? So you have more to say, but when you say that there's something greater than God, then you're saying that that thing is going to happen to you again and again and again because God is not powerful enough to stop it. And then really a third point about this God not being in control, if God is not in control of all, then he's not in control at all, and therefore he's not God. We need to believe that and we need to know it and we need to embrace it and wherever you find yourself today in whatever problem or whatever suffering you need to understand and what has happened happened by the hand of God by an all wise, all powerful, all good God who has a perfect plan for you in your life and no one and no thing could ever afford the plan of God. Thankfully, nothing can change his plan. So what are your problems? Have you come to a place in your Christian life where you can say, I know this has come by the hand of God that you realize that your enemy can only do, that's due to you, that which God allows them to do. Do you know that what is happening to you suits his purposes? It's good and his purposes are always good. It's always for your good and his glory. Do you realize that only when you know that it's true in your life that you will then be able to pray and you'll know you go to the God of history? You don't pray to your neighbor? He can't do anything about it, he's not in control, you don't pray to your minister, the minister's not in control, you pray to him who works all things after the counsel of his will. As I just alluded to, just a minute ago, then it's only then you're really able to pray. It's only then you're able to pray with confidence and believing in God and having prayers with faith. So often we skip this part about praising God for who he is and we pray without faith and unbelieving selfishly because we simply don't take the time to remind ourselves of who God is and how great God should please always begin your prayers with praise. Don't skip it, adore him for even if it's one minute, put it in perspective. Then ask, then petition. That's what they do. In verse 29, now Lord, look on the on the threats and grant me 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. You know it's surprising to me the most about this prayer is they're not praying for help but they don't pray for safety and they're not praying for protection. You know what they pray for? Praisefulness and courage. We need to learn to pray like that. Prayer is what prayer does. It's shaped our perspective. It's really a very mild prayer for those who are very hostile toward them. Verse 29, now Lord, look on their threats. Of course, they're not praying that God would simply take notice of their threats. They're actually asking God to do something but it's a prayer for mercy upon their enemies. Matthew Henry said either he's talking about these translating what they say. Either tie their hands or turn their hearts. That's a great prayer for your enemies. Either tie their hands or turn their hearts but the only person who can pray, mercy on his enemies is a person who knows God. A person who knows God well enough to leave their burdens and his feet for him to deal within his time knowing that he's a great God and a loving God. Matthew Henry continues in his explanation of their prayer. He says in threatening times our care should not be so much that troubles may be prevented. How much time do we spend asking God to take it away and prevent it? So often, that's not the example in Scripture. So Matthew Henry says, not so much we pray to God would prevent it as that we may be unable to go on with cheerfulness and resolution and our work and duty whatever troubles we may meet with. He goes on with his prayer, talking about the disciples. Their prayer is not Lord behold their threatening and frightened them and stop their mouths and fill their faces with shame but rather behold their threatening and animate us and open our mouths and fill our hearts with courage. He says one more time. He says they do not pray. Lord give us a fair opportunity to retire from our work now that it has become dangerous but rather Lord give us grace to go on in our work and not be afraid of the face of man. I don't want to insult your intelligence by repeating it over and over again but rather there's vulnerable people. They find themselves in trouble and they're praying for boldness and faithfulness. They don't lick their wounds and pray that God will give them a vacation from the battle. They've been in the heat of the battle. Now they're asking to go back to the front line and they just want boldness and courage. They want signs and wonders to validate their ministry to the skeptic. Remember days of Becky? Major League baseball pitcher with cancer in his arm and they did surgery and he made a heroic comeback. You may have been watching that day when he pitched as he came off the mound. His arm broke into, basically, his arm was dangling there at his side. They had to remove his arm. Danger Becky is a Christian and he wrote a book when you can't come back. And this is what he says in the book. In America, Christians pray for the burden of suffering to be lifted from their backs. In the rest of the world, Christians pray for stronger backs so that they can bear their suffering. It's selfless, cry-centered pray when we pray for boldness and courage to face Montgomery, Alabama, to face those people with whom we work, to not fear the face of a man at school or at work or on the ballfield or wherever. To pray for revival and pray for lost souls around us and not so much praying for health and peace as it is we pray for faithfulness. Do you ever wonder if God's waiting on us to pray a certain way? I think about that personally all the time when I prayed for something and God hadn't answered yet, whether way I wanted to or hadn't gotten that answer to myself yet. It could be that God is waiting for me to pray or change my heart as a man sent in my office just a couple of weeks ago about his business. It wasn't until I really gave it to him. Then God blessed my business. It could be that God's waiting. It could be waiting for Trinity Church. It could be waiting for days of prayer and fasting. The first Wednesday of the month when Trinity Church would come together and pray in one voice and God would see our priority in prayer and speedily send us answers into our church, into our lives. What's that thing you've been praying for for years? It may be that he's been waiting for you to fast and the answer will come speedily. As it did for these individuals, look at verse 31, when they had prayed the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spelt the word of God with boldness. In other words, God approved. He approved of their prayers and one of the ways that he shows his approval to the early church was by shaking the house in which they dwell in dwell. And furthermore, he shows his approval by giving them an additional measure of the Holy Spirit for the task that was before them. That this is not a second blessing and this is not some part of the Holy Spirit that they didn't have before and didn't get chopped up to third person of the Trinity and get parts here and there. All Christians have all the Spirit but there is something known as an anointing and empowering a filling of the Holy Spirit. And so that is our prayer. We don't pray that the Spirit wouldn't dwell us, we pray that He'll fill us and control us and empower us unless you think that you don't need to do that and you think that playing church is a nod to it, satisfied with satisfactory a Trinity church and you need to think again and realize how dependent upon God you are. You can look around at the world around you and see how desperate you are for God and only then will we be praying with one voice, only then will we praise Him in harmony, in concert, only then will our focus be on Christ and the cross and only then will He shake this house that we call Trinity Presbyterian Church and only then will He give us the boldness we may to spread His kingdom throughout Montgomery as we pray together.