Rev Dr Edgar Mayer;
For more sermons and other writings
check the following homepage: www.livinggracetoowoomba.org
Boldness
Over Protection
When the church was young, persecution
came which made the first Christians pray in desperation. If there was ever a
need for a praying time that was effective (and not just words), this was
it and we will learn more about what they faced but – (let me ask you
first) – do you likewise have a need for
effective prayers? Right now – this morning – are you crying out to God for something to happen in your life? Are you
desperate? How can you pull through the tough times when they come?
Can I encourage you? Relax now and
listen. Take some time to consider the first Christians and how they prayed in
their desperation because they will surprise you and they will teach you. I
read from the Bible – Acts 3-4 (read
only the underlined verses):
1 Now Peter and
John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried,
whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to
ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and
John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And
fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he
gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6
Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give
you: In the name of Jesus Christ of
11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all
the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly
amazed. 12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people:
“Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as
though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His
Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when
he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy
One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15
and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are
witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this
man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through
Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance,
as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God
foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has
thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of
the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to
you before,[a] 21 whom heaven must receive
until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth
of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly
said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like
me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to
you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who
will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’[b] 24 Yes, and all the prophets,
from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold[c] these days. 25 You are sons of
the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to
Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’[d] 26 To you first, God, having
raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of
you from your iniquities.”
1 Now as they
spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees
came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the
people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And
they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for
it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word
believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers,
elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas,
John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were
gathered together at
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of
the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a
good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10
let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone
which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’[e] 12 Nor
is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.”
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and
perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they
realized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who
had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15
But when they had commanded them to go aside out of
the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What shall
we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through
them is evident to all who dwell in
18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor
teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said
to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to
God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have
seen and heard.” 21 So when they had further threatened them, they
let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since
they all glorified God for what had been done. 22 For the man was
over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and
reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24
So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and
said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all
that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David[f] have said:
‘ Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
26 The kings of the
earth took their stand,
And
the rulers were gathered together
Against the LORD and against His
Christ.’[g]
27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were
gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose
determined before to be done. 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats,
and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30
by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done
through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled
together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they
spoke the word of God with boldness.
32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one
soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own,
but they had all things in common. 33 And with great power the
apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace
was upon them all. 34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked;
for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the
proceeds of the things that were sold, 35 and laid them at
the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
36 And Joses,[h] who was also named Barnabas by the apostles
(which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37
having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the
apostles’ feet.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 3:20 NU-Text and M-Text read Christ Jesus,
who was ordained for you before.
b. Acts 3:23 Deuteronomy
c. Acts 3:24 NU-Text and M-Text read proclaimed.
d. Acts 3:25 Genesis
e. Acts 4:11 Psalm 118:22
f.
Acts 4:25 NU-Text reads who through the Holy Spirit,
by the mouth of our father, Your servant David.
g. Acts 4:26 Psalm 2:1, 2
h. Acts 4:36 NU-Text reads Joseph.
Peter and John healed a lame man in
Jerusalem that everyone knew and therefore everyone was interested in what they
had to say about Jesus and – as a result
– five thousand more people made a
commitment to trust Jesus and expect the resurrection from the dead (as
Jesus himself was first raised from the grave). There would be eternal salvation for those who followed Jesus Christ.
This was the good news which spread throughout the entire city.
Peter and John should have felt
encouraged and they were. When the priests, the captain of the temple guard and
the who’s who of the religious leadership of God’s people seized them, threw
them into prison and then interrogated them, asking: “By what power or by what name have you done this
(the healing of the lame man),” Peter
and John were bursting with confidence and – filled with Holy Spirit
boldness – declared against all threats:
“Let it be known to you all, and to all the people … that by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by
Him this man stands before you whole … Nor is there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be
saved.”
When Peter and John were commanded not
to teach in the name of Jesus, they refused and the authorities had to let them
go because there was no reasonable charge against him. How could the leaders
punish them when everyone else in the city was praising God for the healing of
the lame man?
Yet, for all the intense highlights of
Peter and John’s experience – the
healing, the five thousand converts, the boldness of their faith in the face of
persecution – the ongoing threats by
those in power managed to rattle them. The night in prison had not been easy.
What would happen next, if they chose to continue with their preaching? Peter
and John had no natural talent to withstand so much opposition. The Bible
informs us that they were uneducated and untrained – simple fishermen from
the country – which made them no match
for the clever rhetoric of schooled religious lawyers and ordained priests.
Discouragement set in – despite setting all of
Now this is where it gets interesting.
How did Peter and John and the first Christians get themselves out of the hole
that they were in? What can we learn from them? First of all, they knew that
help needed to come from God and therefore they prayed. It was also
crystal-clear to them that they did not need more of their own strength but
God’s strength. God wasn’t just to reinvigorate their bodies and minds. They
were after the supernatural power that enabled them to heal the lame man and would
get them out of trouble now.
What did they do? Surprise 1: If we had been in Peter and John’s shoes and wanted our prayers to be
effective, we (most of us – I think) would
have prayed for protection in persecution: “God, please keep us out of
prison and don’t let us get hurt.” But
this was not their priority. They prayed – Acts 4:29-30: “Now, Lord,
look on their threats, and grant to your servants that with all boldness they
may speak your word, by stretching out your hand to heal,
and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant
Jesus.” “ … grant . your servants … all
boldness … ” They prayed first and
foremost for boldness which is nothing else but praying for faith: “God,
I am discouraged now but please give me once again the confidence – the faith – the trust – to step
out and serve you.”
Surprise 2: If we had been in Peter and John’s shoes
and wanted our prayers to be effective, we (most of us – I think) would have pleaded with God to save us from
our enemies: “God, we are on the back foot here. Please, make the threat
go away. Please, let us hang in there and survive.” This is way too defensive and is not how the first Christians prayed.
They prayed with higher expectations because they believed in a God that was
not just meeting their most basic needs but was a God of victory and abundance.
They prayed: “God, help us. We want to be on the front foot. Look on
their threats, and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak
your word, by stretching out your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may
be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.” What Peter and John and the first Christians were expecting was that
they would take charge of the situation and rise up with bold preaching,
healings by the hand of God and signs and wonders in the name of Jesus Christ.
Maybe we can already learn this lesson
from them. Aim higher in your prayer. Aim as high as the nature of God who
promised in the Bible – 1 Corinthians
2:9-10: “ … No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what
God has prepared for those who love him … ” Ephesians 3:20-21: “ . to
him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory … ” Jesus said – John 10:10: “ … I came
that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Aim higher in your prayer. Do not be afraid to shift your weight from the
back foot to the front foot.
This morning – we are going
after this. Jesus said – Matthew 6:33: “ … seek
first his kingdom … ” Luke 12:31: “ … seek his kingdom, and [then] these
things [such as food and clothing] will be given to you as well.” Thus, we are not
being defensive just worrying about our immediate needs but we pray: “God,
your kingdom come – as it is in heaven, so on earth.”
Maybe – at this point – we expand on
this and note the radical outcome of what the disciples were doing. They did
not pray for personal protection but faith boldness so that the
The first Christians prayed: “ … grant . your servants … all boldness … ” The first Christians knew that they were servants of God and the Bible
translation is not even accurate here because the word in Greek does not mean “servant”
but “slave”. We are slaves of God in the sense that our
lives are all about God’s agenda – not our own – and therefore our prayers are praying his will – not ours – and as we are praying his will –
seeking God according to his plans – then
we experience the boldness of faith rising up within us.
This is not so easy. Much needs to
happen in our prayer times. Not only do we have to overcome discouragement in
the face of opposition but there is now also the struggle to shift our focus
from personal safety to God’s glory and his bigger picture.
[There is also the point that the first
Christians did not just pray and then sit back waiting for God to do the work
without them. The first Christians prayed and then became part of the answers
to prayer. They needed faith to be active again in Jesus’ name.]
How do we get there? When Peter and John
were upset, they immediately came together with other Christians – Acts
Then, the first Christians worked on
their perspective, praying: “Lord,
You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, …
” Politicians and religious leaders may
think that they are in charge and they may choose to make threats but it is God
that made the heaven and the earth and the sea – the vast expanses of the
cosmos. He is in charge. Nothing on
earth is a match for him.
The first Christians worked even more on
their perspective and immersed themselves in the Bible and the story of Jesus
Christ. They were feeding themselves on the truth – Acts
The first Christians were immersing
themselves in this truth. They were reading the Bible – again and again. They were telling each other the truth of God to defeat the lies of
discouragement. (E.g.: The cause of the church is lost. Everyone will die
in jail. You will never make it.) The
Bible became the core prayer tool for the first Christians until the
breakthrough of faith came.
Likewise – Suzette Hattingh (the
co-writer of the prayer school which we are studying at the moment) shared how reading the Bible and praying
the Bible changed her life. You grow in confidence praying what God declared in
his Word is his will and you grow in confidence meditating on his character and
past faithfulness. Then – as you are reading and praying the Bible – you give God the opportunity to highlight
certain parts of the Bible for you.
Over the past week my daughter
Franscisca and I have been reading the Bible book of 2 Kings and I have to
admit there has not been much that was grabbing our attention. Let me give you
the flavour of the reading on most nights – 2 Kings 14:17-25: “Amaziah son of Joash king of
Now this is a process and what this
process requires is time. When we begin our prayer time, we may still worry too
much about ourselves and do not pray as the “slaves” of God who are
serving his purposes. When we begin our prayer time, we may still be
overwhelmed by the current crisis and challenges so that the Bible truth of God
– his control over everything – is
not what we know – what we rely on – with
conviction in our hearts. (It may be in our heads but not in our hearts.) To get there takes time.
A pastor
from
“Westerners are often wrapped up in the problem of trying to live
according to schedules. Everything is rush, rush, rush. Soon they start losing
the time to have fellowship with family and friends, and even the time to wait
upon the Lord. Everything seems instant: instant breakfast, T.V. dinners, fast
food counters – all is ready in five minutes. So when going to church they seem
to pray, ‘Oh, God answer me. I have no time – five minutes – and if you don’t
answer me quickly, forget it.’ They are not waiting upon the Lord …
When we needed five million dollars to build the church already
contracted, I had a clear-cut vision, a clear-cut goal, and a burning desire to
build this church which would seat 10,000 people. But my heart was full of
fear. I was shaky, fearful, and I had no assurance. I was like a frightened
rabbit, and that five million dollars looked like Mount Everest. To rich
foreigners a million dollars may mean relatively little; but to Koreans a
million dollars means a great deal of money. So I began to pray like a person
dying. I said, ‘Lord, now they’ve started working. But still I have no
assurance. I don’t know where we can get all this money.’ I began travailing. A
month passed, and still I had no peace and no assurance. A second month passed
and I was praying into the middle of the nights. I would roll out of the bed
and go to the corner and cry, sobbing my heart out. My wife thought that I was
losing my mind, but I was mentally blinded. I would just stand, without
thinking, worrying about the five million dollars.
After I prayed incessantly like that for three months, one morning my
wife called, ‘Honey, breakfast is ready.’ As I was walking out of my study,
just about to sit in the chair, suddenly the heavens opened up and the
tremendous blessings of the Lord poured into my heart! And this great title
deed, the substance and the assurance, were imparted into my soul. Suddenly I
jumped out of my chair like a shot and I began to shout, ‘I’ve got it. I’ve got
it. Oh, I’ve got it.’
My wife rushed out of the kitchen and when I looked at her I saw that
her face was absolutely pale. She was frightened, and taking me, said, ‘Honey,
what’s happened to you? Are you all right? Sit down.’
‘I’ve got it!’ I replied. ‘What do you have?’ ‘I have five million
dollars,’ I strongly asserted. Then she said, ‘You are really crazy now. Really crazy.’ ‘But Honey, I’ve got all these five million
dollars inside of me. They’re growing now! Oh, inside me it’s growing!’
Suddenly those five million dollars had turned into a small pebble on my palm.
I prayed with assurance. My faith reached out, and I grabbed hold that five
million dollars; it was mine. I got the substance, and once you have the
substance – the title deed, the legal paper – whether you see those things or
not, legally those things are bound to come to you because legally those things
belong to you. So pray through until you have this assurance” (David Yonggi Cho: The
Fourth Dimension, Florida: Bridge-Logos 1979, 15-17).
Praying until discouragement turns into
faith boldness takes time. We come together. We get perspective by immersing
ourselves in the Bible truth and the story of Jesus Christ. We let God highlight
certain Bible verses to us. We wait on him until the boldness comes – until faith rises within us – until we know that we know that what we have prayed for is ours.
[If I can share this with you. This is what is happening for me every Sunday morning
in our prayer time before the service. I am praying with the sole purpose of
receiving the boldness and assurance of faith that God is confirming his Word
that I am preaching. I am usually not confused about the message. I usually
know that he has spoken to me but I am still fearful because I am not in
control and cannot make anything of God happen myself. Will God do it in the
service? Will anyone receive anything from God? Will the Holy Spirit rest on
us? Will the Holy Spirit make the words flow out of my mouth? I am not sure and
therefore I come to the prayer meeting and I am thankful that we are doing this
together because I receive encouragement from the faith of others. I pray for
faith.]
A perfect demonstration of what we want
is how Peter and John healed the lame man in Jerusalem. They had so much faith
that they did not even pray for healing. They simply
said – with boldness: “Silver and
gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And
Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately the lame man’s feet and ankle bones
received strength. You need to have faith to be that bold. Take the time with
God to get there.
At some stage in your prayer time – as you have immersed yourself in the Bible truth and
God’s nature – as you have waited on God – the
same will happen to you as happened to the first Christians – Acts 4:31: “And
when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken;
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God
with boldness.” The Holy Spirit will
fall on us with boldness.
I come to a close. Are you discouraged
this morning? Where in your life are you lacking the conviction of faith? Is
there a sin that seems impossible to overcome? Is there a challenge that seems
insurmountable? As a church we are still having a debt of $500,000. Do we have
the money by faith so that we are not held back by financial constraints? Do
our musicians have faith that in our time of worship and singing the presence
of God draws near to us? Where do you need faith?
I summarize what we have learned: 1) [Power point slide: We are not being
defensive but aim higher.] In our
prayers we are not being defensive worrying about our immediate needs but we
aim higher. We pray: “God, your kingdom come.” 2) As God’s servants we shift our focus from
personal needs to God’s glory. As we seek his kingdom first, our other needs
will be met as well. 3) We
come together for prayer. We lean on each other and come into agreement. 4)
We immerse ourselves in the truth of the
Bible and Jesus Christ. This makes us gain perspective and allows God to
highlight certain parts of the Bible for us. 5) We take the time to pray until the boldness of faith comes.
These five points give us some practical
instructions on how we can position ourselves before God but we know that everything
depends on him. This is why we pray to him and and then wait on him in prayer. This
is why we are immersing ourselves in his perspective according to the Bible.
God needs to move and he will. Are you ready for it this morning? He makes your
prayers effective when he fills you with the Holy Spirit and the boldness of
faith. Is God stirring your heart right now? What do you need to overcome? God
wants to give you the faith that is necessary.
As a church – we want to keep praying
as the first disciples prayed: “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and
grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may
speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and
wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” Let it rise up within you: Bold preaching –
bold sharing of the good news with your neighbours – with healings, signs and wonders in Jesus’ name. Amen.