You pick up your Bible and wonder, is there more here than meets the eye?
Is there anything here for me? I mean, it's just words printed on paper, right? Well, it may look like just print on a page, but it's more than ink. Join us for the next half hour as we explore God's Word together, as we learn how to explore it on our own, as we ask God to meet us there in its pages.
Welcome to More Than Ink. Well, last time, Peter and John were just released from jail because they spoke very boldly about Jesus. And when they tell their friends, those friends begin to pray in a really unexpected way.
Right, you would expect them to pray for less confrontation, but instead they pray for boldness, which is just going to lead to more opposition. More opposition, and we'll see it happen today on More Than Ink. Well, you found us today.
This is More Than Ink. I'm Jim. And I'm Dorothy. And we are just delighted that you've come and joined us. We say that every time. I know, you're so predictable.
I know, but that's because we're delighted. We read the Word together, we share insights that the Lord gives us, and in the process we hope that you're also gaining some, I don't know, boldness to be able to sit down with the Word yourself and read it for yourself, rather than just waiting for someone else to tell you what's there. Yeah, to tell you what it says. That's when we get into trouble, isn't it? When we think we need to only approach it from what somebody else has said it says.
Right, or you just tell yourself, there's no way I can possibly understand this. But as we're going to see from even our discussion today in Acts, the Spirit is not limited by who else is involved in the conversation. Right, that's exactly right. He can speak to you on the basis of the written Word, whether you have somebody else helping you or not. Right, and we have seen with our own eyes people who've come to the Lord for the first time, and they have this insatiable hunger for the Word, and they're reading it, so clearly they're getting something to satisfy that hunger.
That's right, that's right. So that ability for us to be able to digest the Word ourselves with the keen assistance of the Holy Spirit is something we can all do. So we're just reading through passages. We're in the book of Acts right now, in the early part of Acts, actually.
We didn't start it very long ago, but it's in the life of the early church. So what happened just before what we're going to read today? Well, the story's picking up speed here, because just before this, Peter and John had been on their way to the temple in their normal activities. Regular prayer.
Going to the temple to pray and meet with people. And they encountered a guy who had been 40 years unable to walk, and he was healed. And so there was such a crowd and an uproar that Peter and John were arrested and held overnight. Great, great. And then warned by the religious leaders, no more to speak in the name of this Jesus of Nazareth. That's right, that's right. Because they couldn't contest the fact that the guy had been healed and everybody knew it.
Yeah, he was standing right there. So they couldn't tell him, well, they couldn't blame him for that. Really, they could just say, don't do any more in the name of Jesus.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we don't mind you healing people. Just don't give Jesus credit for it. We don't like that. So they were in prison, they had their confrontation with the leadership, and then they were released.
Because they didn't have any grounds to hold them. Right, just that caution, don't talk about Jesus. So Peter and John go back to wherever the believers are gathered there in Jerusalem. Goes back to them and they make a report. And that's where we pick up the story today, is they come back with the body of Christ and they tell what happened.
Because I'm sure people have been praying for them when they saw them get arrested. Including the other apostles. So that's where we pick it up. We're in chapter 4 of the book of Acts and we're starting in verse 23. So you can follow with us if you'd like or just listen.
We're reading out of the ESV English translation. So let's find out what happens when Peter and John are sprung from jail and they come back to the believing community. Okay, verse 23. When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 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, who through the mouth of our father David your servant said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage in the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.
For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had retested to take place. You want to stop there or finish the prayer? Let's stop there. Let's finish the prayer.
Let's go through 30. They've made this huge statement based on Psalm 2. This is still the prayer. Verse 29, And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. 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.
Okay. Fascinating. So they come back to the believing community and they're delighted to lift their voices together and to pray. I think that's fascinating. Isn't it interesting that that is their singular response when they get this news of having been warned not to speak in the name of Jesus. Like the looming threat of more arrests.
Right. And it looks as though from verse 23 that Peter and John gave them a full report. I mean, they told them everything that went on in that exchange, and they also told them about this threat that's going to hang over not only Peter and John's head, but their own about the fact that if you mention Jesus in public, there could be some serious opposition. But look at how clear they are when they lift their voices up to pray together. The first thing they say is, Lord, you are sovereign. You are the uncontested, unlimited authority in all creation.
You made heaven and earth. So this is historically runs all the way through the Scriptures from the very beginning, right? They know who they are and they know who their God is. And then through the mouth of our Father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, and then they begin quoting Psalm 2, which everyone recognized as a Messianic Psalm. Very big, very big Messianic Psalm. So they literally quote the first couple of verses, but Psalm 2 goes on after that to talk about God laughing and scoffing.
That's a great song. Those who lift up their voices against him. Right. So, you know. It's a classic Psalm that pits the power and sovereignty of God and his Messiah against the kings who think they're pretty hot stuff.
Kings who think they're in power. Right. And God's response is he laughs at it. It's a pretty short Psalm.
You should go read it. Yeah. It's only, well, maybe it's 10 verses, 11 verses. Yeah.
It's pretty short. But this is how the people in power in the world are going to respond to God's Messiah when he comes on the scene. But they're seeing this gathering of the Gentile forces and the religious forces against Jesus, the anointed, as a fulfillment of Psalm 2. Right. Because they say, well, that happened right here in this city against your holy servant Jesus, the one you anointed. And then they name Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israel.
And they, like Peter had done earlier in his couple of previous sermons, say, this is what you had already planned and predestined to happen. Right. But they were responsible. Right. Yeah. So this is not a surprise to God.
And it's not an accidental train wreck is what I keep calling it. This is something that God knew was coming and God allowed to come. This is something that actually worked into God's plan of salvation.
I mean, you look at the crucifixion and you think, oh, boy, too bad for that. Right. Where was God?
He was looking the other way. Exactly. And as opposed to the train wreck, now we find salvation for the entire world.
So that's what's going on here. It's a very mature way to pray, actually, because I think when Peter and John came in and gave the report, I would be somewhat fearful about, you know, well, if we go down the same path in the next couple of years, we're going to. So my first thing was to say, well, God, you know, protect us when we get, when we get imprisoned or by thank you for springing John and Peter out, you know.
But I mean, it would be very me centric, but it's not. It goes immediately to who God is, who is God. And I, you know, it's, it's indicting to me because I don't know how often my prayers start with, let me just express to you, God, who I know you to be. Because that's just the whole context of why it is you're coming to God in need to start with, you know, and usually, usually you need to pour your heart out to him about something, but it's always good to lay the foundation first and say, but now let me stop before I get about, before I get on about me, let me remind myself and tell you, God, who I know you are, your sovereign, you're in charge. So that just makes me think when Jesus taught in both in the Sermon on the Mount and later when the disciples asked him, Lord, teach us to pray.
He said, when you pray, pray this way. Our Father. Our Father.
Who are in heaven. His identity. Right?
Who is he and who am I? Your will be done. Your kingdom come.
Right? It's all about beginning our prayer always with who's God. So I, I would suggest that's a good pattern to follow. I mean, your needs are real and that's why you're coming to God, but I always remind yourself who he is. And, and then, you know, they go to the very top when they talk about the sovereignty of God, they say, okay, right now we're praying to this God who made everything, you know, and you can look out your window and say like the mountains that I'm seeing over there and like the stars in the sky. And so like we're speaking now to a God who is omnipotent and all knowing. And that just sets the context of what you're going to say next. And then he, you know, he goes from that. So I'm, I'm speaking to the creator who's in charge of everything.
Nothing, nothing is bigger than him. And now I'm going to remind myself that he knew this was coming because he predicted it in Psalm 2. Right. Because what's it going to look like? Well, the nations are going to rage. Is that what just happened?
Yes, that's exactly what just happened. They're raging. And what are they raging about? Are they raging about the fact that we healed a paralytic? No, they're raging about the fact that we attributed that power to Jesus, to the name of the Messiah himself. So they're raging against God's anointed.
The Messiah that they rejected. Exactly. Exactly. So, so I mean they're, they're just putting it in the perfect context. So what just happened here, even with Peter and John getting arrested and released is something that's not a surprise to God.
Everything's going according to plan. Okay. But look at what they pray because this is instructive, right? That looming over them is the danger of being arrested, right? Right.
Or being intimidated in some way by the religious authorities. But they pray, Lord, take note of their threats and grant us your servants. This is in verse 29. Right. Your servants to continue to speak your word with boldness.
Right, right. So they have already predetermined that they are not going to obey this injunction to not speak in the name of Jesus. They are praying, Lord, give us boldness to continue preaching it. And they're not even asking that while they do that that God protect them. No, they're not asking for protection. It's just remarkable.
It's just remarkable. So I think I would ask first for my protection. We get so me oriented in our prayers. Yeah, protect us from being arrested. But what they're saying is that even in the midst of the atmosphere of this opposition, give us boldness to speak all the more boldly. Right. All the more.
And I remind you too that that word bold means literally in Greek when you take the two halves apart, it means to say everything. Tell it all. It doesn't mean that, well, I'm not going to say this part because that might offend them. Might get me in trouble. Or it might put me in prison. No, I'm just going to tell everything. So it's not about trying to elicit a resistant reaction. Many times when we say boldness we think I'm doing this to kind of get someone irritated at me. No, all we're saying right here in boldness is I'm going to say everything. It doesn't matter. The circumstance does not matter. Right.
It will not moderate what I say. I'll tell it all. I'll tell it all. Yeah. And by the way too, we're going to finish the prayer. Well, we already read through it. This is the only real request that they ask in the entire prayer.
That's right. First they talk about who God is. They talk about the fact that this predicted opposition from Psalm 2. And then they'll go on and talk a little bit more. But this is the only part of what they're asking about relative to themselves. They want to do like Peter and John did and speak boldly about the Gospel. Okay.
And they're not even actually asking for God to do signs and wonders. Right. No.
They say give us the boldness while you do what it is you're doing. Right. Right. Right. Or yeah, they don't even ask God, you know, God give us the power to do that. No, while you're stretching out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are being performed through this name of Jesus. Right.
Give us the boldness to continue speaking. Yeah. Yeah. You know, we realize too, even when you see Peter and John healing the guy who was paralytic, you know, they even themselves attributed the fact that it wasn't because of their own piety that it happened or their own power. This was God doing stuff in the name of Jesus. And because of that, because of that, you know, it's good then when God heals people. But the healing almost is a secondary benefit. The first benefit is that at least for Peter and John, it gave them an opportunity to speak boldly about who Jesus is and also give them something of a sense of authority.
That's not the right word. Credibility because these signs and wonders are accompanying them. It tells people this message is coming not from these guys but from God himself. This is credible.
Yeah, because only God can do this. So that's what they're saying right here. Give us boldness to speak while you're doing these things that will give credibility to what we're saying and people go, you know, I don't think these are just fishermen speaking here.
I think there's something more going on. Give us boldness to speak because we're your witnesses, right? The signs and wonders are witnessing but we're human beings saying, yes, I saw it happen.
I saw this Jesus. So look what happened, though, after they prayed. This is the place where they were gathered was shaken like an earthquake and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Oh, wait, I thought they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Well, they are filled again. Now, that's instructive that this filling of the Holy Spirit to overflow in a particular evidence, boldness in this case, is something that happens repeatedly. It's like filling up your cup to overflow.
Exactly. And, in fact, that phrase, the filling, is really the most operable part of what makes that phrase distinctive. It doesn't just say have your Holy Spirit in me. It says to be filled.
So like when I say, here's my glass, will you put some Coca-Cola in it? Well, you can put in whatever you want, but when I say fill it, I'm saying all the way to the top. Right. So this is really, that word fill here is really very operative about the fact that we want it to be the fact that everything we do and everything we say is the product of the Holy Spirit filling us.
There is no space or vacuum in us that does not have the Holy Spirit, so everything, everything is attributable to the Holy Spirit. That's what the filling really means. So there's this outflow, which is exactly what they had asked for, right?
They continued to speak the Word of God with boldness, with this Spirit-inspired courage and confidence. Right, right. So what do you make of that shaking?
Is that an interesting comment? Well, something external to them happened. Yeah. Something that they, I mean, we're not given any details. It doesn't say there was no quake.
No, this is all we know. There was a boom of some kind. The place was shaken. Right. Yeah. And I don't think that's symbolic. No, something real. Yeah, something very real. Something really attributable. Something really only attributable to God Himself, right? So even on the day that Jesus was crucified, there was an earthquake. And then that earthquake was persuasive to some people, including the centurion that was there.
So something, this is God's way of putting a nice little thumbprint on what's just happening. You know, I can move. I can move the place that you're in, and now we're going to move the world. Lord of heaven and earth can certainly jolt the place you are standing.
Well, yeah. It's a nice bookend to the prayer, because how did they start the prayer? Well, you who made the heaven and the earth that we're sitting on. So it's a nice way to say, you're the guy in charge of this place. At the end he says, sure enough, feel the room shaking. I think it's just a great touch on God's part to reassure them.
It's great. So by the way, too, in terms of being filled with the Holy Spirit, this is the third time that I know that Peter's been filled with the Holy Spirit, and we're only in chapter four. Right. So again, I mean, your point is really good. It's not a one-time deal that you're filled with the Holy Spirit.
This is something that can happen throughout your entire life. And you ask God to do for you, in fact, to fill me with your Holy Spirit, so that every aspect, there's no nook or cranny inside me that's not filled with God, and as a result there's nothing that I do or say that is not the result of the Holy Spirit. That's a big deal. And that's actually, that's a core of the New Covenant theology, is the fact that in the New Covenant, God doesn't work around us, he works through us.
And so it really blows up the whole idea. The Old Covenant seems to be focused more on what I do for God, or what I do on behalf of God. So the New Covenant is really more, well, those things are important, but now it's God doing it through you. And it's really, it's probably one of the most common mistakes we make in Christianity, is we try and do for God what only he intends to do through us.
And that's a really important distinction. What only he can do, through us we can't possibly do. And it's the product of the Holy Spirit filling us. So, you know, look at the effect that that had on this new community, as we would need to press on to the rest of this passage. Now, the number, 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. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 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 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any who had need. Okay, let's stop there for a second. Yeah, this is interesting. That's an amazing effect of the filling of the Holy Spirit on this new community. There's this new life, this new value system, this new recognition that we all are receiving from a common life source, and it's not our stuff. Right, so there's this disappearance of the haves and the have-nots.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and so in verse 32, when it says that no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, well, what did they realize? Whose was it if it was not their own? It's the Lord's. It's the Lord's. And this is one of the primary things that happens when you come to the Lord, is you realize it's not me and what I have.
Everything is God's. I mean, even by His grace, what He gives me, I'm His now, and everything I have. So in that particular case, when they look at the need that's in their community, they say, well, you know, God's given me more than I need, and it's God's stuff anyway. Let's give it to people who have need. And there's people here who don't have enough when I have more than enough. Now, it's interesting that some of the words here echo Deuteronomy 15 when God said, now, there's not going to be any needy among you. Don't close your hand against your needy brothers, right? Give to those who have little.
You can go back and read Deuteronomy 15. It's very interesting, but it also says, but the needy you will always have because of your hardness of heart. So here we have them functioning with one heart and one soul.
They're loving the same things, they're recognition, they're oneness, they're breathing together of this activity of the Holy Spirit. And it's pouring itself out in the way this new community looks. Yeah.
Yeah, it's fascinating. And it's really in distinction to what the secular community at the time would be saying. Well, even now. Even now. No, even now.
Yeah, even now. So where did you stop reading? Well, I stopped reading before we talked about Barnabas, so at the end of verse 35. But you know what we probably should say is that even though they didn't regard their stuff as their own because it belongs to the Lord, this was voluntary, right? This is not compulsory. The giving that's going to be described as not compulsory wasn't if you come in here, you sign everything over to the group. It's not that at all. Right.
We're going to see that in a minute. Yeah. But regarding everything I have is the Lord's for His use. Yeah. Yeah, and before we get to Barnabas too, I want to point out that in 33, they were giving their testimony to the resurrection.
Right. And so never shortchange the centrality of the message about the resurrection of Jesus. That is what changes everything. And Paul himself says it many times, you know, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God for salvation to all who believe. And then he says, remember when I came to you, what did I talk about? I talked about the cross. So really the resurrection is the story because it's not only the way that our sins are paid for, but it's also a promise of new life with Him, even after we die. And it is the resurrection that validated that what took place on the cross was real, that God accepted the payment and said, here is the new life. The gates of hell are broken.
Death no longer has power over you. And Jesus said, you know, I'm going where you can't come now, but you're going to follow me because the Holy Spirit will come when I go away, when I go to the cross and do what I came to do. So don't forget to include the resurrection when you talk about the gospel.
That's essential. Well, let's look at Barnabas before we finish here. Okay. So we're- We're at the end of verse 35, talking about all, yeah, everybody giving to distribute as each had need, verse 36, thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostle Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostle's feet.
Wow. That's a big deal. So he gives us one gigantic example of someone actually taking what is not his own anymore and then selling it for the needs of people around him. So this is the introduction of Barnabas into the story, and he's going to figure real prominently in the chapters to come. But we find out that his given name was Joseph and Barnabas was essentially his nickname. They renamed him. Son of encouragement. They renamed him, right.
And probably because of this giving of this field and so much more. And he was a Levite. So he was a priest. How about that? Yeah, I know. That's cool.
Yeah. So this is our first view to Barnabas. We will see a lot more of Barnabas in Acts. It's nice that he's introduced at the start by showing us why exactly it is he's an encourager. It's because he takes all the things that God has given him and he shares it with those in need.
Well, okay. So the fact that he's a Levite, you know, if you look back in the Old Testament, the job of the Levites was to carry and to care for the tabernacle and the temple, right. They were regarded as God's own firstborn, and they took care of God's stuff. So it's really interesting that here we have Barnabas, this Levite, taking his own stuff and saying, oh, it's really God's stuff, giving it to the household of God. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I know the little piece of question, which is interesting. We mentioned the Levites.
The Levites were the only tribe that did not inherit any land. Right. So how did he come by this piece of property? I know. And there's some answers to that.
But it is a funny kind of contrast because it says it in the same sentence. He was a Levite and he owned property, you know, but he was also native of Cyprus, which means he was living in Cyprus, which is outside of where the tribal lands were. Right.
Which means his family probably owned property in Cyprus. Yeah. But the bottom line is, is when we come to Jesus and give our heart to him, we realize that all that we have isn't something we generated, it's what God has given us, even the things that we had before that. And so we can freely give that. Well, it's not a coincidence that as we come into the next chapter, it turns out that we're going to have another selling of land incident, you know, which is what they're doing. But we're going to see an incident that creates for the first time in the narrative, great fear in the community that follows Jesus. I mean, great fear, and it has nothing to do with persecution, has nothing to do with the opposition from the leaders or the religious leaders, but great fear is going to come upon the body of Christ and for a very instructive and great purpose on God's part. So what could cause that kind of great fear? It has nothing to do with being arrested or put to death, something the Holy Spirit alone does.
That's right. And it and it has an instructive value for the church that will actually cause the church to keep on an even beam in so many ways because of it. So you're not going to miss what is we're going to talk about next time about what would what could cause so great a fear, great mega fear amongst the body of Christ. So I'm Jim and I'm Dorothy and we're delighted that you're walking with us through acts and like we say over and over again, it turns out acts as a surprise behind every page turn. So follow us next time here on More Than Ink. There are many more episodes of this broadcast to be found at our website, morethanink.org. And while you're there, take a moment to drop us a note.
Remember the Bible is God's love letter to you. Pick it up and read it for yourself and you will discover that the words printed there are indeed more than ink. Did you hear a beep? I didn't hear a beep. I didn't. But we got pretty close. This has been a production of Main Street Church of Brigham City.
