The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E09 - Boldness

Episode Date: March 31, 2020

God is calling His people to go big. Drawing from the book of Acts, Joby challenges us to pray big prayers and boldly share the gospel of Jesus Christ. “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,” — Acts 4:29

Hey, church family. Once again, it's time for Devo. If you've got your Bible, we're going to be in Acts Chapter 4. And like I explained yesterday, I continuously hear the words, shelter in place and quarantine. So I just wanted to look at some places in the scripture where the disciples or people were huddled together and they were out of their normal rhythm and routine, for whatever reason. In the scriptures, it was fear. And I want us to see how they did not want to be. How they did not waste their time, and I wanted to see that though our travel may be restricted, the movement of the gospel is never restricted. And so just for a little context to get us to Acts chapter 4, we're going to pick it up in verse 23. But just so you kind of know what's happening here,

in Acts chapter 2, Peter stands on the southern steps. He preaches a very non-seekers-sensitive sermon, the spirit of God falls. Three thousand people get saved. you all get baptized, and Jerusalem is going crazy. The main reason that's going crazy is because Jesus, the Christ, was crucified, dead buried, and then in the same town that he was crucified in, he was resurrected, and he begins to appear to a whole bunch of people, like we talked about yesterday.

And so people have seen Jesus dead on a cross, put in a grave, and now they're seeing Jesus walk around. The Bible says that he appeared to over 500 people, people for like almost six weeks. Well, meanwhile, Peter and John keep doing what they've been doing. They're on the way to the temple one day, and they heal this beggar. This guy asked for some money, and he's like, I don't have money. I'm in ministry, but what I have, I give to you in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk, and the man gets up and walks. Well, the problem is that he's preaching, Peter's preaching, about the resurrected Jesus. And so the Pharisee is, and so the Pharisees

the Sadducees, the ones that were trying to stop this whole Jesus movement thing, they arrest Peter and John. And they come to him in chapter four and they say essentially, hey, listen, man, you can, you can keep healing people. Who doesn't love a good healing? But by what name is this man healed? And Peter says, well, there's only one name. There's one name under heaven whereby we must be saved.

And that is the name Jesus, the Christ, whom you crucified. And they said, okay, well, you got to stop. preaching about Jesus. And Peter and John say, hey, listen, you decide for yourself if it's better to follow man or God. But as for me, I can't stop talking about what I have seen and heard. And what they had seen and heard was the resurrected Christ. So meanwhile, while Peter and John are arrested the disciples, not just the 12, but like a bunch of the Jesus followers, they are hidden away in this room having a little prayer

meeting. And a part of the reason that they are hidden away in this little room is because all of their leaders keep getting arrested. And so the Pharisees and Sadducees, they don't know what to do with Peter and John. What they want to do is they want to shut this thing down. They want to keep them in prison, maybe even killing them. But they can't because here stands the man that was healed. And so they cannot deny the healing. So they beat them up once again and they release them. And they say, hey listen, we're going to whip you and we're going to release you, but you have to stop talking about Jesus. You have to shut down all this gospel talk. So that's the context that we find ourselves in. Acts chapter 4 beginning in verse 23. And when they were released, again, that's

Peter and John, they went to their friends and they reported what the chief priest and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted up their voices to God. And they heard it, they lifted up their voices to God and they said, and here's what they do. They have a prayer meeting. So can you imagine this? Can you imagine you're together, your friends are arrested. Imagine if it was me and Pastor Ben. Imagine if me and Pastor Ben got arrested because we had been preaching the gospel. And then we came to your house and you were like, where have you been? And I said, you ain't going to believe this, man. We were preaching the gospel in downtown Jacksonville and the cops had the audacity to come up to us and put handcuffs on us and take us downtown.

and said, you have to stop talking about Jesus and his name. And I stood up and I said, you can do whatever you want to do, but me and Ben can't help talk about what we have seen and heard. And then you would be like, what happened? And I was like, and then I preached and Ben played the guitar and then boom, we got let out of jail and here we are. What do you think your response would be? The disciples' first response was prayer. I think sometimes our first response is caution. Is prayer for you a first response or a last resort? Here's how they start their prayer. They come together and they pray sovereign Lord. They lifted their voices together and they prayed sovereign Lord. You know what these two words mean? God, you know what's happening

and you are in control. Oftentimes when things are not going my way. I don't necessarily start my prayer with sovereign Lord. I usually start it with dear God, can you please do something to help me and curse them? Dear God, here is my circumstances. Here are the, here's the situation I find myself in. Dear God, will you please change your plans and make your plans line up with my wants? But not the disciples. They start it with sovereign Lord. Now, if you were a skeptic at the prayer meeting, you may look at it and be like, sovereign, really? If God was sovereign, then why do the followers of Jesus keep getting arrested? And again, oftentimes, oftentimes, we've been talking about this a lot lately,

oftentimes we can look at our circumstances and try to view God's love and sovereignty towards us through the lens of our circumstances. Don't ever do that. Romans 5-8 says this, but God demonstrates his love for us and this that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. How do we know God is sovereign and how do we know that God loves us unconditionally? We do not look at our circumstances. We fix our eyes on the cross. And so here's what they pray, sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In other words, God, we know you have the power to create and recreate things, however you see fit, who through the mouth of our Father David,

your servant said by the Holy Spirit, they're going to quote Psalm 2, verse 1 and following, why did the Gentiles rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gladdened or gathered together against the Lord and against His anointed. Here's what they're saying. God, we know that the governors, and we know that the leaders and the religious leaders are plotting against your anointed one, but there's nothing over your head, there's nothing that's out of your hands that you have never been surprised. And in fact, even though your enemies plot against you,

they're actually playing into the plan that you had preordained. They go on to say, for truly in this city, they were gathered together again, 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 planned had predestined to take place. Don't let that word freak you out. Predestined just means to predestine. In other words, you may turn on the news and things look out of control, but I promise you, God is still in control of all things.

and that regardless of the language that you want to use, whether God purposed this pandemic to wake us up, to teach us a lesson, or God allowed it to happen. Either way, God is in control, and all that God wants to happen is happening, and it happens under his sovereign hand. And then they pray, and now, Lord,

look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with boldness. Now listen, I'm just going to tell you, we have some awesome pastors here and we have some awesome elders here. But if I went out on a trip to preach and I got arrested and then I came back and I told our pastors and elders,

I kind of think that we would have the tendency to not pray for more boldness. They're pretty bold. They're preaching the gospel in the face of persecution. That's pretty bold. I think what I would be, to do is, hey, hey, hey, you might want to calm down on the Jesus talk right now.

And you might want to lean into wisdom and understanding and maybe not be so bold, but not the disciples. You see, in their time of quarantine when their whole world was turned upside down, what they prayed for was not safety. And what they prayed for was not comfort. They prayed for boldness that the word of God would continue to go out. It says, 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. Church family, let me ask you a few things. When is the last time that you prayed with such passion that the place that you were in was shaken? I mean, that you were so, you were crying out in desperation to God for the glory of God to a point where you were shaken. Listen, I know our times can make us feel emotionally shaken right now, maybe even physically shaken, for sure, financially shaken.

But when is the last time we were shaken by the very presence of God? God because we were seeking the glory of God by prayer. When is the last time you prayed for boldness? In fact, ask yourself very specifically, what does it look like for you right now to pray that God would give you the boldness to declare his word? Like maybe you need to share these divos, or maybe you need to share an invitation to experience 1122 online,

or maybe for your one more, you just need to pick up the phone and just, just, share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them boldly. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and then they continued to speak the Word of God with boldness. Let me ask you this question.

What if? What if God came to you today and said, congratulations? The answer is yes. And you said, the answer to what God? And he said, I answer to you to every prayer that you've prayed over the last seven days is yes. If God answered all of your prayers

over the last seven days, how would our world be any different? I mean, would lost people be saved? Would sick people be healed? Would addictions be broken? Would unreached people groups have access to the gospel? Or would you just have toilet paper and your kids be back in school?

You see, I want to challenge us during this time to pray big, bold, God-sized prayers. In fact, if the things that we are praying for are not intimidating to us, then they very well could be insulting to God. He is the master, the creator, the sovereign Lord that created the heavens and the earth. So, Church of 1122,

as we are mostly in our homes and not gathering in large groups, please, please, please, don't waste this time. Don't waste this time just trying to numb yourself with more Netflix and numb yourself with more news updates. For sure, be informed. But may we as a church go to God in prayer and to pray big, bold prayers,

that God would use us to speak the word of the gospel with great boldness. Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we thank you that you are a good dad and that you desire for your children to bring all of our prayers to you, to cast all of our anxiety upon you, to ask and ask and keep on asking,

to knock and keep on knocking, to seek and seek and keep on seeking. God, I thank you that you hear and answer all prayers, and God, I thank you that you answer prayers exactly the way we would answer them if we knew all that you knew. So, God, we praise you for your sovereignty. We praise you for your love. We thank you that it's not our circumstances that let us know how much you love us,

but it is the cross of Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray. I pray for every single person listening to this. God, I pray that you would fill us with a spirit. You would fill us with the Holy Spirit, a Spirit of power, a spirit of love, a spirit that gives us a sound mind, and that we would proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ with great boldness, regardless of where we are. We prayed in Jesus' name, amen.

Thanks.