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Home , Acts 4

The title of this sermon is “From the Court Room to the Throne Room.” which is about going to your brothers and sisters in Christ

If you have a , find Acts 4 and if you want, you can look ahead and find these additional verses that we will be referring to also. They are: 2 Kings 19:15, Psalm 55:1-3, Psalm 55:12-15, Psalm 55:22, Psalm 56:1-7, Psalm 142:2-6, Proverbs 26:11, Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 52:14, Matthew 6:9-10, John 19:36, :4, Acts 4:7-8, Acts 4:10, Acts 4:23-33, :11, Romans 7:18, Romans 7:24, Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 4:6-7, Colossians 1:16-17

Pastor Tom is reading this chapter located in the using the New American Standard Bible version. He teaches us to notice the qualities of the first church. The first church had great grace, great power and great fear. They also had boldness, they were filled with power, they released their burdens and they were confident. He explains what putting on the right address is as we acknowledge God’s awesomeness in our prayers.

Acts 4:23-33

Open your bible up to Acts chapter 4. The teaching last week was about this miracle that happened at the Beautiful gate at the temple. A man who had been lame for 40 years was begging alms while Peter and John were walking up to the temple at 3:00 to do a prayer meeting and low and behold they see the lame man. Since he was about 40 years old he has probably been there since he was a young man. Peter had walked by him a number of times, but this time the Lord quickened to Peter’s heart to pull him up while saying the Lord wants to heal you. But as you know he is begging for alms. He looks at Peter and Peter at him and says, “Hey listen, I don’t have any gold or silver. I’ve got no bucks, but what I have in the name of stand up and walk.” He pulls the man up. The man not only begins walking but leaping and praising God.

And there are a bunch of people who have known this man for a number of years, and now they see this guy walking around and jumping around causing attention to the part of the temple at ’s porch, and they are seen by at least 5,000 people. Peter begins his second sermon and in his discourse he gives an altar call and 5,000 people get saved. Note that when they counted the people, a lot of times they didn’t count the women and children, so there could have been well over 5,000 that could have actually been saved.

We know that the church is on fire and people are getting saved daily and the church is increasing on a regular basis. This begins to threaten the religious people of the day. They brought Peter and John before the Sadducees who are a part of the Sanhedrin, who are the religious people. They said, “Be quiet. Don’t talk any more in the name of Jesus. We don’t want to hear you say anything about that name.” Acts 4:7 “When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?" They reply Acts 4:10 “…by the name of Jesus Christ…” This was the first persecution of the church. The first time the church had encountered any kind of persecution and the first time we see civil disobedience in the scriptures when the religious people said, “Don’t say anything in the name of Jesus.” And Peter said, “Who are we going to obey? God or man? We are not going to shut up.” They were very bold. The first church had a quality of boldness. Then they got arrested and they go to the court room. And now we are going to find them going from the court room to the throne room. They are going to be leaving the place where they were tried and going to their brothers and sisters in Christ and they begin to pray.

Acts 4:23-29 “When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, 'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS? 'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.' "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 purpose predestined to occur. "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence.” We will see that this prayer is answered almost immediately because they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke with boldness. BAM! That was probably one of the fastest prayers answered in the Bible.

Acts 4:30-31 “while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”

From the court room to the throne room. They were being persecuted. Where did they go after they got beat up? They didn’t say, “Let’s go to the tavern and get tanked.” Or “Let’s go get some drugs.” No! They didn’t go to the world to find any kind of solace or peace. They went right away to their brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the first church. They are young in the Lord. They don’t even know what to do after persecution which they have never had before. This is the name of Jesus that they are being persecuted for. Right away they gravitate to their brothers and sisters where fellowship is.

Where do you go when you are going through hard times? Where do you end up? Where do your feet land? Do you think, “I should be with my brothers and sisters in Christ?” They are times when we need each other. To pray for each other. I remember my first discovery on having skin cancer. I called Pastor Joe Bell, who was my pastor when I was younger in the Lord and he was a youth pastor and actually pastored me for a while. I said, “Joe, I just found out I had skin cancer and I’m really all upset.” Of course Pastor Joe Bell comforted me during that time. I knew where to go and I knew I would find peace with my brothers. I believe that the best place to go after hard trials and persecution hit is to the throne room.

A lot of times the throne room is filled with his children so that is where we need to go. David knew where to go. Fact is, as I was studying this section this morning and looking for some psalms that David cried out, my page folded over. The Lord led me as it turned on its own to Psalm 55:1-2 “Give ear to my prayer, O God; And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. Give heed to me and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted,” I can relate. I get so distracted when I’m under fire and it seems like the song, “When darkness hides his lovely face I lean upon his unchanging grace.” Verse 3 “Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the pressure of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me And in anger they bear a grudge against me.” So David is crying out here. Verse 12-15 “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the house of God in the throng. Let death come” David rails on them now. “deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.”

David is talking about Ahitophel who was Bathsheba’s grandfather. He hated David because he had the affair with Bathsheba and he had it out for David. Ahitophel would do some counseling against David and later we find that he tries to take him down. But David cries out, “But this is my friend!” What I see here is that these guys know right where to go. They are in the temple with their brothers and sisters in Judaism. They were with people that loved them. They are being persecuted by their very leaders. They went right to the throne.

I see this also is Psalm 56:1-7 “…Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;” Think about these Sanhedrin coming after them. “all day long an attacker oppresses me; My foes have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps, As they have waited to take my life. Because of wickedness, cast them forth, In anger put down the peoples, O God!” And so again David knows where to go when he is being persecuted and when he is having a hard time.

I really want to share with you… God says it’s all right. We need each other. We need to fall upon the strength. And sometimes when I don’t think I can make it. I call my brothers and sisters in Christ and I’ll say, “Hey listen, I’m really running low on faith fuel right now. Pray with me.” Many people will go to the bars, go for alcohol, drugs, relationships, anything but to the throne room. Don’t avoid your brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s easy to do when you go through a hard time…to go aloof from them. One of two things you do with the body of Christ. 1. You go TO them and ask for prayer or 2. you become aloof. And God wants you to go TO them.

We are here for you. This is what this body is here for. The Bible says in Proverbs 26:11 “Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.” That’s pretty gnarly. Have you ever seen a dog eat vomit? I’ve seen that. Let’s paint a word picture. Well, maybe that’s too much information for you guys. Well, we don’t want you to go back to our vomit... the way we used to deal with our stress and pressure. Many of us have come from hard backgrounds. Backgrounds where we have leaned on something else. God wants us to go to Him. Sometimes we can hold each other’s hands up during that time. Where do you go when presented with persecution? Acts 4:24 “And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,” You know that they are not informing God of anything. The word “Lord” here is different in the Greek. It means “You who are master over all.” They are calling to the Lord giving him majesty and glory. They are praying to God and they have put the right address on. The first thing they did was to recognize their creator. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God is Elohim here. God MADE everything. If we can get past that, and believe that, then rest of the Bible is pretty easy to believe. Isn’t it? They are praying to the God of all heaven and earth.

Paul is giving proper recognition to God in Colossians 1:16-17 “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” He is holding Tom Camp together right now. Literally he is holding me together, and that is what he is doing with you, I’m sure! We are to put the right address on our prayers. It’s not that we are informing God of anything, but what that does is that it ignites our faith in him. “Lord! You are the God who parted the Red Sea. Lord! You are the God who made all heaven and earth. And you Lord, raised Lazarus from the dead.” Your soul is saying “Yes, yes!” And your faith is being ignited and God is being blessed because He loves to hear it. Again we are not informing Him of anything. But that’s what it means “bless the Lord.” Give him the proper glory. You made all things and it’s igniting our faith. You are blessing Him. Man, I’m telling you, that explodes in prayer.

The first thing I see is:

They rehearsed God’s greatness. Some of the prayers of the Old Testament saints did the same. They would start their prayers with the right address. In 2 Kings chapter 19, King Hezekiah was up against Sennacherib who is King of the Assyrian Empire. Hezekiah was one of the good kings in Israel, and he was going up against one of the largest armies of the world. There was no army bigger, and they were camped at the doorstep of . They were mocking Hezekiah and mocking the people and saying, “We are going to kill you. You’re going to eat your babies. You’re going to drink urine.” I’m not kidding. They said all those things to them. They also said, “Don’t even try to depend on the God of Hezekiah because our gods will whip every other god around.” King Hezekiah and his guys are freaking out. Hezekiah takes it to Isaiah and takes all the allegations from Sennacherib and puts it out before God. And said, “God, you’ve got a problem.” He didn’t say, “I’ve got a problem.” He said, “God, YOU’VE got a problem.” Then he put the address on his prayer 2 Kings 19:15, “Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” He puts on the right address. I think that is how we should begin our prayers.

Like Jesus said, Matthew 6:9-10 "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” That prayer was not designed to say word for word. He said, “Pray LIKE this.” And we begin to acknowledge God. This is the new relationship which the Jewish people didn’t have. They called God the Lord of all, but they didn’t know him as Father and when Jesus begins to address the Father as Father they would overhear his prayers and say, “What’s he talking about? Father? He’s God of all heaven. You don’t call him Father! Abba? Papa?” So our relationship is noticed in how we put on the right address. I don’t recommend that you call God the “good ol’ boy upstairs” or “the weatherman” or anything like that. No, he’s God! He’s straight up God of all heaven and earth. We recognize that, and we bring glory to his name.

Second thing is: They remembered his power. So they rehearsed God’s greatness but they also remembered his power. They said, “You who made everything. So this little trial I’m going through is nothing compared to your great creative power. You’re so powerful that this is nothing at all.” And I believe this is what they did. God, you are the King. They relied on His power. They really did. His sovereignty and his providential care because he says in Acts 4:28 “to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” He knows all things.

The word “predestined” is Greek is “proorizó” The word pro is a preposition and means before and the second half of the Greek word “orizo.” That is where we get the word horizon or determined. There is a definite ending to the horizon. It just stops somewhere. There is a beginning and an end. God has purposed a plan and he said “this plan is for Jesus.” We know this to be true because in John 19:36 “For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken” Even though his bones were not broken the meat of his flesh was like the meat on the back of a tenderizer. He would be torn apart but he won’t break one bone in his body. It was prophesized. God said, “Yes, I will have my son damaged like that.”

The Bible said it pleased Him to crush Him. Why would it please God to crush Jesus? One man had the audacity to say, “God is sadistic. That He is sadistic toward His children, and I won’t serve a God like this!” This is from a man who said one time he knew Jesus. God is NOT sadistic but Jesus took our sin upon His flesh and if you did something last week or before you came in here, you know what? He nailed our sins to that cross. I’m not saying visualize, but I know that the sins that I have done are on that cross with the Lord. You took all of my sins, Lord. Your back being beaten and bloody wasn’t for nothing. I know you did that for me.

He was predestined before the foundation of the earth. So they relied on the power because they knew God’s sovereignty was in order. God is in control of ALL things and He predestines and He didn’t allow Jesus to stay in the grave. He was predestined to rise again. Did you know that you are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus? And that God said, “You will be like Jesus and after this trial that you have gone through today or last week, you will be more like Jesus.” So no matter what we will be more like Jesus. Good news, isn’t it? Isaiah 50:6 says, “I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;…..” It was predestined that Jesus gave his back. He gave his back willingly to be beaten. Isaiah 52:14 “…So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.” They couldn’t even distinguish him from a man or a woman. He didn’t even look like a man. Can you imagine that kind of beating? That was predestined and God knew it. And the purpose was to take your sin and my sin and I pray that you are thankful as you look to the cross and as you realize what God did for you. I will tell you this too. That we are virtually indestructible until the day the Lord is through with us. When you are young you may think you’re bullet proof and nothing can happen to you, and you do stupid stuff. Then you get older, and you’re raking the yard and you pull a back muscle. And you say, “Oh, man. My back.” I did some chores around the house the other day, and I’m picking up lawn chairs and putting stuff away, and I was sore the next day. I said, “Man, I’m sore, and I didn’t even do anything.” When I was a kid I could easily do this all day. I do know this…that we are virtually indestructible until the day the Lord is through with us. And this is what the church knew. They knew God’s sovereignty. I believe they had a peace and they understood that. Even as a young church. Why? Because they didn’t have all the luxuries and distractions that we have now a days. So we see that they were filled with great power.

The third is: They also released their burden. Because I find in this prayer that they are releasing this burden in Acts 4:29, “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,” YOU take note of their threats. It’s like, “God, you’ve got a problem. YOU’VE got to take care of this. I cannot.” And they released their burden over to the Lord.

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Therefore we are relinquishing, releasing. Psalm 55:22 “Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” So we are to cast our burden and release it over to him.

I watched Pastor Chuck Smith in his last months, weeks and days of his life in interviews. I saw a man release the burden of death over. He was NOT afraid. He didn’t even fear for his wife, Kay, who has dementia. He didn’t say, “I need to stay around. I know Kay is going to freak out when I die.” He was so at peace, Guys. If you watch any of his interviews or any of his sermons you will see that he could hardly breathe, he was on oxygen and he was carted up where he gave a sermon. It was a little lengthy because he had to take extra breaths. He released the burden of death and that is one that we all seem to struggle with.

Pastor Chuck Smith (1927-2013). He was the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement.

We think, “I don’t want to die, Lord.” I know when I get a spot on my skin I go and get on the computer and think, “Oh, no! I’m going to die!” It’s the 100th time this month I thought I’m going to die. I’ve decide that I’m going to stay off the computer. I know many of you guys know what I mean when I look at the computer and see that all the symptoms seem to match what I have. Wow! Do they all lead to this and this? Don’t go to the computer. That is not releasing the burden that’s just finding more. Another burden and another burden. Adding on and on and on. They are releasing their burdens. That’s what we need to do. Take note of their threats. “God, this is your problem not mine.”

The fourth is that they became confident. They became bold and confident. Notice here in Acts 4:29 “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,” They became bold and confident. God filled them with signs and wonders. In Acts 5:12 “At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico.” Jesus who did all of these signs and wonders is fulfilled in Acts 5:12 where the apostles did great signs and wonders. They were a bold and confident church. I just want to make this clear. That the confidence that they had came from the Holy Spirit. This is a direct result of prayer.

I don’t think boldness is when you turn up your Christian music really loud at work and say, “I don’t care what anybody says. I’m just bold for Jesus.” Some people think boldness is the same as being rude. That boldness is of the flesh. That turns people off. But I think boldness is being seasoned with grace. People see when you are bold that you are walking in humility, you walk esteeming others higher than yourself and your boldness comes because you know where you stand. You don’t have to push the issue. They were a graceful church. The true boldness for us has got to be encased in a bubble of grace.

I can remember when I was younger in the Lord, and I had a job selling concrete. I had to make sure that all the guys that we were selling concrete to were happy. So in the morning we would buy donuts and coffee for them and cokes in the afternoon and check on their order and if the concrete is ok. And at the end of the day they wanted a case of beer or two. So as a salesman for this particular company I was supposed to go out and buy them alcohol. I told them, “Guys, I can’t do it. I’ll go out and buy you cokes, but I cannot go out and buy you alcohol.” I didn’t say, “I’m not going to buy alcohol for you heathens! I don’t believe in that!” I believe that God began to show me about boldness. I have not always been perfect in my encounters about boldness and sharing my faith, but I was confident enough to tell them. Of course they got mad, “You idiot! You won’t buy us beer?!” So I got in trouble by them and my boss. My boss said, “You buy them beer if they want beer.” But I said, “I can’t do it. It’s against what I believe.” The first church was bold and they spoke the Word with confidence. They prayed that.

Acts 4:31 “And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken,…”Can you imagine being in a prayer meeting when all of a sudden….RUMBLE. I love that. “… and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…” The place just shook. Literally. We need a good shaking once in a while. “…. and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.” The same Greek word for “filled” here is the same one is Acts 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit…” Again, I believe this is one of the key components of why the first church had so much success. It’s because they understood the filling of the Holy Spirit. And they were just a new group of people. In Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” Wasn’t Peter already filled in Acts 2:4? Yes, the Greek tense tells us that this is a filling of a fresh new filling. It’s not the inception filling. It’s a fresh new filling. It’s like a refill. So they were refilled again. So what did they do? They spoke the Word of God with great boldness. No, they didn’t speak in tongues in Acts 4:8. I was in a denomination which I love, but they believe that the initial physical evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. So they think that if you ask someone to pray for you or you ask the Lord to fill you that you will automatically speak in tongues and that proves that you’ve got the Holy Ghost, but that’s not the case. Because people get filled and they don’t have to speak in tongues or an unknown language.

I don’t think Abby minds me sharing this, but I came home the other day and Teri and Abby were smiling. Teri said, “Tell him what happened.” I said, “Tell me what happened.” And Abby said, “I got tongues. I spoke in tongues. I was just studying about the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues, and as I was writing it out I just started speaking in tongues.” No one induced her to do that. I believe the gift is real, and it happens today, but a lot of times, Guys, you may not speak in tongues when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. You may be bold. Or walk in love. I’ve seen the most tongue talking people talking in circles in the church and they are spurting out messages and there is interpretation and then you get them in public and they are the meanest people I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen that first hand. They are not very nice. They are not very kind. Where is the fruit in that?

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” So where is the love? It all kind of works together. They were bold. I think it’s really a tribute to be bold. And we are going to have to be bold in these last days. I believe with all my heart that we are living in the last days. I believe that we need to speak out against sin when we get a chance. Let’s be bold and do that.

We have an administration that wants to tell us, “Hey. We want you to buy into the government.” I am not a political person. What little I know is from watching a little bit of news, but I can tell you this….America is not going to be like it used to be. Things are different now a days. The bottom is going to fall. I have been asked quite a bit, “What do you think about the current administration and what is going on?”

I don’t want to make any political statement here, but I will say this. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a bold man. During the German holocaust and the concentration camps he spoke out against Hitler and said that this guy’s not right. I’m not making any comparison to our current president now. I’m just telling you that this guy spoke out against Hitler. People said, “Man, he can’t be speaking politics!” They really chided Dietrich. Most thought Hitler was a right on guy. The church actually accepted him as ok. While they were singing praises and hymns in their churches and the organs were playing the trains that were going to Auschwitz were full of German Jews. They were being beaten, taken to the slaughter and were going to be literally burned alive or gassed. And they were singing their praises!

I for one will be a voice. Guys, we’ve got to watch it. We are NOT a government that is God centered at all. BUT we still live in the greatest country in the world, and there is still hope for revival and there is still hope, and we can pray. But you know what? I will NOT be quiet when I see the atrocities that are happening in my country. It is incumbent upon me to share with you what I see is going down. I will warn you guys. I don’t want you to be like the Christians in Germany where they thought everything was fine and everything is going good with our country because it’s NOT. Absolutely NOT. Hold on because I believe that we will see pockets of little revivals. Men and women waking up finally saying, “You know, Jesus is God, and He is Lord, and it doesn’t matter what anybody else says. I’m standing, and I want to be bold.” And that’s my prayer for us here.

Acts 4:32 “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul;…” They were together. They didn’t have doctrinal differences at that time. They were of one heart and one soul. There is something to be said about a church that walks in oneness. They are not divided and not bickering. “…and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.” It was there in Jerusalem. It was time for the slaying of the lamb and millions of Jews were there in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit fell, and the church was birthed. And all these people were staying at Jerusalem because it’s happening there. They didn’t want to go home, so people were selling their goods and sharing and working together, and nobody owned what was their own. They basically shared everything that was in common. It wasn’t like a big communion, but I believe there maybe a day when we may have to join forces and maybe live together sometimes. We have a cabin, and I know some of you guys have gone up to the cabin, but we may need to share our goods and material earthly goods with one another.

Rugged individualism is alright to a degree. We have that in America, but I think we need to look toward one another. Anything they had in common they shared and there wasn’t a need. Harvest Chapel exists so we can meet the needs of this church. We love to meet the needs of people in the community, but we believe the financial needs strictly go first to you guys who are inside the body. If you have a material need, let us know. We want to help you in any way, shape or form. If you have a material need let us know. We help those outside of the body from time to time. We have a common pool and want to make sure that your needs are taken care of, and we will council you regarding why you got into the situation that you are in if need be, but we don’t have any attachments to strings of money or health. We want you to know that we are going to need each other in these last days.

The church had 3 components to it that made it very healthy. They had great power, great grace and great fear. The first is great power.

Acts 4:33 “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.” There were no chapters and verses in the original Greek. So we will jump around. In verse 33 we see that the church had great power. Number 2 was great grace. Some of your read “abundant grace.” It is great grace. Let’s look at chapter 5 verse 11 “And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.” That was after were killed in the presence of Peter. The Lord killed them. Number 3 is that the church had great fear. Again we see the first church had 3 things that made it very healthy. It had great power, great grace and great fear.

I believe that power without grace is dangerous. When someone starts reeling in the power, especially in leadership within the church, and they have no grace it becomes a very terrible thing. Grace is very very important when you are given a position. These guys had great power, but they had great grace. We have a tendency to be cut and dry a lot of times with our walk with the Lord. God wants us to season everything with grace. Grace comes with growth. Spiritual growth comes with spending time with the Word, spending time with prayer and spending time with people in fellowship. If you want to grow spiritually, those are some elements that you need to see happen in your life.

Also, we gain grace by living life or experiencing life over time. As I’ve gotten older I know grace a little bit differently, and I see how really messed up I am and how jacked up I am in some areas. I look at God’s grace over my life, and I’m so thankful for that. I believe that we need to see the unveiling of our flesh. Time shows us as we live it out how fleshly we really are and how much we need grace to grow. Paul says in Romans 7:18 “…For I know that nothing good dwells in me…” In Romans chapter 7 and the first part of chapter 8 you will see Paul making such statements. He says, “I can’t do the things I want to do, I’m doing the things I don’t want to do.” It’s “I”, “I”, “I”. He might be about 20 years old in the Lord at this point. And he is struggling with “I”. The “I’s” end with Romans 7:24 when he says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Then in Romans Chapter 8 it is the “Spirit.” Look on down and see “the Spirit,” “the Spirit”, the “Spirit.” Compare the numbers of how many “I’s” there are to how many “the Spirit’s” there are and the Spirit wins. I think our church or any church that allows the Holy Spirit to fill us has power, and they will understand the filling and the refilling of the Holy Spirit.

You will see that this is a BIG thing in the first church. And the unveiling of our flesh as we live life is so important. Spending time in the kingdom which is doing life with people. It was Pastor Appreciation Day, and the staff surprised me by putting up pictures of the history of Harvest Chapel. I looked at the pictures and said, “That’s a lot of things we have done.” It’s humbling to reflect on what we have done. I said, “Thank you Lord for giving me the strength to do that!? How about a few more years?” We need to be with people to really experience that great grace.

Great fear. No body joined the church in Jerusalem because it was a cool thing to do. It was more like, “Hey, Man, you don’t want to go to that church, because if you lie you will drop dead. Them people are serious over there.” A lot of times the church will have subtractions in it because people know that the Lordship of Christ is being taught and it has to be lived out, and when Jesus laid it on the line to them at John 6:51 he said you can’t be mine unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. And many fell away. Jesus saw a lot of subtraction. We see a lot of ADDition in the first church, but you will always see that people are always interested in what’s happening, but when the call of the Lordship comes and there is a call to being filled with the Holy Spirit and living it out and rubbing elbows with people come…. people don’t really want to do that. So they will bail. And that’s up to them.

Notice it says here in Acts 4:33 “…grace was upon them..” The word for upon is “epi” It means “over.” This is the same word when we asked the Lord to fill us with the Holy Spirit. The epi experience with the Holy Spirit. It was not IN them to muster up grace, but it came from ABOVE. It COVERED them. We can’t produce it, we can’t give it. It can only be produced by God and given by God. So when grace comes upon you then you know that it’s the Lord.

I have felt in the last few months and especially in the last few weeks and days a bubble of grace around me. God has covered me and held me together. It is upon me. He is holding me together. Though I may go through many trials like you, we all do, we need to say, “Oh Lord, let your grace fall upon me.” This church understood that they had great power. There was great grace and there was great fear. They knew how to address their prayers. They put the right address on there. They would release their burdens. And that’s what my hope for all of us today is. Is that we understand the teaching here in Acts. – In His grip, Pastor Tom Camp.