Acts 4:29–30

Notice verse 29. All they say about their enemies is, "look upon their threats." They bring the matter before God and leave it to Him. They do not try to get better laws, or anything of that kind. The Lord had said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting" (John 18:36).

Their hearts were content that the Lord should look upon the threats of those who wanted to harm them. He knew best what to allow and what to hold back. And He could rescue them. For themselves they asked for grace to speak His word with all boldness or liberty.

Those gathered in prayer knew what kind of times they were living in, and they asked for what they needed. What was that? Shelter from persecution? Power to crush their enemies? No. They asked to speak the Word with all boldness, and for God to stretch out His hand — not to shield them, but to heal others.

They were marked too by far more concern for the honour of the Name of Jesus than for their own ease and comfort. They did not ask for persecution and opposition to stop. They asked for boldness in speaking the word, and for miraculous support that would exalt His Name.

So praying saints today do not ask God to take vengeance on their enemies, as we find in the Old Testament, and above all in the Psalms, which show the deepest feelings of the godly people concerned... Many dare to think, in ignorant presumption, that these prayers against the wicked — as in Psalms 6, 10, 54, 59, 83, and the like — are vindictive. They are not. They are judicial, meant for the time when God's instruments are in place to pour out His wrath on all who despise Him. But now it is the day of grace and salvation, the accepted time.

Their second petition is for boldness. They cry to be moved themselves; and that has its application to some of us. We may pray for others to be moved, but how are we moved ourselves? To act with power on those around us, we need to be right ourselves. What a short prayer! Only four petitions! Yet they were "of one accord," and in earnest, waiting for the answer.

It is easy for Christians to sit over the word rather than let the word rule them, admiring the things they know, and criticising those who do not know the wonderful counsels and ways of grace.

That memorable day in Jerusalem ended with a remarkable prayer meeting (Acts 4:23-31). When they were let go, Peter and John went back to their own people. They reported everything that had passed between them and the chief priests and elders. The assembly at once turned to God with one accord. When they had prayed, God gave open proof of His presence among them: He shook the place where they had gathered. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness."

Those gathered in prayer saw what kind of times they were in. They asked for what they needed. What was that? Shelter from persecution? Power to crush their enemies? No. They asked to speak the Word with all boldness. They asked God to stretch out His hand — not to shield them, but to heal others — and to do signs and wonders in the name of His holy servant Jesus. Their earnestness must impress us. They knew how serious their position was, yet the threats did not dismay them, nor did the power that might be called out against them.

Their first request laid before Him was the testimony, the word of God. They wanted mercy and blessing for their enemies, not revenge. The proofs of power they asked from His hand were not fire from above, or the earth opening to swallow the enemy. They asked for "healing". And if "signs and wonders", they asked for them "through the name of His holy Servant Jesus". They asked this way because their hearts were set on the honour of the Son, just as they honoured the Father.

In Acts 3:18, 26, as in Acts 4:27, 30, the Revisers are right to give "servant," not Son or Child. The word refers back to Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:18; Isaiah 52:13; Isaiah 53:11.

There was nothing of independence seen in God's Servant; He was in everything obedient to God, and all that He did was by the Holy Spirit with which He was anointed.

Notice the emphasis in these early chapters, that Jesus is the servant of God, the Messiah. Paul, as soon as he was converted, preached Him as the Son of God (Acts 9:20). He had seen Him in heaven: they had known Him in His blessed path of service on earth.

Their faith, according to the word of the Lord (Mark 16:17-18), counted on more than spiritual blessing. They asked for the sick and the disabled to be healed in His name, as a precious and meaningful sign to unbelievers. The Master had worked this way when He was here. His servants would do the same, as a witness to His gracious power. He was now risen and in heaven, and He had defeated Satan. The Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.

The more you weigh the matter, the more fitting it seems. He who granted miracles at the beginning did not tie them to the church or to His servants as a permanent inheritance. He promised that they would follow "those that believe"; and so they did. He never said they would follow forever, or in every case.

When they had prayed, the place shook. Better still, "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." They had not asked for that. They had asked for boldness, and they got it.