Answered Prayer

but we're going to stop there in verse 35 today and pick this up next week in verse 36.

And they said, Hey, you know, whether it's right for us to listen to you or listen to God, you decide. We must obey the Lord. And their commitment to do that was deepened, was intensified, to speak the Word of God and be obedient to the Word of God. Then we also saw in the last part, from verses 24 on through verse 31, that they also prayed for a renewed strength.

They prayed for a renewed strength, that God would not remove them from this situation,

if you're in King James, it correctly links this section together with verse 31. There will be the word and there. And the thought there is, is that as God is answering these prayers, He's answered by, they prayed that God would renew their strength, would give them this fresh strength. And after they had prayed, verse 31, the place where they were was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

But the answer to prayer doesn't stop there. And all the believers were one in heart and mind. So the answers to the prayer that they had prayed keep coming down through verse 35 with the example then of that in verse 36. So God's still answering prayer here. And we're going to look at His answers to prayer. They experienced the filling of the Spirit, the place there shook.

Now, whether or not it was an actual earthquake, we talked about this last time, we don't know. But the place shook.

it was Friday's, in Friday's paper. True story. Flint Hills football coach, Brian Spencer, never thought the play would work. Just the same, after a fellow teacher suggested it, he decided to try it last Friday against Elk Valley on the first play of the eight-man Division I game. This is here in Kansas. The result? CNN and the Today Show replayed it. Fox's Real TV wants the tape

and David Letterman wants to book quarterback Daniel Scribner on the Late Show November 12th to talk about it.

I saw the tape the other night and it's hilarious. And Dan goes, what? He says, this isn't our ball. This is the wrong ball. And Scribner, the quarterback, goes, what? And Scribner looks to the sideline at the coach and Scribner, the quarterback, hollers, Coach Spencer, this is the wrong ball. The coach on the west sideline holds the football in the air. The center, and Scribner says to the center,

Tylan, give me the ball and I'll get the regular ball from the coach. In a non-traditional sideways snap. Snaps usually like this. The center turned like this and just went up like that, handed the ball to Scribner, the quarterback. He takes the ball and he strolls to the sidelines and he holds the ball out to Spencer, to the coach, as the rest of the Flint Hills players

come up out of their playing stances to watch. The Elk Valley defenders do the same. They stand up and look. Here, Coach, Scribner says, but instead of handing him the ball, he tucks it under and he turns and heads down the sideline. The Elk Valley players look shocked. Some turn to their coach and a couple begin to run after Scribner and chase him to the end zone.

The play counts. A 65-yard touchdown run for Flint Hills. We cleared it with the officials first so they wouldn't blow the whistle, Spencer explained in an interview Thursday. We just figured, why not run it? It's a little silly, a little goofy. We figured it might work. The Elk Valley coach, Ben Combs, had only one question about the play. He said, I asked the officials about the snap

because I thought he handed the ball to him, Combs said, but the officials said it was legal. If I had the opportunity to run it, would I? Oh yeah, definitely, he said. Flint Hills won the game 55 to 6. Both the quarterback and the center, the coach is also a drama teacher and both the quarterback and the center are in his drama class, so this was a little improv acting,

but the thing I want you to see by the use of this is the oneness, the one heart and mind that this team had to be in. The first thing I thought of when I read this, it was on the top page of the Eagle, I just started laughing and I thought, how could you be a lineman and not laugh? They needed to be of one heart and mind where this was concerned to not walk up and just bust it. And they showed a reenactment of it on the news and they had a camera down and the guys huddled over and they said, okay guys, here we go, let's now remember, nobody snicker, nobody laugh.

And they had to walk up and go through this together, but it worked because they were of one heart and one mind where that play was concerned. They knew the focus, they knew the purpose, they knew the ultimate end, the ultimate goal that they were headed for. One in heart here in Acts chapter four signified the believers feelings towards one another, their attitudes towards each other. It dealt with the area of their emotions as far as relationships were concerned, it's what the word means, one in heart.

There was something that they were concerned with other than themselves. They viewed others, the other believers there as more important than themselves. They considered others needs before they considered their own, they considered their needs more important than their own. That's what the apostle Paul writes to the church at Rome in Romans chapter 12, that we are to be, not only the church at Rome, but all of us as believers.

Others more important, give others needs, consideration before our own. Down in the rest of verse 32 there, it says, no one claimed any of his possessions, no one claimed any of his possessions as his own, but shared everything that he had. Down in verse 34 it says, there were no needy persons among them from time to time. Those who owned lands and houses sold them and brought the money from the sales and put them at the apostles feet and it was distributed to anyone as he had needs.

So in their attitudes towards one another, considering others needs more important than their own, they also considered their possessions as a tool for God, a vehicle through which God could use them in the lives of someone else. Now let me ask you as we start off, how do you view what you have? How are you seeing the things that God has blessed you with and those in your family, your fellow, your spouse, your children, your grandparents, how do you view those? You see, there's a real tendency to huddle up in our families with our stuff, just like there's a tendency to huddle up together in the church.

Us four no more shut the door, you know.

where God graced you with the ability to work and He graced you with the opportunity to receive the things that have come from His hand. It's not by your expertise, it's not by your knowledge. You weren't at the right place at the right time. God opened doors, God has graced you with it. God can remove it whenever He wants to. The only way to be secure in it

and not get ulcers over it is to hold it with an open hand and say, Lord, how can You use what I am and what I have and where I am for Your glory?

Nothing could sever them. They were so close. They were so one in their relationships and their focus that you couldn't get a knife in there. You couldn't cause any separation among them. They were so focused on their purpose and so with one heart with each other where their attitudes were concerned towards one another that it was unable to be divided. See, Satan works at that.

Those are the two areas that Satan seeks to weaken his church, seeks to weaken disciples. One is your relationship with the Lord and that relationship is developed as you spend time in his word and time in prayer and time in fellowship with other believers. That's how you hear God's voice. That's how God's Spirit speaks to you is through his word. It's affirmed by his word.

It's generally through verses as you're going through Scripture or you've been through a section and God's Spirit brings that to your mind, to your mind's eye and you realize that's you, Lord, and he affirms things that way and you carry on this two-way conversation with it. Satan wants to rip that apart. Now you may be real committed to your time with the Lord. Usually Satan will attack those times to try and throw you off track where your time with the Lord is concerned.

Phone rings. You've got different things that come up now. You've got different needs that are screaming for your attention, screaming for your time. He's trying to pull you away from that time with the Lord. If he can't get you that way, he gets you in the other area which is our attitudes towards one another. You try and get that little claw in there and get a little separation between brothers and sisters

where our attitudes are concerned. So-and-so has been offended by somebody else. So-and-so has done something and now there's an attitude and rather than seeking to reconcile that, we get mad and we get mad at God because God's allowed this and God's done this and he's not brought it all back together and why do I have to put up with this? I shouldn't have to put up with this.

And so now you're mad at God and Satan's acquired what he wanted to acquire which is division with your relationship with the Lord and a separation in your attitude with your brothers and sisters.

but also is the part where he says, Father, that they, those you've given me may be one even as you and I are one. Jesus is praying for a oneness among us. That's the same kind of a oneness, the same kind of a unity that he experiences with the Father. He wants us to have that same oneness with the Father that he has. But not to stop there, that that expresses itself,

it goes beyond that now into the oneness that we have with each other. And here you get a glimpse of that. It's a glimpse of what Jesus is praying for. It's an answer to his prayer here. It's going to be fully realized when he comes back and establishes his kingdom. But we get a glimpse of it here in Acts chapter 4 and we get a glimpse of it throughout church history

when the church is really being the church, when the church is doing what God called it to do. We get a glimpse of that oneness. Much of the church is lethargic today. Much of the church today is without power. It has no power.

The church is in a state that it's in because it doesn't see the power of God because there's no unity of God's people because the people have lost the focus of love. They've lost the focus of the purpose of God, and they've lost that because the church is prayer-less, for the most part. God was answering the prayer of the believers there, and I believe he will answer our prayers if we but seek his face. You want to know something else to add to your prayer time?

Please pray that God would make us one in heart and mind. Lord, refill us, refresh us with your spirit so that we may boldly proclaim your word that we might be one in heart, one in heart and mind. Another answer to prayer that the church realized at this time is found in verse 33. With great power, now, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

Now, again, if you're reading King James, I like the way King James phrases this, the way that it uses, the words that it uses, because they can actually be translated the same word in English. With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and with great grace, there was great grace then upon them all. Great power and great grace were evident in the life of this church. With great power, Luke writes, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

That's answered prayer. That's what they prayed for back in verse 29. Now, Lord, consider their threats. Enable your servants to speak the word with great boldness. And God does. He gives them great power to speak God's word with boldness. He anoints them with His Spirit, and as He anoints them with His Spirit, they are of one heart and of one mind, and that is a key to their being able

to speak the word of God with great boldness. Please see that. Please catch this. Let me illustrate it. There is, in the sports field, especially in football, a great benefit to playing at home because when you're at home, you have home field advantage. You know the field, but the greater advantage of home field advantage is the crowd is there, your friends,

people you may not even know, but they know you, and they love your team, and they are there to support you, and on the sidelines, they create a tremendous roar as you're playing the game. By the rules, only 11 men from each team are allowed on the playing field

Their attitude towards one another is other-centered. They are seeking to encourage and uphold and love each other so that there's that support group. There's the 12th man, and they could proclaim the word of God boldly because there's that encouragement. Man, when you become secure in the love of God and what His plan is for your life, and you realize the blessing of the fellowship, this is such a blessing.

Please, I pray that God will give you understanding where that's concerned. The fellowship of the saints is such a blessing. It's such a source of strength and encouragement that the writer of Hebrews says, don't neglect it, man, especially when you see the day of the Lord approaching. Don't neglect that time. It's key. It's key to your survival. It's necessary,

and God gave them great power to proclaim the truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus because they were of one heart and one mind. They had that encouragement of the brothers. Hey, man, when you have that, it doesn't make any difference what they can do. They can't do anything. They can't do anything.

jealousy, jealousy of those in other areas of ministry, seeking recognition or seeking personal gain, kills the working of the power of God within a fellowship because as a fellowship, you lose the focus. You lose the purpose. Love God. Love one another. Hold your finger here on Acts chapter 4 and turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

Paul writes this epistle to the church at Corinth. Actually, we know of three letters that he wrote to the church at Corinth. We only have two of them. Actually, the second epistle is probably his third epistle to this church. But in this first epistle, he starts off chapter 1, verse 1. Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. And our brother sought the needs

to the church of God in Corinth to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. So right off as you start reading this, you realize that this is a letter that was not just intended for the Corinthian church. It's to all those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's to all of us.

It's to believers everywhere. This is not just a problem that was peculiar to the church at Corinth. It's a problem that is specifically peculiar to the church itself as a whole in general. Something we've got to watch and guard against

to be revealed. In other words, they had all the gifts of the Spirit flowing. All the gifts of the Spirit were flowing. They saw evidence of every gift. You lack nothing where the gifts are concerned, he said. Not only that, you're eagerly anticipating the Lord's return. They knew the rapture was coming. They knew the imminent coming of the Lord was there. They were anticipating it.

They had all the right theology. They had all the right speakers. They had the gifts flowing. They were expecting the Lord at any time. Verse 8, He'll keep you strong to the end

Well, we're really spiritual. We're not a church after any man. We are the first church of Christ. And there was division and there were quarrels that came into this church that came in among them. And pride and self-exaltation and self-righteousness caused them to separate themselves. It killed the power of God. The great power of God that should have been evident

in a church that had all the right theology, all the right oratory, all the right eschatology was dead. It was not flowing. It was having no effect. Quarrels and factions and self-righteousness and unforgiveness make a weak church. They forgot to love. They had all the gifts but forgot to love. And so Paul, as he's writing to them in chapter 12, he says, now listen,

this is how the gifts are to function. Like the body works. The body itself ministers to itself. It takes care of itself. You're not all an eye. You're not all a hand. You're different parts and you're functioning together. Is everybody a hand? No. Does everybody have the gift of miracles? No. Is everybody an eye? No. Does everybody have the gift of tongues?

No, he asks in the last part of chapter 12. Is everybody a finger? No. Is everybody an apostle or does he have the gift of teaching? No. They desire together the best gifts. What are those? What's the best gift you could have? Well, the best gift that you could have

as a result. Pastor Chuck Smith, the founder of Calvary Chapel, where Calvary Chapel ministries began, was once asked what he thought the evidence of the power of God and the blessing of God upon Calvary Chapel, what he thought the evidence of that was. And a lot of people thought that Chuck would say, well, it's in those that God had raised up to teach and expository present the word of God. Or they thought that he would say the evidence is there because of the many ministries that have sprung up from this one ministry here in Calvary Chapel.

But again, without hesitation, Pastor Chuck said it's the love. The evidence of God's power and God's blessing upon this church is the love that's there between the different peoples, between the different classes and cultures and kinds of people. You can't manufacture that. It's got to be produced by God in the heart of a believer. It was so evident that the group love song

that came out of Calvary Chapel back in the 70s wrote the song Little Country Church. It was about Calvary Chapel and how it got started. Out on the edge of town then there wasn't anything else out there. People coming every day

striving to be accepted by God. They weren't just striving to go through the rituals of Judaism so that God would accept them. Now they realize they're accepted in the Beloved. There was no longer the formality and the ritual of prayer and worship of God because now the veil had been torn and they were able to come right boldly into His presence to receive grace and mercy.

In the time of need, Hebrews tells us, they were now proclaiming God's Word boldly,

to minister to the others even if I have nothing right now. Lord, I want to be there and seek to minister to others' needs. I want to love you with all my heart and love my neighbor as myself, my brothers and sisters as myself. Lord, I want you to make me aware specifically of what other need there is here. I want to seek you first, Lord. Or is it, if you had that thought,

on your own need? Is that your focus? Let me ask you another question this morning along those lines. What is your purpose? What is your purpose? Well, according to the text, it's, again,

Was every music store manager in Santa Ana, California reading from the same script? No, Ms. Lafferty. The manager said, thanks, but we don't need a guitar teacher. That's right, even with a music degree. Yes, we have your number. Thank you. Life had been easier before Karen Lafferty decided to go into full-time Christian music ministry. She'd come within a pen stroke

of being Miss New Mexico. She'd left behind a promising future as a recording artist and quit her lucrative job singing at prestigious Orange County Lounge. Then when she auditioned to be part of Campus Crusade, she didn't even make the finals. I was crushed, she recalls. The discouragement didn't end there. As a 22-year-old found opportunities to sing, she discovered that churches

barely paid for her gasoline. She tried to make ends meet by teaching guitar lessons, but attracted only three students. Soon her savings were depleted and her rent was due. She wondered how to make the installments on her car loan. Won her mom at Cosign. And tuition for the ministry training she needed? Well, forget that. She hung up the phone and leaned against

the inflatable wall and leaned against the inflatable pool toy she was using for a couch. Living by faith was beginning to look bleak at best. As she obediently put God's kingdom first, though, a defining moment of her life came to pass. As the Jesus movement was exploding in the early 70s, its ground zero was Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. Karen's spiritual life

was being supercharged there in the midst of a revival under the teaching of Pastor Chuck Smith. In spite of her frustrations over money, she determined to go to church that night. I had learned, she explains, you don't run from God, you run to Him. And that evening we studied from Matthew 6 about how God takes care of the birds of the air. And there was that verse,

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. And it hit me, I said, that's it. I just needed to keep seeking His kingdom and His purposes. And He had promised to provide the things I needed. I went back home and my rent still wasn't paid, but the joy was back. Accompanying the joy was a haunting melody.

And she began to pluck it out on her guitar. I was thinking about that verse and realized that the melody fit. Karen recalls, she sang, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Hallelujah, hallelujah. She sang that into a tape recorder and added the hallelujah desk camp part. And in her words, that was it.

I went to bed, slept in peace, confident that God would do something. Soon thereafter, she introduced Seek ye first to Calvary Chapel and fondly remembers Pastor Chuck's response to the simple song. Chuck Smith is an excellent Bible teacher, she says, but a man of few words. After I taught it, he just looked over at me and said, that's wonderful. I never had him say

anything like this about any of my songs. It really fit what was needed at Calvary Chapel at the time. Seek ye first was included on the first Maranatha Praise album. It was a very simple recording. Lafferty says of the song, I had no idea what God was going to do with it, but I knew that God was going to meet my needs. And He did meet those needs. Within a few days

of writing the song, a Miss New Mexico pageant committee member

into confusion and trying to pervert the gospel of Christ, which talks about the grace of God. That's what Paul really hits this church with at Galatia. They've moved out of staying in God's grace and realizing God's grace into being persuaded by what was the group called the Judaizers that had come in behind Paul and they were telling these people, that's great that you love God and yeah, God really loves you but to really be accepted by God, you need to do certain things and you need to be circumcised and you need to keep the law and you need to do these things this certain way or you're not going to be acceptable to God. You're not going to be accepted by God and the people were biting into that and Paul says, this is such a different gospel

that right there in verse 8, he says, if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be anathema, let him be eternally condemned, let him be a curse. Turn over to chapter 2, verse 15, Paul says, we who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners know that a man is not justified by observing the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law because by observing the law no one will be justified. If while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin?

Absolutely not. If I rebuild, what I destroy, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. In other words, if I try to come to God again, now any other way, try to be acceptable to him by performing these things

so we have it together here and you don't. And so there were schisms now as a result of legalism. There were factions that were happening and again, there were these splits, the churches that were developing from within the church at Galatia that become legalistic and separatistic. And finally, Paul has to write in chapter 6 of Galatians, hey, bear one another's burdens.

Seek to restore one another. If a brother's sinned, seek to restore him in love and gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be overtaken

and we've done it before. They refuse to acknowledge sin and they just refuse to respond after lovingly approaching and it finally has to be some discipline or it will infect the entire fellowship. But we don't go around saying, you know, we're self-righteous, we're righteous where this is concerned and you're not. There's always that desire to restore, always that desire to bring back, always that desire to bring back and help and encourage and walk with and seek to restore that one that's fallen.

And Paul had to remind the church at Galatia that because they were

of God's great power and God's great grace and of the disciples being of one heart and of one mind. Every work of that, including Calvary Chapel. Every work of God where that has happened has eventually turned and grown cold and become either legalistic and separated or they become proud and arrogant and lose sight of the love and that oneness, one heart and mind, and they grow cold. And Calvary Chapel will be no exception unless the Lord

of heart and mind. And that brings us to the Lord's Table. And again, we're going to celebrate the Lord's Table.