Lord, Behold Their Threats

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, and the peoples 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 predestined to take place. 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. (Acts 4:23-31, ESV)

God had healed a man by the name of Jesus Christ. Peter and John then testified that the miracle happened on the basis of the faith of Jesus Christ. He was the Son of God who came as a man to redeem sinners by his death. The Jews rejected him, and so they worked with the Gentiles and murdered him. But they did not defeat him, because this was God’s plan all along. After this, Jesus rose from the dead and showed himself to hundreds of people. Now he continued to testify about himself by his disciples and by his miracles.

Jesus declared that his message would not unite families and societies, but would divide them to the point of totally tearing them apart (Matthew 10:34-36). The Christian faith maintains that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords – he is the absolute power, greater than all nations, states, and laws, and all the customs, standards, and assumptions of all cultures. And he is the only way to salvation – all non-Christian religions, philosophies, and scientific systems are scams.

The political and religious authorities were intimidated by this. Such a doctrine limits their control and shifts men’s allegiance from their rulers and nations to the Lord Jesus Christ. Miracles are especially disturbing to the religious authorities, because it exposes their lack of faith and power, their false doctrines, and their man-made rituals and traditions. It shows that they are not as divinely endowed and illuminated as they would like people to believe.

Christians face similar circumstances today. Our doctrine is castigated because it is exclusive and divisive, and sometimes it is even regarded as criminal, or as hate speech. The teachings and testimonies on miracles continue to shame the religious establishment, including many church leaders and seminary professors who are entirely out of touch with God’s power because of their unbelief and false doctrines. And like the Jews who murdered Jesus, these religious leaders and church members continue to persecute those who believe and operate in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

Peter and John returned to their friends and told them what happened. Their response was a model of true faith and vision. They did not turn to politics. They did not try to vote Jesus Christ into acceptance. (At times they did take advantage of existing laws for the sake of self-preservation and the preaching of the gospel.) And they certainly did not resort to violence and insurrection. The apostles insisted that believers must submit to the authorities.

They turned to God in united prayer. First, they saw the matter from the proper perspective. They were right in saying that the political and religious leaders, consisting of both the Jews and the Gentiles, have come together to conspire against Jesus Christ. These people were cooperating to make regulations and threats in the attempt to silence the Christians’ teachings and to forbid their miracles. This has continued to this day, because the sinful nature has not changed. There is no need to investigate conspiracy theories, because since the Garden of Eden there has always been a conspiracy against Christ, and as always many of his greatest enemies are church members and leaders. The details of the conspiracy are unimportant because we do not respond on their level or through the political process.

They understood God’s perspective on the matter. Their prayer cites from Psalm 2. There it is said that the nations, the peoples, the kings, and the rulers conspire against God and the Anointed One (v. 1-2). They do this because they wish to be released from God’s authority: “Let us break their chains and throw off their fetters” (v. 3). This is the same motive for the political and religious opposition to the Christian faith. But God sits on his throne, and he laughs and scoffs at them (v. 4). He is not into gentle dialogue with unbelief – he makes fun of it. Then he rebukes and terrifies these people (v. 5). He is not into compromise – he punishes disagreement. The Psalm proceeds to say that God has established his Son, who rules with an iron scepter that could destroy the nations. The conclusion is that the authorities ought to serve the Lord and appease the Son.

The disciples adopted this perspective and prayed to God about the opposition. They did not ask God to intervene on the political and ecclesiastical level, even though that was not forbidden, but they asked for empowerment to continue in the same spiritual work that they had been doing: “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.” The answer was the preaching of the Christian message with signs and wonders and healing miracles.

As the conspiracy against Jesus Christ continues in our generation, we must meet it with the same perspective and the same prayer: “Father, behold their threats. The people continue to conspire against the Lord Jesus. Therefore, infuse us with boldness to keep on preaching this message, and stretch out your hand to perform signs and wonders, and healing miracles.”