IN ME YOU MAY HAVE PEACE, IN THIS WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE
Acts 4:1-31
“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
In other words, do what you have to do, and help us to do what we have to do. We are looking at you, not at them. The most important thing is your work, your mission, your Gospel.
In John 16, Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms that in this world we will have trouble. But he puts it in the context of our relationship with him and the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5 ESV). “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-15 ESV)
In other words, there will be trouble, but focus on your relationship with me and learn from the Holy Spirit.
The community that was born from the preaching of the Gospel took Jesus’ instructions to heart and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. They took to heart Jesus’ call for them to be his witnesses (see John 15:27). And now, in the face of trouble, they remained firm to their commitment to him.
Interestingly, there is no mention of what they did in order to be “filled with the Spirit”, to “receive the Spirit”, to be “empowered by the Spirit”.
Yet at the same time, we see the movement of the Holy Spirit among them. We see this in the transformation that took place in that community, as they “loved one another”. We see this in their devotion to the Word, to one another, to the Lord; we see this in the signs and wonders that the apostles were able to do; we see this in the boldness of “unschooled” Peter in responding to the religious leaders; and we see this as the church renewed their commitment and faith in the face of trouble, as the room shook and the Christians spoke boldly the Word of God.
There was no plea to God to remove the threats and smoothen the path that they have to tread. They knew to expect trouble because Jesus had already told them. All they asked for was that God would not allow these threats to them to obstruct his work, and that he would enable them to continue with boldness.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”