Church at Prayer Part 2

I.  The Specifics of the Request         Acts 4:29-30

A.  The Reality of the Danger

B.  The Boldness of the Proclamation

C.  The Petition for Attending Miracles

II. The Specifics of the Answer           Acts 4:31

A.  The Shaking of the Place

B.  The Filling of the Holy Spirit

1.  The Surprising Analogy of Ephesians 5:18

2.  The Surprising Accusation of Acts 2:13

3.  The Urgency of the Spirit’s Ministry

“If God feeds the ravens His mercy will supply the spiritual wants of His sinful creatures. It is an actual fact that God takes greater pleasure in filling the hungry soul than the hungry mouth. He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him than an earthly parent is to give bread to his children. If there were only a demand upon the part of man for the heavenly food, as urgent as there is for the earthly food the supply would be immediate and in abundance. If a man craved grace as much as he craves wealth, the heavens would drop down and dissolve in a rain of righteousness. If the human soul panted for God as it does for pleasure and fame, the consequences would astonish men and angels.”                  

- W. G. T. Shedd (1820-1894)  Sermons to the Spiritual Man

C.  The Proclamation of the Word

1.  Our Part

2.  Our Power