Good morning. We're going to
be in Acts chapter 12 this morning, if you would like to turn with
me there in your Bibles. Before we do that, let me read
some verses out of Acts chapter 11 that are so relevant to our current
situation. In verse 27, and in those days
came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch, and there stood
up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that
there should be a great dearth throughout all the world, which
came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. So God gave this believer
a prophecy that told the church that there was a famine coming.
Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined
to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also
they did, and sent it by the elders by the hands of Barnabas
and Saul. This dearth was going to especially
affect those believers in Jerusalem, and so the other churches gathered
together and took an offering and helped out their brethren. This past week, we were able
to purchase some oxygen concentrators for our brethren in India. They wanted me, we shipped them
Tuesday, and they should be delivered next Tuesday, and they wanted
me to thank you for them. So that's what I'm doing, thanking
you for that help that you gave to them. We met together Friday
morning on Skype, and it was, was it Skype or one of those? Zoom, that's what it was. What
do I know? I have a hard time getting my computer turned on,
so somebody's gotta take care of that for me. But anyway, it
was a real blessing to be with them and to preach to them. They're very, very grateful,
and they wanted you to know that. Let's pray together. Our merciful
Heavenly Father, We thank you for the abundance
of your grace and your mercy towards sinners. We thank you,
Lord, for the gift of life that you've given to your people in
Christ. Lord, we thank you for the for
the truth and the power and the light of your word that reveals
the Lord Jesus to our hearts. And oh, how we pray this morning
that you would send your spirit and power and that you'd be pleased
once again to show us the glory of Christ. Lord, we do pray for
our friends and for our brethren that are suffering in this dearth
in India. And we ask that you would comfort
them and provide for them and keep them. And Lord, we're so
very encouraged and thankful for the faith that you've given
them to rest their hope in Christ. For it's in his name we pray.
Amen. Acts chapter 12. Beginning at verse 1, now about
that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain
of the church. And he killed James, the brother
of John, with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were
the days of the unleavened bread, the Passover. And when he had
apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four
quarterians of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter. Now why the translators used
the word Easter there, I don't know. It's the only place in
the Bible where you'll find that word. It's the word Passover.
It's the word Passover. Intending after the Passover
to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison,
but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
And when Herod would have brought him forth the same night, Peter
was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and the
keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold, the angel
of the Lord came upon him and a light shined in the prison.
And he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise
up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. And the angel said unto him,
Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he
saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And
he went out, and followed him, and wist not that it was true
which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision.
And when they were past the first and the second ward, They came
unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to
them of its own accord. And they went out and passed
through this one street and forthwith the angel departed from him.
And when Peter was come to himself, he said, now I know of a surety
that the Lord hath sent his angel and hath delivered me out of
the hand of Herod and from all the expectations of the people
of the Jews. And when he had considered the
thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose
surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.
And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to
hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice,
she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter
stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou
art mad. But she constantly affirmed that
it was even so. Then said they, it is his angel.
But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the
door and saw him, they were astonished. I want to begin by drawing some
blessed truths from this historical event, this miracle, that I believe
will be profitable to our souls. And then I want us to go back
and look at this story the second time and consider it as a type
of the new birth. Cannot read this story without
being struck with the fact that our God is absolutely sovereign
over all the affairs of men. He hath done whatsoever he wills
with the armies of heaven and with all the inhabitants of the
earth, and no man can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? This was the ordained purpose
of God, to have James put to death by the sword, to have Peter
put into prison, to have the church gathered together in prayer,
to have this man Herod, who was such a wicked king, doing what he did for his own
political gain. And we need to be reminded of
how our God has ordained these things in our world and in our
life and in our time. and that whatsoever happens,
happens according to his divine purpose and his divine will. Our God is sovereign in providence. He's sovereign in providence.
And brethren, you know, you know that he works all things together
for good, for them that love him and those that are called
according to his purpose. Our God is also sovereign, absolutely
sovereign in salvation. He has purposed before the foundation
of the world and chosen in Christ his elect people. He has written
their names in the Lamb's Book of Life. Salvation is of the
Lord and it's all of grace from the beginning of election to
the end of glorification and everything in between is of God
and he gets all the glory for it. He's the one who successfully
redeemed by his sacrificial death on Calvary's cross. He successfully
redeemed all those whom the Father had chosen. He didn't make a
stab at it. He didn't make us an offering. He offered himself to his Father
on behalf of those whom God had chosen and he actually successfully
redeemed them by the sacrifice of himself on Calvary's cross. Regeneration, that's a work of
grace too. It's God who opens the eyes of
the blind. It's God who sets the prisoners
free. It's the Holy Spirit that gives
us faith and eyes to see and causes us to be willing in the
day of his power and brings us to faith in Christ. It is He
that began a good work in you will complete it. He will finish it in the day
of His coming. It is God who keeps us from falling. It is God's sovereign grace in
sanctification that causes His people to continue looking to
Christ. And it is He that will present
us faultless before the throne of God. It is He that will take
us gloriously into his presence, translate us into his likeness. This is our God. This is who
he is. We look at this man called Herod. He is the grandson
of Herod the Great. You remember when the wise men
came from the East at the birth of Christ, Herod told them, he
said, he was threatened by the fact that this child was going
to take over his place and take away his power. And so he told
the wise men, he said, tell me where he is so I can go and worship
him as well. And remember the Lord warned
Joseph to go down to Egypt and Herod, this Herod's grandfather
is the one that was responsible for murdering, slaughtering the
babies of Bethlehem, trying to trying to be rid of Christ and
now what he's doing is for his own political gain. He saw murdering James was profitable
to him. And so he said, well, let me
just go to the head of the snake and let me arrest Peter. And that will put an end to everything
and it'll ingratiate the Jews to me. And so he arrest Peter. Two things I want us to see from
this, number one, The Lord makes it clear that his kingdom is
not of this world. The kingdoms of this world are,
well, they're just of men's pride and men's power and men's evil
demise. And God's kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom. And so I would say to the people
of God. Let those who are after the flesh
mind the things of the flesh. What are we going to do to change
the events of this world? Other than voting, what What difference does it make? Don't get too bound up in the
political affairs of this world. The kingdom of God is a spiritual
kingdom. Secondly, the rulers of this world, all
the rulers of this world are under the sovereign authority
of our God. Turn me to Daniel chapter four,
Daniel chapter four. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. God had elevated this man to
be the most powerful man in the world. And he had a dream, and
this dream was of a great tree. And the tree was cut down. He didn't understand the meaning
of the dream, and none of his magicians or soothsayers could
answer. So he brought in Daniel, and
Daniel interpreted the dream, and he said, that tree is you.
God has put you in a position that you're in, and God's gonna
cut you down. And you remember the rest of
the story, how, well, look at verse 17 in Daniel chapter four. This matter is by the decree
of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones
to the intent that the living may know that the most high ruleth
in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and
setteth up over it the basis of men. Romans chapter 13 says, there
is no power but that which is of God and the powers that be
are ordained of God. Our God is sovereign and in his
sovereign purpose, he ordained this wicked king by the name
of Herod to stretch forth his hand against the church. And
we are comforted in knowing that whatever comes to pass has been
ordained by our God and is according to his perfect will and his perfect
purpose. Secondly, I want you to see,
look at verse 2 in our text in Acts chapter 12. And he killed
James, the brother of John, with the sword. Now James and John
were the sons of Zebedee. The Lord himself nicknamed James
and John the sons of thunder. They must have had a pretty fiery
personality. And these were the two men, you
remember when the Lord brought his disciples through Samaria
and the Samaritans would not receive him. And James and John
said, let us call down fire from heaven and consume them. And
this is that same James, the brother of John. And Herod took
him and put him to death. with the sword. And I'm reminded
by this of the persecution that is mentioned so many times in
the scriptures against those who believe the gospel. And I'm
almost ashamed to even talk about it because The persecution we
experience is so is so light compared to what we're reading
about here. I mean, can you imagine if every
time we came together we were threatened by the police bursting
in and arresting us and dragging us off to jail and putting us
to death with the sword? That's exactly what was happening
and. The persecution that we experience
is so light compared to that. But you know, I've come to believe
that Satan's not omniscient. He learns things along the way. And I think he's figured out
that this kind of persecution only increases the effectiveness
of the gospel. It sets the believers to, well,
what did they do here? They prayed fervently. And I think perhaps the intimidation
and the ostracization and the The way people treat us might
be more effective in keeping us quiet than this kind of persecution. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
five. Matthew chapter five. Verse 10, blessed of God are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Now being persecuted for righteousness
sake is not is not your worldly friends looking down at you because
you refuse to participate in their worldly activities. Although
certainly there are things that the world is engaged in that
the child of God has no interest in. Being persecuted for righteousness
sake is being persecuted because we hold up the Lord Jesus Christ
as the only one who is righteous. You remember another thing about
James and John, their mother was the one who went to the Lord
and asked the Lord if her two sons could sit on the right hand
and on the left hand of him when he entered into his kingdom,
thinking that it was an earthly kingdom. And the Lord asked this
question, he said, He said, you don't know what you're asking.
He said, are you able to drink of the cup which I will drink
of? And are you able to be baptized
with the baptism that I'll be baptized with? And James and
John said, we are, we are. And the Lord said, you shall.
You see, when the Lord Jesus Christ drank the bitter dregs
of God's justice and wrath, when he drank our sin and damnation
dry on Calvary's cross. When he was baptized with the
baptism of fire and the baptism of death, all those for whom
he died were in him. In him, that's what Paul said,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. The life that I now live, I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and died for me
and gave himself for me. Our union with Christ, when he
drank of that cup, we drank of that cup. When he was baptized
with the baptism of fire, we were baptized with the baptism
of fire. And so the Lord said, you shall and you will. But you
don't understand what you're asking. The Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
cross is the only one who satisfied God's justice, and he is all
our righteousness before God. Every bit of it. Now. James here in our in our text is experiencing the physical
fulfillment of what the Lord said, you will drink of that
cup and you will be baptized with that baptism. So being persecuted for righteousness
sake is standing for the gospel. It's unwilling to compromise
the gospel of God's sovereign grace in the accomplished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's unwilling to mix anything
with grace. And if you take that stand, you may find your enemies to
be of your own household. You're going to be an offense
to people. And look, you have your Bible
still open to Matthew chapter five, look at verse 11. Blessed
are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. See, they can't refute the truth
of scripture and so they attack the believer personally. And
they make false accusations against us, accusing us of being lawless,
and antinomian, and unloving, and narrow, and intolerant, and those sort of
things. And so those are the accusations that come. Those
are the persecutions. And the Lord makes it clear in
2 Timothy chapter 3. Turn with me over there, if you
will. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Look with me at verse 12. Yea,
and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution. Now this is God's word. To live
godly in Christ Jesus is to stand for the gospel. He said you shall
suffer persecution. Who wants to? When the Lord said
they love the praise of men more than the praise of God, we all
love the praise of men. Popularity and power, are those
not the things that men desire? And yet, if you stand for the
gospel, you're going to lose some of that. Verse 13, but evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue
thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured
of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. As from a child
thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. For
all scripture is given by inspiration of God. So we're just, God gives
you faith to believe him, you cannot compromise the gospel. You cannot. And it will ostracize you. They may not be using a physical
sword to take our heads off, but they will use the sword of
their tongues to make false accusations against you for what you believe. One other passage along these
lines. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
five. Galatians chapter five. Look with me at verse 11. And I brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, now circumcision is anything that man does to
try to contribute to his salvation, to add to the work of Christ. It is the works of the flesh.
The spirit of God, the scripture says, circumcises the heart.
When men try to earn favor with God by something that they do,
then that's circumcision, whatever it is, tradition, works, will,
whatever. And Paul says, In verse 11, and
I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer
persecution? For then is the offense of the
cross ceased. The offense of the cross. Why
do worldly men and religious men love displaying the cross? Why do they? I touched on this
a couple of weeks ago. because the cross is not offensive
to men. The cross to the world is nothing
but a symbol of sacrifice and love. They know nothing of the
justice of God. They know nothing of the holiness
of God. The cross is offensive to the
natural man. And we stand for the truth of
what happened on Calvary's cross because only there, only there
was God's justice satisfied. Only there was sin successfully
put away. And the Lord Jesus Christ gets
all the glory. And Paul said, if I added to
the work of Christ by letting men know that there's something
that they have to do in order to make what he did work for
them, that's what circumcision is. Then I would take the offense
out of the cross. And men would begin to display
the cross as if it was nothing more than a piece of jewelry
or an edifice to put on the top of a building. You have your Bibles open to
Galatians. Look over to Galatians chapter 6 at verse 12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised only lest
they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Oh,
that's what man-made religion is. It's a fair show in the flesh. It's men boasting in what they've
done in order to earn God's favor, in order to earn his grace. It's a fair show in the flesh.
We are the true circumcision, which
worship God in the spirit, rejoice only in Christ Jesus and have
absolutely no confidence whatsoever in the flesh. That's what men
hate. And that's the offense of the
cross. Nothing's changed. Nothing's changed. That persecution
continues to this day. These believers made, go back
with me to Acts chapter 12. The Lord puts his children in
trouble in order to set their heart to prayer, and what a blessing
it is when that happens. When the scripture says in verse
12, Verse 5 of chapter 12, Peter
therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him. This word without ceasing means
instant and persistent prayer was being offered up on behalf
of Peter's imprisonment and the threats that were coming against
the church. This was a life and death situation and they were
Their hearts were set to pray. And yet, when Peter shows up
at the very place where they're praying, don't you love little
Rhoda? You know, so many characters
like Rhoda are not even mentioned by name in the scriptures. Here's
a servant girl who's responsible for answering the door. And she goes and she hears Peter's
name or she hears his voice and she runs back and tell Peter's
at the door where they've just been praying for, for hours,
perhaps days for Peter, you know, for the Lord to deliver him.
And, oh no, you're, you're mad. You're crazy. He's Peter's not
here. Well, maybe it's his ghost. And,
uh, you know, isn't that the way we are? Uh, we, We lack the
fervency of prayer, and then when we do, we're amazed when
God is pleased to answer that. And yet he does, he does answer
the prayers of his people. Someone has said, if God is sovereign,
why pray? If you've thought that or believe
that, it's only proof that your faith is in a doctrine, not in
a person. You see, we don't hang the hopes
of our salvation on a doctrine called the sovereignty of God.
We hang all the hopes of our salvation on a God who is absolutely
sovereign. And because he is sovereign,
therefore, we are emboldened and encouraged to come before
the throne of grace and seek his mercy in our time of need. The sovereignty of God does not
keep us from praying, it's the cause of our prayers. The fact
that our God is absolutely sovereign is what emboldens us. It's what
gives us the confidence to come before him and seek his face
and his mercy and his help in our time of need. So it's a big difference, isn't
there? It's a big difference between
believing in the sovereignty of God and believing in a God
who is absolutely sovereign and omnipotent. And Lord, because
you're in control, because you have all power, I'm encouraged
to come before you and seek your mercy and seek your grace and
seek your help in my time of need. Turn to me to Isaiah chapter
14. I want us to. Spent much too
much time on. On this, but hopefully the Lord. Hopefully it will be a benefit
somebody. Isaiah Chapter 14. I want to. I want to look at this miracle.
As a type of the new birth. Why did Herod do what he did?
Why did he do what he did? For power, for power. Now we didn't read far enough,
but if you go, well, hold your finger there in Isaiah 14 and
go back with me to our passage in Acts and look at, look at
verse 21 of Acts chapter 12. And upon a set day Herod arrayed
in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto
them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a
God and not of a man. And immediately the angel of
the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory. And he was eaten of worms and
gave up the ghost." Now, I don't know what that means.
to be eaten of worms before you die, but I don't think that's
the way we want to die. And it's a picture of God's eternal
judgment in hell where the worm dieth not, the scripture says. And Herod is doing what he's
doing for personal power, but he has no power. It's kind of
like Pilate, when Pilate said to the Lord, he said, do you
not know that I have the power to crucify you and the power
to release you? And what did the Lord say? You
have no power at all, except for that which is given to you
from heaven. All power is given unto me. I delegate power to
men. And when they abuse that power,
I can take it from them just as easily as I gave it to them.
He did it to Nebuchadnezzar. He did it here to Herod. Herod's
a picture of Satan in this picture, in this story. You have your
Bibles open to Isaiah chapter 14. Look with me at verse 12. How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend unto heaven. I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God. I will set also upon the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. That's man's problem and that's
it. I'm going to be God. And man sets himself up on the
throne of God and he refuses to submit to the power and the
authority of God. And that's what we all are by
nature. That's how we come into this
world. Until the Lord makes us willing, we'll not submit to
him. We'll do it our way until he
gives us a willing spirit. Satan, Lucifer, he's called here
in Isaiah chapter 14, translated means a light bearer. The scripture
calls him an angel of light, a minister of righteousness.
He comes in robes of religion. And he entices men to set themselves
up above God. And that's exactly what the false
gospel does. That's exactly what the free
will works gospel that denies the sovereignty of God does.
It sets men up against God. And that's where, that's where
men are. That's where all men are. That's
how we come into this world. Second Corinthians chapter four,
verse four says, the God of this world have blinded the eyes of
them who believe not. The God of this world, Satan
himself. He holds, you have your Bibles
open to Isaiah. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
42. This chapter begins with, behold,
my servant. You could change those words
to say, look to Christ. The servant he's talking about
here is the Lord Jesus Christ. And God is saying, look to my
son, look to my son. Look at verse seven. What has
he come to do? To open the blind eyes, to bring
out the prisoner from the prison and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house. Now, this is what this is a picture
of. Peter being delivered from this
evil man is a picture of what God does when he sets the prisoner
free. That's what the Lord Jesus came
to do. All men by nature are prisoners. So I'm not a prisoner, I'm my
own person. I can do what I want to do. It's not what the Bible
says. Not what God says. God says that we are held captive
by sin and by Satan. He came in order to make captivity
captive. He came in order to tear down
the gates of hell. You remember what he said to
Peter when Peter said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God. And the Lord said, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. Flesh
and blood did not reveal the son to you, but my father, which
is in heaven and upon this rock. that I am the Christ, the Messiah,
the anointed one, come down from heaven. Upon this rock, I will
build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. What does that mean? That means
that God, like Samson, takes the gates of the city and puts
them on his back. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
did on Calvary's cross. He defeated Satan. He established
righteousness. The God of this world has been
destroyed, and God's people who were held captive in their unbelief,
even as Peter was in this prison house, he comes to set them free. Now, some might be thinking,
held captive by sin, are you talking about an addictive behavioral
problem that I can't get rid of? No, not talking about that.
Truth is, a lot of people that never know the Lord and never
believe the gospel get delivered from addictions. That's not what
I'm talking about. I'm talking about the prison
of unbelief. You see, we're born into this
world dead, the scripture says, in our trespasses and in our
sins. We're born into this world spiritually
blind. We're born into this world with
a heart of stone. And we're held in the prison
of our unbelief, unable to believe, unable to see. And until the
Lord sends an angel, and sheds the light of the gospel in our
hearts. And that's what the messenger does. He just declares the truth
of who Christ is and what he's done. And when that light shines,
the chains of sin and Satan and justice and the law are broken. And the Lord smites us on the
side and says, put on your shoes, the sandals of the preparation
of the gospel of his peace and put on the robe of righteousness
and come out from between those soldiers that were holding you
down. And if the Son shall make you
free, you should be free indeed. And what happened? Peter comes
out and he thinks he's having a, this is too good to be true.
He's not sure if it's real or if it's a vision. The Lord leads him out. Where was Peter? By the way,
five times in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul calls himself
a prisoner of Jesus Christ. And numerous times he refers
to himself as a doulos, which is a bondservant of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So what am I saying? I'm saying
you're either in the prison of sin, unable to believe God, and
with no interest in the gospel, or you are a bondservant, a prisoner
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All men are prisoners, every
single one of them. It just is a matter of who we are
a prisoner to. Peter was asleep, wasn't he?
Here's a picture of our unregenerate state. When you're asleep, you're
You're unconscious, you're without awareness. What do we say of
someone who's really in deep sleep? Well, they're dead to
the world. Well, when you're spiritually asleep, you're spiritually
dead. You're without consciousness,
you're without awareness. You don't know you're lost. You
don't know you have a need until the Lord comes and wakes you. delivers you from the chains
of the law and justice. That's where we have to be delivered
from. And as he's leading us through the wards of this world,
it's almost like this is too good to be true. Is this a vision
or is this for real? And we're always questioning
and wondering We hold ourselves suspect, don't we? We're wondering,
is this really happening? Until finally the gate is opened. You remember what happened when
we read our story? Peter got to the gate that entered
into the city and it opened of its own and he went into the
city. What a picture of the child of
God who is asleep, dead in his trespasses, chained to law and
justice by sin and Satan. And the Lord comes and sends
a messenger and shines the light of the gospel and breaks the
chains loose. And we walk through the wards
of this world wondering, could this be for real? Until finally
the gates to that celestial city are opened and he carries us
into his very presence. This is a picture of salvation. I pray the Lord will We'll do
that same work of grace for each of us as we find our need in Christ. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we pray that you would take your word and show us your
glory. Save us. We ask it in Christ's
name. Amen. Bye!