Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Acts, chapter 15. Acts 15. of a great but absolutely necessary
discussion. Paul and Barnabas had taken on
some legalists that had come in to the church in Antioch and
had tried to tell some of the Gentile converts. He got to be
circumcised in order to be saved. After the manner of Moses, they
said, which actually to these legalistic Jews was actually
salvation. That's what they saw it as. As Brother Carl just Red started
off, he started off in verse 24, he said, we're saved by hope.
That is, we're saved with some confidence. We're truly saved
with some stability. But stability or confidence or
hope that is seen, that is something that you did. Someone say, I
walked down an aisle. I was circumcised. I was baptized
and therefore I'm Hope or confidence that is seen or produced by a
man is not hope. No confidence in that. But hope
that is not seen. Hope that is based on the Word
of God. God's immutable Word. Now, that's hope. That's confidence. Well, they had a discussion,
and last week we looked where Peter had stood up. We dealt starting in the 6th
verse and went through verse 11. And the last statement that
Peter made in his discourse, verse 11, we believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they. God had shown them mercy. The
Lord said He showed them mercy. We who for so long put all of
our confidence in our own works, he was saying, in our thinking
that we were keeping the law. Who knows? Maybe God will have
mercy on us. Well, verse 12, and let's begin
tonight, and I've entitled this message, Some Wise Counsel. It says, Then all the multitude
kept silence. That is, after Peter had spoken
and and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul declaring what miracles
and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. Now, Peter had reminded them,
he said, God made choice among us and chose him, Peter, to be
the one to go to the Gentiles. And then after Peter had reminded
them of God's calling him and the scriptures being fulfilled,
that God would call the Gentiles out. Then Paul and Barnabas got
up and they said, Now, this is what happened to us. This is
what we witnessed. Now, the key to that verse, it
says that Paul and Barnabas declared what miracles and wonders, now
listen to this, God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. What God Almighty had made, brought
to pass. Now let me tell you, this word
wrought here, this That word right there, often when I'm looking
and trying to get to the heart of the meaning of a word, I'll
come across a word that I've seen that word quite a few times.
And this word wrought has another word that is the same word, but
it's the word made out of second Corinthians 5.21, for he was
made sin. That word made right there, that
word right there means appointed or caused to be. These miracles
and wonders that God had appointed, had caused to be, had wrought
among the Gentiles by them. Now, in this day, of mass deception. And I'm convinced, I'm truly
convinced, that we're in that period of time when the Lord
said, I'll send a famine. I believe, I believe that we're
in it right now. And places that we for so long
had confidence in were even seeing waning in places that years and
years and years. The Lord was pleased to maintain
a candlestick, and now it's not there. But in this day of so-called
healing, And it's just so prominent. I mean, you turn on the television
and, this is the issue today. We're going to have a healing
service. I've often wondered, how do you know? How do you know? I mean, the healings that would
take place in the Scriptures, they were impromptu. As far as
our understanding, they were just on the spur of the moment.
These disciples didn't get together and say, let's go over to Antioch,
we're going to hold a big healing service, bring a lot of attention
to ourselves. But in this day, how do we know? This Scripture says that Paul
and Barnabas, declaring what miracles and wonders God had
wrought. There's the key. What God had
made, what God had appointed, what God had caused to be. Now
all of these hucksters are saying that they heal by the power of
God, that they're God's men. You order a little packet of
Miracle Spring water, now you've got an enlarged packet of Miracle
Spring water. My thought is this, what difference
would the package make? What's the amount? What has that got to do with
it? But it's always, you've got to order this, then follow the
instructions. How do you know? How are these
men, how are these liars, how are these hucksters, how are
they exposed? These men, Paul and Barnabas
said, these are miracles that God had wrought. How do you know? Turn over to Galatians 1.8. I'm
going to give you the key right here. And you judge every man
that you hear. by this rule right here, Galatians
1, 8 and 9. Every man you hear, everybody
you hear preaching, you govern what that fellow says by these
two scriptures right here, these two verses. But though we, Paul
says, are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we preached unto you, let it be a curse. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
ye have received, let him be accursed." What gospel is that,
Paul? Well, the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace. That message, that declaration
of truth that sets forth that Almighty God before the foundation
of the world, loved, predestinated, called, that is, named, justified,
adopted. All of the eternal counsel of
God was absolutely established in one all-inclusive act, done
Salvation is by grace. Salvation is not an appeal or
an offer to get men to do something. Salvation is by the power of
Almighty God who saves whomsoever He will. He shows mercy and compassion
to whomsoever He will. He calls them by His grace, Spirit,
effectually, they come. He gives them a heart to come.
They believe. He gives them faith to believe.
That's salvation by grace. Any other message, any other
gospel, this priest, which is not a true gospel, a false gospel. Jude 1 verse 4 says, For there
are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained
to this condemnation, ungodly men. turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness, wickedness, and denying the only Lord God
and our Lord Jesus Christ. These men crept in unawares before
of old ordained. Now there is a word, written
before, written before, that is what it means, ordained. written
before you that believe and all that Almighty God has everlastingly
loved, you were written before too. Your names, your calling,
written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world,
these were written too. Written before. I tell you this,
reprobation is as true and as real a decree. It is sure, it
is certain, and it is irrevocable. Those that Almighty God has set
His affection on, He did so before the foundation of the world.
And those that He left to themselves, He left to themselves before
the foundation of the world. Salvation is of God. This is
real. This is what we're dealing with.
Romans 8.30 that Brother Carl just read, Romans 8.30, moreover,
whom he did predestinate, determined the destination beforehand. Then he also called, named them. I told you last week, the week
before, when my son was born, I called him Gabe. I named him. It doesn't mean I summoned him.
It means I called him. That's what this means. Those
that he did predestinate, them he also called. Named them. Named them. His. Mine. Elect. Beloved. Everlastingly loved. And whom he called, them also
he justified. And whom he justified, he also
glorified. Salvation is of God. Paul and
Barnabas, in their case, they are declaring what miracles and
wonders God ordained, wrought, made among the Gentiles. These miracles, they gave credibility
to these men. But what was it that made these
men known that the miracles and signs and wonders that they were
doing were truly of the Lord. It was what they preached. You
see what I'm saying? These fellows that are standing
up and they're saying, We're doing all this by the power of
God. We'll stand up and they hit somebody. They've always
got somebody behind them to catch them when they fall. It's a show. It's a sham. Why? Because they're not preaching
the truth. They're liars on gum. Paul said in Acts 20, 27, I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God, which
is Christ and Him crucified, or not just the crucifixion,
but all that was done, declared, purposed by Almighty God, and
consummated at Calvary. Summed up, the Lord said it finished.
This is it. Paid. Done. Redeemed. signs and wonders set forth,
accomplished, proved that these men were of God. Well, and after
verse 13, that held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and
brethren, hearken unto me. Simon hath declared how God at
the first did visit the Gentiles. to take out of them a people
for his name. Simon, he said, hath declared
have God at the first. That is to say, the ministry
of Paul and Barnabas was not the first act or the initial
act of the calling out of the Gentiles. Peter was. That is
what James is saying. But by James's exhortation. There were three things, three
truths that James set forth in these next few verses, and it
started right here in this fourth verse, that Simon declared how
God at the first had visited the Gentiles. Here it is, number
one, to take out of them a people for His name. Now, you know that.
That sounds familiar. What is James saying right here? have taken out of them, the Gentiles,
taken out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue.
This is what James was saying. God has a people, an elect people. And this He did according to
the good pleasure of His will. That was Revelation 5-9. God,
the Scripture says, visited, visited, took them out. He looked
upon in mercy, visited, looked upon them, saw them, marked them
out, and took out from among a people, one for Himself. What does He say? They shall
be called My people. You are My people. I am your
God. I am your Lord. I am your Master in mercy and
in grace. And He did it for His name. according
to his authority, according to his rank, according to his pleasure.
This is an accomplished fact, James was saying. God did visit
the Gentiles. He didn't try to visit them.
He came to them in power. Brother Scott, when He came to
you, He came to you. He visited you. He came in mercy. He called you. He wasn't bargaining
with you. He visited them. Second thing is found in verse
15 and 16, and that says here, to this degree, James says, the
words of the prophet, as it is written, After this I will return,
and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down,
and I will build again the ruins thereof, and will set it up. Peter was preaching, James was
preaching, was according to the Scriptures and it was a fulfillment
of a prophecy in the book of Amos. Let me just read this to
you, Amos 9, 11 and 12. It says, in the day, now back
in our Scriptures it says that the words of the prophets, this
is what James was saying, this is what he was quoting, verse
16, here's the word, in that day, will I raise up the tabernacle
of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof,
and I will raise up his ruins. I will build it as in the days
of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all
the heathen which are called by my name, saith the Lord, that
doeth this." Now, James, in quoting that passage out of the book
of Amos, gives the interpretation of that Old Testament scripture
in reference to the calling of the Gentiles. The tabernacle
that James was referring to that was written in the book of Amos
was that the church, the Lord's people of the spiritual David,
the tabernacle of David that was fallen down. Now, that spiritual
David the Lord Jesus Christ, His people, the tabernacle, the
church. When was it fallen down? Well,
in the garden. God's people everlastingly loved,
everlastingly known, fell in Adam. And for that cause, He
returned the David, the spiritual David. He came in the flesh and
restored that which He took not away, came and lived for them,
died for them, and in so doing, built back, built back that tabernacle,
erected it and established it by His own blood. He put away
their guilt, made sin. And now James is standing and
telling them, he says, this calling of the Gentiles is the fulfillment
of this Scripture. where the spiritual David, his
tabernacle that was fallen, he came and erected it back up. The elect remnant would be called
out by His grace because He has known them and loved them. God
justified them. And Christ would pay the debt
that they owed. And the fulfillment of their
justification would be seen in His own blood. And then the third
thing, found is that these things were not the result of any act
of thought, but all according to the divine purpose of Almighty
God. That's found in verse 18. Known,
he says, unto God are all his works from the beginning of the
world. Does that just mean he just has
a good understanding of them? No. is david says they are ordered
in all things substantial second thessalonians how many
times have we read that i i i just i love that passage second thessalonians
two thirteen the scripture says david i mean uh... paul right
to the third church at thessalonica we're bound to give thanks always
to god for you brother and beloved lord because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth." Almighty God loved His people
before the foundation of the world, chose them in Christ that
they should be holy and without blame before Him in love. That truth settles the heart
of God's people. This saying is just It's sure. We've got a sure hope, a solid,
grounded hope and confidence in Christ, in Him that all things,
yea and amen. Therefore, verse 19, therefore,
James says, this is the way I sum it up. Therefore, or wherefore,
my sentence is that we trouble not them. which from among the
Gentiles are turned to God." This is my opinion. What do you
think about it, James? Well, he said, we had this big
discussion. And Peter got up and spoke, and
Paul and Barnabas spoke, and then James got up and spoke,
and he said, listen, what we've seen is we've seen the hand of
Almighty God move in a marvelous way. We've seen the Scriptures
fulfilled. We've seen God call the Gentiles
out just exactly like He said He was going to do in the book
of Amos. All of this has come to pass, and this is my opinion. It's my judgment. It's my sentence
on the matter. Don't harass these people. But trouble them not. Don't annoy
them that obviously have been called out of darkness. by Almighty
God. Leave them alone. Look at verse
10 of this chapter. Now, therefore, why tempt you
God? Why do you put God to task? Why are you trying to put God
on trial? Are you questioning the Word
of Almighty God? Why put a yoke upon the neck
of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear? But then he gives them some good
counsel right here in verse 20. But that we write unto them,
that they abstain from pollution of idols, from fornication, from
things strangled, and from blood. Now, the issue, if you remember,
it all came down to this thing on circumcision. These Jews, these legalists,
Judaizers had come down and they had said, You cannot be saved
if you're not circumcised. And they took them to task. They
said, You know what? We're not going to put that on
them. You're making that an issue of
salvation. And when you do that, we're going
to take you to task on it. But there were some things that
they told them that they really should not do. They wanted them
to abstain from pollution of idols. That was a stumbling block. What they were doing is they
would offer this meat to these idols. and then they take the
made me put it over the market place they just sell it and sell
it at a discount something like that and the gentiles just absolutely
didn't have a problem with it all i mean didn't bother them
that would you that was a big deal you know what that's all
for the island i'm not eating that i hate that piece of beef
that you know i'm not even at roast beef that was all for the
islands well let me ask you this really was the difference in
that piece of meat. Well, you that believe say, well,
there wasn't any difference in it. There wasn't any. Well, I
know that. You know that. But you know,
there were some old habits. It wasn't a matter of salvation. It was just an offense. Listen to this, Romans 14, 21.
It's good, Paul says, neither to eat flesh nor drink wine. or anything whereby thy brother
stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." If there's something that you
know somebody's got a problem with, don't try to flaunt your
liberty and cause that brother, that sister, to stumble or to
question or something like that. Be sensitive. If you want to
eat pork or if you want to have a glass of wine or something
like that, that's up to you. Okay? But listen to me. If it's
a bother, if it's a hindrance or a stumbling block to somebody,
don't do it. Please. They told me, they said,
listen, we're going to give you some good advice. As far as this
thing of circumcision, I'm not going to put that yoke on you.
They're trying to make that an issue of salvation, but we're
going to give you some advice while you're being viewed by
these Jews that just abstain from pollution of items and from
fornication. Now, this is an amazing thought
here, but this is what exactly the deal was. These Gentiles
had absolutely no thought of this, and this was actual sexual
fornication they were talking about. These Gentiles had absolutely
no problem with that. They thought that was just an
accepted practice. No big deal. They said, listen,
that's wrong. Now, if they abstain from it,
that's not going to establish your righteousness before God,
but it's wrong. It's just wrong. And here these
Gentile converts, they told them, said, You may have a lot of excess
baggage with you, but let me tell you something. I want to
teach you some things here. You know, believers need to be
taught, sometimes instructed on some things. These Gentiles
came and their thoughts and the offenses that they were committing,
the brethren wrote them and said, You know what? That's an awful
offense against Almighty God. have had any problem with it,
but it's wrong. I want you to abstain from pollution
of idols, from fornication, and from things strangled, and from
blood. Now these things strangled, here
was another. The meat wasn't being, it wasn't
offered to idols. But if I could just, you'll understand
what I'm talking about right here. That's basically what they
were talking about. Anything that died that was not
put to death in a proper way. Now, to a Jew, you know, you
go back in the old Levitical, you know, I mean, buddy, there
were things that were just offensive to them. They didn't touch certain
things. They didn't, you know, if this
was not an issue of salvation, it wasn't an issue where this
established a righteousness before God. It was just carry-overs
from old traditions and stuff, and they told them, said, look,
don't just... things that you find on the road
and out in the streets and something was killed by another animal
or it fell into a ditch or broke its neck or something like that,
leave it alone. It's an offense to them. Don't
do it. If there's something that I see
you doing or I find myself doing and it's offensive to somebody
and it's just, I don't want to flaunt it. Galatians 5 verse
13, For brethren, you've been called unto liberty, only use
not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve
one another. I don't want to offend you. I
really don't. I mean, if there's something,
if I have a love and a compassion for you, and there's something
that I'm doing, and I know it's an offense to you, it's just
some silly habit I've got, or if it's something that I enjoy,
and I personally don't have a problem with it, but if I know that it's
bothering you, I don't want to do that. I don't want to offend
you. I really don't. I mean, if it's something, it's
just, you see what I'm saying? they told him to say, look, this
issue of circumcision, these Jews were trying to put a yoke
on you that was just, you know, we're just not going to stand
for it. They were coming to you and telling you that unless you
were circumcised, you couldn't be saved. Now, we've already
instructed them, don't put that yoke on them. You couldn't bear
it, and their fathers couldn't bear it, and they couldn't bear
it. Nobody could bear that, being circumcised to be saved. That's
ridiculous. But let me give you some advice,
too, concerning them. They've got some old habits,
and God will teach them. I remember one day I was talking
to you, Brother Scott, and I asked him about something I'd heard
somebody say, and they don't live here, there's no one here.
It was something, they lived in another city, and they had
made a statement, and I just, you know, I thought, I asked
him about it, and I said, Brother Scott, what do you think about
that statement? I told him what it was, and he said, well, he
said, God will teach them. Just be patient with them. And
I thought, well, you know what? I should have thought of that.
Just be patient. Just be patient. And he said
also, he said, things not only strangled, but from blood, from
the drinking of blood. See, now, to the Gentiles and
their heathenistic practices, they had no problem whatsoever. This actually, I looked at it. They'd kill an animal, drain
the blood into a cup. This almost sounds gross, you
know? You've got to drink it quick because it's going to coagulate.
But they'd just drink it. They just thought, you know,
that's just an accepted drink. And they said, don't do that. Don't do that. God in the Old
Testament had forbad the drinking of blood, the heathenistic drinking
of blood to idols. is what the heathens were doing. And the Jews just, you know,
that was taboo. That was just not accepted. But
that law that God had set forth was in reference to the blood
of Christ. It was pictured and the respect
to Him, the drinking of that blood, was forbidden. And that
was the significance of it back then. Today, we drink the blood
of Christ. But we do that spiritually and
symbolically at the Lord's table. But to drink that blood apart
from the spiritual significance of it was an offense and it was
a hindrance to somebody, and it didn't do those Gentiles any
good. It didn't do them any good at
all. It was a hindrance to somebody else, and they told them, said,
listen, that's not doing you any good. Don't offend them. Just don't use your liberty to
be an offense to somebody else. And lastly, it says in verse
21, For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach
him being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day. Two groups,
Jews and Gentiles, joined together in the unity of faith. in Christ. But you remember that
that old nature is still there, an unnecessary aggravating of
somebody over something that carries no worth to it whatsoever. Don't do it. Just don't. Strive to maintain the unity
of the faith. We're brethren. We're brethren. You remember when, I like that,
when Abraham and Lot, their herds, you remember that? Oh, they were
out there and they were mixing. The herdsmen of Abraham got offended
at the herdsmen of Lot. They didn't think they were getting
their fair share of of grass is what it was. And it was really
causing a problem. And it just grieved Abraham. And he went to Lot and he said,
you know, listen, we're brethren. We're brethren. You do this. You take whatever you want. and i'll take whatever's left
and uh... the amazing thing there was uh... there was a man abraham that
just bowed to the providence of god almighty he told him you
take whatever you want i'll take what's left because we're we're
brothers we're brothers in christ and amazing thing it says in
lot set his eyes set his sights towards sodom boy you know the
rest of the story And Abraham took what God left for him. These
men, they gave them some good counsel. When it all comes down
to it, don't do anything that's offensive to the body of Christ.
Don't, don't, don't. We're brethren. Love one another. Seek the Lord. Seek His face.
Seek His counsel. Trust Him. All's well. All's well. All right. went out and followed him, and
wist not that it was true which was done by the angel, but thought
he saw a vision." Obviously, based on this Scripture, there
were three things that were needful for Peter. Now, the angel of
the Lord came, shined the light, woke him up, gave him some instructions. He told him, first of all, he
said, Peter, gird thyself. He needed to be girded. Gird
thyself. Now this, that belt, it was a
girdle is what it was. It was a belt and it symbolized
service. Now I want you to turn, and I
want you to turn to Luke 17 7. Luke 17 7, I want to show you
something here. Just as Peter needed to be girded,
you and I need to be girded. Luke 17 Verse 7, the Lord speaking,
But which of you having a servant plowing, feeding cattle, will
say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go
and sit down to meet? And will not rather say unto
him, Make ready, wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve
me, till I have eaten, and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat
and drink? You gird yourself. and you serve
me." Now listen, how are we to be girded? How are the people
of God? Peter was called out of darkness.
How are the people of God girded? Well, Ephesians 6.14 says this,
Stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth. Now this
is how the people of God serve the Lord. They serve Him, they
follow Him, they trust Him in truth. Truth. As a soldier of
Christ, the holy warrior has this as the foundation of his
armor. The truth of Almighty God. They
that worship God, worship Him how? In spirit and truth. What is the banner that this
church raises? We preach truth. We preach Christ. We preach God's truth. He said,
I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. What else do we have
but Christ? We have nothing. What are you
girded about with? The truth of God? Gird yourself,
Peter. Truth. Secondly, he told Peter,
he said, bind on my sandals. Bind on my sandals. The sandals
here set forth the walk. You're going to have to be prepared
to walk. You remember when Moses came and he saw this burning
bush. And it was a bush and it was
burning but it was not consumed. And the Lord spoke to Moses out
of the bush and he said, Take off your shoes because where
you're standing is holy ground. This is the analogy of that. You're not going to be able to
walk around me in your shoes. What you prepare to walk in or
how you walk is not going to be accepted by me. Take off your
shoes. Do you think that Moses' shoes
really would make any difference. No, the symbolism there was the
way you walk is not acceptable to me. Are we not shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace? A godly walk is consistent
with a godly profession. A godly walk. God's people walk
after Christ. Now, you look at them, and I
can see consistency in you. I see inconsistency in me. But
I'm going to tell you something. By a new heart, God's people
walk after Christ. They do. They do. Oh, they'll
admit, like Paul says, O wretched man that I am. the body of sin
that I see in me. Who should deliver me from the
body of this sin? They do see that old nature that
plagues them and haunts them. But I will tell you this, the
same Paul that said, in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells
no good thing. With my flesh I serve the law
of sin. He also said, but with my mind,
that new mind, I serve the law of God. God's people walk after
Him by the grace of God. The gospel of peace shards them. That prodigal son, remember that,
came off. He said, give me what's coming
to me. I'm going to go a righteous living. Scripture says when he
had spent all he had, he came to himself. Do you know
when God Almighty calls his own to himself when he shows him,
you spent all you had and it hadn't done you any good. Came
to himself, said, I'm going to go back to my father's house.
Servants there, he said, eat better than I do. Went over there,
prepared his speech, told him he was going to tell his daddy.
What he had done, his daddy saw him afar off. I like that. Saw him afar off. How far off
do you think God Almighty has seen His people before the foundation
of the world? He saw them. Came to Him. That boy, I can
imagine what he smelled like. He didn't smell as bad as I did,
though, in sin. And the Scripture says his daddy
fell on his neck and kissed him. Kissed him. Hugged him. He said, y'all bring the best
robe. Put the best robe on this boy.
You put the ring on this boy and you put the shoes on this
boy. Why? Because this is my boy. This
is my boy. What would you not do, Scott,
for one of your boys? You see what I'm saying? What
would you not do for him? Gary, you'd do anything for him.
What would you not do? This is my son. We've lost, now
he's found. I tell you, we need a sure-footedness
in this world. Angel told him, he said, bind
on your sandals. Then he told him thirdly, cast
thy garment about thee. Oh, how blessed to realize that
we possess a robe, a garment, that is cast about us. This garment is His imputed righteousness. It's His righteousness imputed
to me. But you listen, His garment imputed
to me Makes it mine. It's mine. It's mine. Let me show you that. Revelation
7. Revelation 7, verse 13, 14. Revelation 7, 13. One of the elders answered, saying
unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And
whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed..."
Whose ropes? Their ropes. "...and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb." Let me ask you this. Were the sins of God's people
made to be His sins? were they made to be his sins.
Well, I'm the first to admit that he is the holy, harmless,
undefiled Savior of himself personally. He never, one time, ever thought
or did anything except the perfect will of his Father. He said,
I do only always those things that please my Father. But I
want you to look at Psalm 40. Psalm chapter 40. Psalm 40. In verse 7 of Psalm 40, it says,
Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book which is written
of me. I delight to do thy will, Oh
my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. I've said this before,
but is there any doubt who's speaking here? Is there any doubt? This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at His words in verse 12. For innumerable evils have compassed
me about, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I
am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs
of mine head, therefore My heart faileth me. You see the word
faileth right there? The word faileth is forsaketh.
What he's saying in that last line right there, therefore my
heart, my desire, my love, my Father, forsook me. Why? Because these are my iniquities. He made them His own. He bore
the guilt of His people. The sins of His people were made
His, and His righteousness is made ours. That angel told Peter,
he said, gird yourself, bind on your sandals, and he did.
Cast your garment about thee, and follow me. Follow me. Align yourself with me. That's
what it is. Accompany me. My sheep hear my
voice and they follow me. They accompany me. And the Scripture says, Peter
awakened, clothed, realized he needed some guidance. Follow
me. Almighty God has called us out
of darkness, but I'll tell you this. We need leadership every
moment. I need guidance every moment.
You correct your children. You corrected them one time.
Will you ever have to do it again? We walk by faith. We walk by
faith, not by sight. Follow me. The shepherd of the
sheep said, My sheep hear my voice. They follow me, accompany
me. and the effect of being spiritually
awakened, the sheep do follow him. Verse 9, He went out and
followed him, wist not that it was true which was done by the
angel, thought he had seen a vision. What did Peter do? He did what he wanted to. He
wanted to go. He wanted to walk out. He wanted
to be delivered. He went out. Come out from among
them. Be separate. That's what 2 Corinthians
6 says. Be separate. Let me ask you this,
you that believe, in closing, do you want to be separate? Do
you want to be separate from this world? Do you want to be
a follower of Christ? Do you want to align yourself
with Him? Sure you do. This is life to
you. This is bread to you, this meat
to you, this drink to you. The people of God are willing
in the day of His power. God has a people in His day,
in His time, in His force, in His power, in His strength. They
are willing, they are spontaneous and voluntary. Heard people say,
well, what y'all preaching makes people to be robots. No, it doesn't. God makes willing people to do
exactly what they want to do according to His perfect will.
It's exactly what to do. People of God called out of darkness. And then the regenerate saint
possesses the assurance that salvation is of the Lord. Verse 10, When they were past
the first and second ward, And it still amazes me. It never
says that those soldiers went to sleep. It never says that. Peter just walked out. And when
God calls His people out of darkness, this is what they do. They just
walk out. They walk out of darkness, Neil.
They just walk out. Still in this world, but not
of it. He walked past the first and
second ward and came into the iron gate which leads to the
city which opened to them and is on a cord. They went out and
passed through one street and forward the angel departed, forthwith,
the angel departed. And when Peter was come to himself,
he says, 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 expectation of the people," the people of the Jews, the guards,
I didn't see Him. I just didn't see Him. He walked
out. He came to that iron gate and
it just opened up. That door just opened up. A picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ who opens to the city of God Himself. And that angel departed from
Him. Peter, convinced of his security, Convinced of the source
of his salvation and the evidence of that believer is that God
saved him. God saved me. God called me out. And that believer possesses a
joyful testimony. A joyful testimony. Verse 12,
when he had considered the thing, He came to the house of Mary,
the mother of John, surname 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. But he, beckoning unto them with
the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord
had brought him out of prison, and said, Go, show these things
unto James and to the brethren. And he departed and went into
another place. Let me just read this verse of
Scripture, and I'm going to give you a quick illustration. In
Mark, this is what Peter did. Peter got out and went out, and
a miracle had taken place. And what did Peter do? It says,
He beckoned unto them with a hand to hold their peace, and declared
unto them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. That's what he told him. In Mark
5, verse 18, that demoniac from the Gadarenes, it says, When
he was come to the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil
prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit, Jesus suffered
him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell
them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath
had compassion on thee. There's no greater testimony
than this, that a man or a woman tell what the Lord did for you. Last Sunday night, I had a young
man call me from Franklin, been sitting under the gospel a little
over two years. And he called me up and he said,
he said, I wanted to call you and tell you something before
anybody else called you. I said, okay. He said, I've asked
the pastor in Franklin there to baptize me. He said, I was
13 years old, sitting in false religion, And he said, when I
was first baptized, and he said, I thought at that time that I
was doing something for the Lord. I was doing something that God
required for me to be saved. And he said, I placed all of
my security and hope in that baptism. He said, I started listening
a couple of years ago, and as I listened, he said, I heard
what this preacher was saying. And he said, first it made me
mad because I thought to myself, that's not fair that God would
show mercy to one and not show mercy to another. That can't
be right. He said, the more I sat there,
he said, then I got to thinking, well then if what you're saying
is so, then what I believe is wrong.
And he said, then I was confused. Went from mad to confusion. He said, I've sat there and I've
listened and I've come to this point. I believe God saved me. I believe the Lord has called
me out of darkness and has revealed to me that before the foundation
of the world, He loved me and wouldn't leave me to myself.
and revealed Christ to me. And he said, I want to confess
the Lord in baptism. And I told him, I said, Jimmy,
you couldn't have called me and told me anything that either
sounded more consistent or thrilled me more. Just tell what the Lord
has done for you. That's the greatest testimony
that any man can give. Peter called him out of darkness
Let him out of prison. Nobody knew what was going on.
He went to this house and he held his hand up and he told
them, he said, this is what God did for me. You that believe,
this is your testimony. This is what the Lord did for
me. Called me out of darkness. All right. Let's close with a
word of prayer.