All right, go back with me to
Acts chapter 12. Last Sunday morning, we looked at a sinner being set
free from bondage. That's what we looked at, a sinner
being set free from the bondage of sin and the bondage of death. You think about that. We've been
set free from the bondage of death and the bondage of the
law and the bondage of judgment and the bondage of that captivity
of our adversary, that hold of our adversary. We saw in this
story of Peter being delivered from prison how God sends his
Holy Spirit right into the heart of the prison cell. That's what
he does. Right into the heart of the prison
cell. And he shines the light of Christ, a light that was never
there before. It's all Christ. I mean, it's
all Christ. And in that working of the Spirit,
it smites the sinner. And then it raises him up. After it smites him down, it
then raises him up. And God's Holy Spirit says to
that sinner, you follow me. Follow me. We saw how God, the
scripture says, leads captivity captive. How he takes his child
out of the clutches of the adversary and then he sets him free. Sets
him free by making him a servant. That's what he does. 1 Corinthians
7.22 says, For he that is called in the Lord, he that is called
in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's free man. He's the Lord's free man. If
we have been made servants of Christ the King, We are free
men and women. We really are. Every sinner that
God chooses to save in Christ goes through this miraculous
deliverance. Every single one. Alright, now
we pick up tonight with verse 18. It says, Now as soon as it was day, I love that song, The Comforter
Has Come. I have always loved that song.
And verse 2 begins by saying, The long, long night is past,
the morning breaks at last. That's a wonderful experience,
isn't it? Verse 18 says, Now as soon as
it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers what
was become of Peter. Those two soldiers that were
inside the cell with Peter, spiritually we said they represent God's
law and God's judgment. God's holy law and the penalty
for breaking that law. Justice. The law and justice. They both started saying, where
is our sinner? That's what they both started
saying. Where's our center? There was no small stir. They were
looking for him. Where is the transgressor? I want to show you one of the,
I saw this for the first time a few years ago, and I think
this is one of the most precious verses of scripture in the Bible. It's in Jeremiah 50. Turn with
me over to Jeremiah 50. Jeremiah 50 verse 20 says, In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none. The sins of Judah, they shall
not be found. How come? It says, four, I will
pardon them whom I reserve. I'm going to set free. I'm going
to pardon whoever I choose to set free, whoever I reserve. That word reserve means a remnant. I'm going to set them free. And
those soldiers who were inside the cell with Peter, They started
looking for him and they couldn't find him. No transgressor? No transgressor. You hadn't found
him yet? Hadn't found him yet. Why? Christ pardoned him. That's the story. Christ set
him free. And our Lord did that in his
own blood. He covered the sinner in his own blood and that sin
is now gone. I mean, it's gone. And back in
our text, those soldiers, they weren't the only ones looking
for Peter. Acts chapter 12 verse 19 says, And when Herod had sought for
him and found him not, the adversary himself, he went looking. He
knows when a child of the king is delivered from his clutches. He knows. And he went looking
for Peter, but he couldn't find him. Why not? David said in Psalm 27, for in
the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle,
shall he hide me? He shall set me up upon a rock. That pavilion is Christ. And
that secret place is Christ. And that rock is Christ. He's
going to hide me. God delivers his child and then
he hides him in Christ. And that child is safe. We sing,
there's a song, actually we don't sing it, but there's an old song
that says, safe and secure from all alarms. Totally safe in Christ. Turn with me to Psalm 91. Man, we love this chapter, don't
we? Psalm 91 verse 1 says, He that dwelleth in the secret place
of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress, my God. In Him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his
feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall
be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day.
nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not
come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation,
there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling." Man, is that not good news? The song says, under his wings,
oh, what precious enjoyment. There will I hide till life's
trials are over. Sheltered Protected, no evil
can harm me. Resting in the Lord Jesus, I
am safe evermore. Under His wings, under His wings,
who from His love can sever? Under His wings, my soul shall
abide, safely abide forever. That's wonderful. I wish I could
enter into that. Don't you? Herod sought for Peter,
but he could not find him. Hiding in thee, thou blessed
rock of ages, I am hiding in thee. Back over in Acts chapter
12, verse 18 says, Now as soon as it was day, there was no small
stir among the soldiers what was become of Peter. And when
Herod had sought for him and found him not, He examined the
keepers and commanded that they should be put to death. And he
went down from Judea to Caesarea in their abode." Now, our Lord said, death and hell
are in my hands. He said, I kill, I make alive.
But the truth of the matter is, all 16 of those soldiers, they were put to death. representing
every enemy and every bondage against God's child, every single
one. That's the only end for the adversary
and his army. That's the only end. It is also
the only end for the penalty of the law, that good and holy
law that we love. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans
7 verse 4, wherefore my beloved, ye also are become dead to the
law by the body of Christ. Dead to it. What this means is
if you know the truth, the truth shall make you free. It'll make
you free. Now, the contrast to what the
Lord did for Peter is at the end of this chapter. We're going
to finish out this chapter, and this is the opposite. This is the complete
opposite of the Lord's mercy and grace to Peter. Herod represents
our adversary, but he also represents every man and woman who is outside
of Jesus Christ. Every single man and woman outside
of Christ. Verse 20 says, And Herod was
highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon. But they came
with one accord to him, and having made this man Blastus, the king's
chamberlain, their friend, they desired peace, because their
country was nourished by the king's country. Tyre and Sidon
were rich cities, but they were small. They didn't have any land.
And so they bought their food, but they got their food from
Herod's kingdom, and they needed him. Verse 21 says, 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 then he gave up the ghost.
That's something, isn't it? That's something. He arrayed
himself in all of his own pride and self-righteousness, and he
gave them an oration, and they said, it's the voice of a God
and not of a man, and he just relished it. Now I want us to really take
notice of something here. I hope that the Lord will cause
us to really enter into something here. The Lord sent an angel
to Peter. The Lord sent an angel to Herod. The Lord smote Peter. The Lord smote Herod. Through that smiting, God delivered
Peter. Through that smiting, God killed
Herod. What makes the difference? This
is something we need to know tonight. What makes the difference? The same word that smites the
heart of the child of God smites the enemy of God. The same word. The same word that breaks the
child of God, it absolutely breaks the enemy of God. The same word
that is a saver of life unto life, that same word is a saver
of death unto death. That same word. One man can stand up and preach
what he believes to be the Word of God. And it can be to his damnation
and it can be to the damnation of all who hear him. Another
man can stand up and preach what he believes with all of his heart
is the Word of God. And it can be unto his eternal
life and the eternal life of all who hear him. What makes
the difference? What makes the difference? The
next time you hear a man stand up and preach, actually started
right now, right now, tonight, every single time you hear a
man stand up and preach, this word says, try the spirits, whether
they are of God. And what that means is you test
that man by the word of God and you see if that's God's called
preacher. Every time you hear a man stand
up behind the pulpit and preach, ask yourself this question. I
listened to a man today. All right. I listened to a man today. And he was convincing. I don't know the man. He's not
one of the men that I consider to be a true preacher. There
was a reason why I listened to him. And I had to ask myself
this question, and it took me to the end of his message to
get my answer. But every single time you hear
a man stand up and preach, ask yourself this question. Who is
getting the glory every single time? There is such a defined line. It is not a huge gray area. There is such a defined line
between the truth and a lie. It is defined. That line is who
is getting the glory. This man I listened to today,
he talked about, he started out talking about man's absolute
sin and depravity. And then he talked about God
did not die for every soul. He died for his elect. God chose
a people. And then he said, Christ only
died for the ones that God the Father put in him. He did not
die for the whole world. And I thought, I think I know who's getting
the glory. And then he got to the very end of it. And then
he put the ball in your court. All right. Who is getting the glory? Now,
start to finish. Our Lord said, a little leaven
leavens the whole lump. If Christ gets all the glory,
start to finish, it's the truth. If man gets any glory at all,
it's a lie. Don't listen to it. Don't listen
to it. It's an absolute lie. Peter beckoned
with his hand and he said, The Lord hath brought me out of prison. Herod stood up and he didn't
say a word. He just let him, let him holler,
let him glory. He took all the glory for himself. Monday, and there's a reason,
I'm not going into it, but I don't recommend you listen to men who
are not true preachers. Don't do that. I had a reason
for this. It was for this message. If you
don't know the man, don't listen to the man. People used to give me books
and say, about half of this is good, throw out the other half.
My problem with that is, how do I know what half is good?
I might believe it. When I was called here, somebody
told me, be careful what you say. Somebody might believe it.
So you stick to the old paths. I'll take the word of God, thank
you. We'll just stay right there. But anyway, I listened to a man,
Monday, preach from this text. It didn't take long at all for
me to realize that this man has no idea what the gospel is. I
mean, he didn't even make me wait. He has no idea who God
is. He has no idea who God is. And
he has no idea who man is. And again, I have no idea who
this man is. I just randomly picked him on
Sermon Audio. This man, though, he has no idea
what Christ has done. No idea. And from this text right here,
this was the point of his sermon, all right? This was what he built
this sermon on. It was what he was trying to
get across. His question was, are we glorifying
God with our lives? That was his question. That was what he was challenging
everybody with. Are we glorifying God with our
lives? A man who believes he is, is
a man who is about to be eaten by worms. What an ignorant question. What
an ignorant of the word of God question. I promise you the answer is no. I promise you. If I've ever told
the truth, I'm telling it right now. The answer is no. Are we glorifying God with our
lives? No. Look at us. Just look at
us. Look at our flesh. Listen to this quote. This is
a man who's telling the truth right here. Man, this is, I've
quoted it before. He said, I cannot pray, but I
sin. If any man has ever been called
on to pray in public, I promise you, you know, everybody's listening
to you. You don't want to say a wrong
word. You don't want to fumble your words. This man said, I cannot pray,
but I sin. He said, I cannot hear or preach
a sermon, but I sin. I cannot give an alms or receive
the sacrament, but I sin. Nay, I cannot so much as confess
my sins, but my very confessions are still aggravations of them.
My repentance needs to be repented of. My tears need washing. And the very washing of my tears
needs still to be washed over again with the blood of my Redeemer. That man is telling the truth.
You know how I know? He is giving God all the glory. He is giving God all the glory. How can we give God all the glory? This verse of scripture right
here in our text tells us that we must give God the glory. So how do we do that? Here's
how. We give God all the glory by
praising God for stripping the glory from us. We do too, don't we? Our Lord
said, this is what he told his disciples, he said, deny yourself,
take up your cross and follow me. Well, then that's just what I'll
do. Well, then you're not giving
God the glory. He said, deny yourself. I can't. I can't. My flesh cannot deny itself. I'm being as honest as I can
possibly be. Try to. Try to. Try to not go there in the mind. You ever had that happen and
you're thinking, what in the world is going on? Get that out. And then you have about four
tenths of a second and it's right back. Oh, get out. It's right back. Try to not feel
that in the heart. Try to. My flesh feeds on myself. That's what it does. It thrives
by indulging itself on my own sin. It loves it. My flesh loves
it. If I could, I would. If I could,
I would. But I just can't. I just can't. Lord, if you don't
cause me to deny myself, I never will. You must do it. You must do it. He said, take
up your cross. I can't. The scripture says,
and I believe it with every fiber of my being, I'm dead. I'm telling you, I'm dead. I
could try to impress you right now, but there's no point. I'm
dead. I'm dead in trespasses and sins. I have no ability in me. None. The big saying that's been
around for so long is God has no hands, but your hands. And
that's just a lie. The truth is, I have no hands
but God's hands. I have no hands. Lord, if you don't take up my
cross, it'll never be taken up. It will
never be taken up. Lord, I'm looking to you. I'm waiting on you. I'm just trusting
in you. Otherwise, I'm going to be eaten
by worms. If you don't work, if you don't move, if you don't
stop, if you don't, I'm going to be eaten by worms. Our Lord
said, follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow
me. Lord, I can't. You see, I'm dead. I mean, I'm
dead and I'm blind and I'm deaf and I'm dumb and I'm lame. And you're my only hope. You're
my only hope. Do we have any problem with the
fact that God has stripped us of all the glory and given every
ounce of it to Jesus Christ? We praise God for that, don't
we? We closed Sunday's service with that song. We praise Thee,
O God, for the Son of Thy love, for Jesus who died and is now
gone above. Hallelujah. Thine the glory. We mean that, don't we? I mean,
we mean that. Who gets the glory in salvation? Christ does. I am what I am by
the grace of God. Who gets the glory in faith? Christ does. He gives it. It's
His. It's the faith of Christ. I believe
what I believe by the grace of God. Who gets the glory in giving
God the glory? Christ does. We would not give
it. If He didn't put His Spirit in
us and do a work of His Spirit in us and cause us to in return
give Christ the glory. I preach what I preach by the
grace of God. Christ gets it all. He just gets
it all. He gets every bit of it. I love how this chapter ends. Verse 23, it says, 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, but the word of God grew and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned
from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and
took with them John, whose surname, or last name, was Mark. You know what our greatest desire
is here. Our greatest desire is that the Word of God would
grow and multiply. That's our greatest desire. That's
all we want. That Christ and His Word would
be glorified and magnified. That's all we want. Verse 25 right here says, in
the middle of it, when they had fulfilled their ministry. I pray that God would have me
be here 50 more years. 88, maybe 88. I wouldn't mind being
here 50 more years if you all will be here with me. Dwight,
you got to hang in there until you're 122. But when the time comes and we
have fulfilled this ministry, This ministry that God has given
us, I pray that's what is said about this place. Oh man, the
Word of God grew and multiplied there. Don't you want that? Not
just the people, and that's wonderful too, but not just the people,
the Word. The Word. Let Christ and His
Word be glorified and magnified and honored. And if we can walk
out of this building at the end of every service and at the end
of this ministry saying, Jesus Christ got all the glory, then
we'll be satisfied, won't we? All right, let's stand together.