Back over in Acts chapter 5, the text is verses 17 to 20. And let's read that again, verses
17 to 20. Then the high priest rose up
and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees,
and were filled with indignation, that means envy, they were jealous,
angry, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in
the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by
night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said,
Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of
this life. Now I want to begin this by giving
you the punchline. Okay, I want to give you the
whole thing. I pray that this would be a huge
encouragement. I think that Wednesday night
could be my favorite time to gather together. It is definitely
my tiredest time. I have been studying all day
at this point, and so I beg the Lord to quicken me, wake me up,
and I pray that He will, and I pray this will be a blessing
to me. I want this to be a blessing to you, but I've been begging
the Lord that this would be a blessing to me. I don't want to build
up to anything, not in this message. I don't want to lead up to a
big finale. You know, you start with this
and you kind of build up and then here's the punchline. I
want to tell it to you right now. We are all, along with every
person in this world, in a common prison. And when I saw this, it was a
big help to me. This helped me a lot for day-to-day
living. This earth, life in this world,
is a life of bondage. We're all in it. We're all bound
to sin, right? Bound to ourself, bound to everything. It's a prison. When God cast
Satan out of heaven as a bolt of lightning, Do you know where
He cast him to? Hell? No. This earth. That's where He cast him to.
Go with me over to Luke 10. Luke 10, look at verse 18. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Do you have a margin
for fall from heaven? Does it say Revelation 12? Go
with me to Revelation 12. Revelation 12, verse 12 says, Therefore rejoice, ye heavens,
and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the
earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time. And when the dragon saw that
he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought
forth the man-child." Alright, so this place is a common prison,
common to everything, everybody and everything. This earth, this
beautiful earth, I saw a photograph from the moon and it showed the
Milky Way, it was gorgeous. And the earth, it was beautiful.
And everything on this earth is in a common prison. This beautiful
place is a common prison. And one day God's going to destroy
the prison. He's going to build a new earth. But everything here, and we're
here, we're in it right now. We're in this common prison.
Back over in Acts chapter 5, verse 19 says, But, but, thanks be to God for the
sake of my own soul, God sent me a servant. He sent me a servant. He sent
me a messenger. He sent me a man. Verse 20 says, Stand and speak in the temple to the people all
the words of this life. This life. You know what I'm
doing right now? I've been called to go stand
in our little temple and speak all the words of this life. this
life. There is a life outside of this
world, and when we get a hold of that and remember that, it
is a helpful thing. There is a life outside of this
prison, and His name is Jesus Christ. There is a life in Him. Now we're in this common prison
right now, and I want to answer this question
in my heart, and I want you to answer this in your heart. I
think it will explain a lot. This to me, I have light bulb
moments every now and then. This was a light bulb moment
for me, okay? People who are actually in prison,
physically in prison. We've got federal prisons, don't
we? People who are actually in prison. How truly happy do you
think they are? Truly happy. And I'm sure that they have some
days that are better than others. They have some up days, they
have some down days, but how truly happy, how happy in the
soul are they? Go with me over to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 19 says,
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, We are of all
men most miserable. If all we ever know, if all we
ever believe and hope for pertains to this world, we are of all men most miserable.
If everything that we're seeing in this which is what most men
do. They open this word, well it
says you gotta give to people. Okay, well that's good, you do.
And it says you don't, you better not. If that's all we see, we're
a miserable bunch of people, you know that? We're just a miserable
bunch of people. I don't care what good news we
get pertaining to this world. Good news comes, and it may be
good news to us. We get things, you know, that's
wonderful. Things go our way sometimes,
who knows what. But it doesn't matter what good
news we get pertaining to this world, we are still miserable. And the reason is because we're
still in this common prison. It's just the truth. It's just the truth, right? You can be in a prison and they
say, we want to let everybody know we have decided to add a
weightlifting gym next to the basketball court. Well, that's great. But I'm still
in prison. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But I want to tell you that there
is a moment, there is a moment, when a prisoner does experience
absolute, true joy and happiness in the common prison. It happens
every single time somebody comes to their cell with news of their
release. I've got some more news. I've
heard some things. I think they're going to let
you go. When? I don't know. I don't know, but it's looking
like the law is going to be satisfied. It looks like justice is going
to be satisfied. If I'm reading this right, they
have to let you go. I don't think by law they can
hold you. I think they have to let you go. Well, fellow prisoners, turn with me over to 1 John chapter
5. First John chapter 5, look at
verse 11. And this is the record. We've got it on record. I mean,
it's been recorded with the Almighty Judge. This is the record. God hath given to us eternal
life. And this life, this life, is
in his son. It's not in the common prison.
It is in his son. Our Lord said, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me. He said, I have come to open
the prison doors. Isn't that what he said? I have
come to set the captives free. You think about the federal prison.
What put them there? I'm not real fond of those men.
They don't deserve to be set free. Neither do I. Neither do I. Now, we're going to remain in
this common prison just a little while longer. All right? We're going to be here just a
little while longer. But all we have to do, and this
is the truth, all we have to do and all that we can do is
sit and wait for our redemption to draw nigh. That's all we can
do, right? Go with me over to James chapter
5. James chapter 5, look at verse
7. Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye
also patient, establish your hearts, For the coming of the
Lord draweth nigh. That means lift your head up.
I understand you're still in the common prison, but he's coming
real soon. And you've already gotten papers.
It's already on record. You have to be set free. I know that this is a sad place. I know that this is a fearful
place. I couldn't imagine spending one
night in prison. I'd be scared to death. I know
that this is a dangerous place we live in. We're worried about
everything. I know that everything that's
good here, it all becomes ruined. It becomes tarnished. It's not.
But He's coming real soon. He is coming real soon and he
has already told the warden not to touch you and not to let anybody
else touch you. Isn't that what he said in his
word? He said, don't be afraid of the pestilence by day or the
terror by night. Shall not come nigh thee. Now with that in mind, okay,
with all that in mind, here we sit in the common prison. We're going to be released. Somebody
has fulfilled the law for us, and He's coming real soon. He's
coming real soon. With that in mind, turn with
me over to Psalm 42. Psalm 42 verse 5. It says, Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? Why are you so upset? Hope thou
in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance,
my margin says His presence is salvation. Why are you cast down? Why are you cast down? Why am
I cast down? I know that you're cast down
because I'm cast down. We're all cast down in the common
prison, every one of us. And I know what's casting us
down, too. It's the reason for the prison. Sin. You ever have those days where
you just can't put your finger on it? I mean, like, everybody
knows what I'm talking about. You just can't put your finger
on it. I don't know. You know, it's no one thing in
particular. I just I know what it is. It's sin. That's what it is. It's sin. It always comes back to sin. Our minds and our consciences
and our hearts and our bodies acknowledge, I'm a sinner. The reason I feel that way, first
of all, has to do with something I did. I'm a sinner. I wish I
shouldn't have said that, but I'm too proud to apologize. Maybe it'll go away, but it hasn't
yet. First of all, I'm a sinner. I
have sinned. I live in a world of sin. It's all around me. It's all
around me. And sin grieves me. It grieves me. It's on me. It's in me. And it grieves me. Alright? Okay? Let's all go to 1 Timothy chapter
1. First Timothy 1, look at verse
15. It says, This is a faithful saying. I adore this faithful saying.
I love this verse of scripture. I truly do. This is true. This is a faithful saying. And
worthy of all acceptation. If you're going to believe anything,
you can believe this. That Christ Jesus came into the
world. God was manifest in the flesh.
Christ died on that cross. He spilled His blood. And He covered, you know all that
sin that makes you have that kind of day where you just can't
put your finger on it. Well just remember, He spilled
His blood over every bit of it. every single bit of it. He came into the world to save
sinners of whom Paul says, and I want to say with him, I am
chief. I'm chief. So, soul, why are
you cast down? Are you a sinner? A true sinner? A real wicked, vile sinner? Then hope thou in God. Hope thou
in Jesus Christ, the God. Listen to this, I read this. I want to take that and burn
it into my heart. This says, don't allow the trial
to take you from Him. And that's what our natural response
is, it is. Don't allow the trial to take
you from Him, but rather to turn you to Him. Make trying times,
times of seeking the Lord. When things are tough, when they're
really tough, when they're really hard, and you don't feel like you can
just go on, you just, I just, That's your most precious time
to cry out to God and beg Him for help. That's your most precious
time. When things are good, you're not really crying. You're trying
to. I'm trying to, but I'm not really
crying. Do you know how badly I don't
want trials? I don't want them. But whatever happens, I do know
that in the trying times, that's when I really start crying. Don't
turn from Him, turn to Him. When it's really bad, use it. It's a blessed time. It's a precious
time. There's only one reason that
He came to this earth. Only one reason He came into
the common prison, and it was to save sinners. Run to Him. Run to Him. Call on Him. Seek. Knock. Ask. Beg. But I'm so weak. I want to, but
I'm so weak. I'm so weak, I just don't know
if I can. I feel like I'm too weak to even worship Him. I feel
like I'm just too weak. Go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter
12. 2 Corinthians 12, look at verse
9. And He said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect
in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Why are you cast down, O my soul?
Are you weak? Then hope thou in God. Don't turn from him, turn to
him. His strength is made perfect in my weakness. His strength
is made perfect in my weakness. The weaker that I am, the more
His power will rest upon me. The lower I am, the more He'll bring me up. His power will rest upon me.
Back over, go back to Acts chapter 5. Verse 17 says, Then the high
priest rose up, and all they that were with him, which is
the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation,
and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. The angel of the Lord, by night,
in their darkest hour, the angel of the Lord, by night, opened
the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand
and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this
life. This life in Christ. This life of freedom, we have
a life of freedom that we have not experienced yet. As we sit
in the common prison, freedom could be signed, but
I'm still sitting in a cell. And I haven't experienced that
freedom yet. It's in Christ, but I'm not physically there
yet. I was there before the foundation of the world, but here I sit. There's a life of freedom. There's
a life of rest. This, me talking about being
tired on Wednesday night, weary, the stress drags you down, and
work drags you down, and people drag us down, and our own selves
drag us down, and we're just weary all the time. I wake up
tired, so I have to drink coffee. We're weary all the time. There's
a life that's free from every bit of that. Every single bit
of that. This life is a life of happiness. True happiness. I mean true happiness. True sinlessness. There's a life
right around the corner and it is a sinless life. It's a life
of comfort. It's a life of peace. Peace in
Christ. Peace with God. I want you to
listen to this. I'm going to close with this. A man wrote this a long time
ago. And it's called The Secret of Peace. And this is it. This is it. Now, peace with God
was made in the blood of Christ. Peace with God for a sinner was
made in the blood of Christ. Only Christ can take a cold,
dead sinner and bring him back to God. We've got to sit in this common
prism. We've got to be here until our appointed day. So for some
peace while we wait, a little peace while we wait, this is
called the secret of peace. This man wrote, with eager heart
and will on fire, I sought to win my great desire. Peace shall be mine, I said,
but life grew bitter in the endless strife. My soul weary and my
pride was wounded deep to heaven I cried. God give me peace, or
I must die. But the dumb stars glittered
no reply. Broken at last, I bowed my head,
forgetting all, myself, and said, whatever comes, God's will be
done. And at that moment, peace was
won. Did he give him peace from all
his trouble? His weariness? No. It doesn't
say that in the poem. He said he had endless strife.
Did God give him peace from that? No. Whatever comes, God's will be
done. And in that moment, peace was
won. Isn't that something? That is
the truth. That's the truth. There is a
life outside of this prison. And somebody's in control of
it. Somebody's in control of everything that's happening to
it. And that life is in Jesus Christ. It's in his will that
I don't know and understand. It's in his work. It's in Him. It's totally in Him. He is the
life. And all we have to do is just
wait. He's coming. We're going to be set free. It's all going to be good. It's
going to be perfect. It's going to be right. Lord,
teach me to say, whatever comes, I will be done. Let me just sit
here in the common prison until my appointed day and then deliver
me out. All right, let's stand together.