Come back to Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12. Baba dancing
prayer. They go together. They do go
together. Now the church has suffered at
the hands of the Jewish leaders. And now she's going to suffer
at the hands of Rome. Herod takes James and puts him
in prison. And no doubt James, and I have
no doubt that it's for preaching the gospel. He probably told
him, like John the Baptist told his grandfather, you know, it's
not right for you to have your brother's wife. And I have no
doubt James probably said something to Herod about something he was
doing. And he put him in prison for it. And he cut his head off. He beheaded him. That's what
he did. When he died with the sword, he beheaded him. And he
saw that it pleased the Jews. And being the politician that
he was, he went after Peter. He said, well, if killing James
pleased the Jews, I mean, I'll have them in my back pocket if
I kill Peter. That's his thoughts. Because
Peter, at that time, was a chief spokesman. And he thought, well,
I'll just kill Peter. And I thought of this. Here's
a lesson. Usually the more God uses a man in the ministry, in
his work. Usually, the more God uses a
man, the more he suffers. The more he will suffer. Paul
was given a thorn in the flesh. You know, I thought, and I've
said this before, I'd like to have the faith of Abraham, the
faith that Abraham had. And I know that if everybody
believes, they have that faith of Abraham. But do you want the
trials of Abraham? Do you want the trials it took
to produce that faith? See, that's what we don't say.
That's what we don't consider. We like to pick and choose. We
like the things that we like. But there are certain things
that it tastes. You know, I'd like to preach
like Kenneth preached. You know, I want the crowd that
it took to get there. I'll leave that to God. I'll
leave that to Him. But usually this is what happens.
God's man suffers much if he uses much. God's prophets never
lived in luxury. Look throughout the Old Testament.
Look at the apostles. They did not live in luxury like you see
those televangelists living today, not at all. But Herod here now,
Herod puts Peter in prison and is going to execute him. But
remember this, God is in control of this whole situation, minutely. I mean, every little detail,
God Almighty is in control of it. It was James' time to die. It was his time to die, and the
way that he should die was ordained of God. The way that he should
glorify God in his death was ordained of God. The instrument
of his death was already fixed. And I tell you this, the instrument
of our death, and this is where I take comfort in this, is already
fixed. It's already ordained of God.
The death that I will die is already ordained of God. It's
already fixed. And I'm glad of that. I'm glad
I'm not going to die in an accident. I may die in an accident, but
it won't be an accident that I die. It's already fixed. God's already fixed that. It
says in Psalm 76, verse 10, the wrath of man shall praise thee.
We saw that the word of God spread even more after all that's happened.
And the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain. You put a stop
to it. He lets it go to the point where
it's accomplishing His purpose. And once His purpose has been
accomplished, it'll stop. I don't know how long this war
in Iraq will go, but I'll tell you this, it'll stop when His
purpose now, and I know this wouldn't be popular, it'll stop
when His purpose is accomplished. He maketh wars to cease. That's
what it says in the Psalms. He maketh wars to cease until
the ends of the earth. If he did not make them to cease,
they would never stop. We would never stop having war,
ever. He makes them to cease after
his purpose is accomplished. It says in the Scripture, man's
purpose is in his heart, but God directs his steps. We purpose to do things, but
God directs our steps. How does this work in Providence
in reference to the believers? Every day's events, you know,
we look at the big events going on out there, don't we? We always
turn the news on to see what's happening in the world, you know,
the big events. Every day's events in our life is the unfolding
of God's purpose, which is purpose for us, in Christ before he created
the heavens and the earth. If I have a headache, I'm not
stretching this, if I have a headache, there's a purpose for it. Me
getting sick, and not going to Mexico, I don't know what the
purpose of that was all about. And I may never know. But I'm
telling you, there's a divine reason and purpose I didn't go
there. There's a reason I got sick one hour before I was supposed
to get on that plane. I'm glad it happened when it
did. They'd have thrown me off that plane. It would have been bad. It would
have been bad. But I'm telling you, and I sat
at the house, and I did not get mad Disappointed, but I was not
mad and upset. I know, I know God's purpose
was fulfilled in that. Whatever it was. That's what
it was all about. His dealing with us is so minute
that we can't comprehend it. He is so, I want to say in tune,
He is so in touch with His children that not even the air we breathe
is accidental. Even what's in it is purposed
to God. You know, we love our children. Parents love our children. You
mothers, you love your children. I know you do. But I tell you
what, Tara, I bet you didn't count the hairs on Sidney's head
this morning, did you? He said, every hair on your head
is numbered. Can you comprehend that? Every
hair on my head is so precious to him because it's a part of
me, he said, it won't even perish. We take hair out of the drain
of our kids after washing their hair and toss it in the trash.
He said, not even a hair of your head is going to perish. That's
how minutely he takes care of us. God is in the little things. One person said, God is in the
details. He's in the little, I tell you, I'm not so sure we
wouldn't learn more of him if we learned the little things.
Not let the little things pass by. Forget not all his benefits. If a person goes after a job
and he doesn't get it, there's a purpose for that. Now believe
me now, I'm talking about believing. There's a purpose for that. And
be thankful you didn't get it. Be thankful. You don't know he
could have taken you away from the gospel. It could have. History
is the telling of God's purpose, what he purposed before this
world began. History is the telling of his purpose in every one of
his children's lives. Romans 8, 28 says everything works together
for good. Do you believe that? I asked
myself, do I really believe that? Everything works together for
good. In reference to the believer,
everything works together for good. Not for the unbeliever,
everything working against him. But for a believer, it's for
good. Here's the difference. God's definition of good is not
always what my definition of good is. God's definition of
good may be taking this away from me. My definition of good
is always giving something to me. That's our definition of
good. But everything works together
for the eternal good of God's children. How was it good for
James? He said, James put in prison.
They cut his head off. Well, Paul said this, to be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. Now, that's good.
That's good. If it takes getting my head cut
off to finally send me home, that's good. In reference to
the church, it sent the church to pray to seeking God fervently. Anything. Anything. that makes you seek God fervently
is good for you. Anything that brings you to your
knees and makes you seek the Lord and seek His presence to
go before the throne of grace is good for you. It's good. When Zion is at ease, so is her
seeking after God. It becomes at ease too. And here's
another one. It'll strengthen faith. Here's
how it's good for me. It'll strengthen faith. When
prayer is answered, and the next time you need help, you will
remember His help in times past, and that will encourage you to
think not. That will encourage you to think
not. But what about providence in reference to prayer? And I'm
going to deal a little more with this here as we go along. It
is God moving. You could pray for what He's
purposed to give and do for you. That's the one that adds a reference
to prayer. He said, in Isaiah, I said not
unto the seed of Jacob seeking me in vain. There is a divine
purpose behind all true prayer. There's a divine purpose behind
it. It says in verse five, prayer
was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. They didn't pray like that for
James. Herod took him, put him in prison, and I think executed
him pretty quickly. But it was not God's will for
Peter to die at this time. So the church is moved to pray
unto God for him, that God would set him free. I read you over
in Psalm 103, verse 19. It says, His throne is established
in the heavens, and His kingdom, His church, rules over all. Do you think we're ruling? Does
it look like it? Does it look like this little
group right here is ruling over anything? When His church calls upon Him
and prays unto Him, look what happens. Herod the king, who's
going to turn that order over? Who's going to rescind that order?
Who's going to do that? God. And He's going to do it through
His church. Pray for Him. Purpose, prayer, and providence
are all tied together by His divine decree. They're all tied
together. Now let's take a little look
here at prayer. Prayer is a part of a believer's spiritual armor.
Look over in Ephesians chapter 6. Over in Ephesians chapter
6. Look in Verse 13, Wherefore, take unto
you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying.
It's a part of that armor. Praying, he said. Always, with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Oh, the power! If we only knew what we have
here in being able to come before the throne of God Almighty. I
mean the one who rules and reigns over all things. That's what
we have. It's the greatest, our greatest
weapon against all enemies is this, prayer. Calling upon Him. James said this in James chapter
5 verse 16. The fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much. It avails much. I read this this
week. Mary, Queen of Scots, It is said
that she feared the prayer of John Knox more than an army of
20,000 men. She feared one prayer. She feared
the prayer of one man. If he prayed, she had more fear
of that than 20,000 men, armed men. David said, O thou that
hearest prayer. God hears the prayers of his
sons. I could have given you a list of scripture after scripture
dealing with this matter. But look over in Joshua, over
in the book of Joshua. I want to read this to you. In verse 12 of Joshua chapter
10. I didn't give you the chapter,
did I? In Joshua 10 and verse 12. Then spake Joshua to the
Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before
the children of Israel." Now, remember, he spoke to the Lord,
and he couldn't see him anymore than we see him right now. He
spoke to him by faith and prayer. And he said, "...in the sight
of Israel, Son, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in
the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and
the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their
enemies. Is not this written in the book
of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted
not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like
that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened, that the
Lord, the God of heaven and earth, Jehovah, hearkened, he listened
unto the voice of a man, who the Lord fought for Israel. Can
you imagine what happened that day? The sun, everything stood
still because God hearkened to the voice of a man. Prayer is addressing God by faith
in the name of Christ, our Mediator. It's not addressing Mary. Mary
is not a Mediator in no way, shape, nor form. Mary needed
Christ as much as I needed Christ. She needed the blood and righteousness
of Christ as much as I needed the blood and righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, the Lord, when God
sent His Son into this world, He used the womb of Mary, but
Mary gave nothing to His birth. Mary contributed nothing to His... He was created by the Holy Spirit.
The human nature of Christ, the body of Christ, the soul of Christ,
that was created by the Holy Spirit, but He received nothing
from Mary God said, I'll give you a sign, I'm going to give
you a sign. A virgin shall conceive, haven't
you ever heard such a thing? A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son. But he received nothing from
her in his body or anything. Christ is the only mediator. He's the only one. It is a blood
bought right. They'll come to the throne of
grace. It is a blood-bought right that we have through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a right to be there.
And then it's not only a privileged prayer, it's also a command.
He said in Jeremiah 33, 3, listen to this, call unto me and I will
answer them. He commanded him and he said,
here's a promise, here's a promise, I'll answer you. Fall unto me,
I will answer thee, and listen, and show thee great and mighty
things which thou knowest not. You call to me, I'll show you
things you never knew. Our Lord, who knew no sin, was
always pious. If you read through the Gospels,
you'll read at times where He went into the mountain and prayed
all night long. all night long. And then prayer
is an act of faith. It says in Hebrews 11, verse
6, he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that
he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Faith comes
to him believing that it will receive its request according
to his will. Not just, you know, this These
televangelists, you know, they say, well, just claim it. Just
claim this. Just claim that. You know, two or three get together
in his name, then claim it. That's not what he's talking
about. Look over at 1 John. I'll show you what he's talking
about. You would think after a while
they'd wake up and realize they're not getting what they're claiming.
They're not. They're still just as poor as
they were 10 years from the day they claimed it. You'd think
this thing's not working. But that's how gullible lost
people are. Over in 1 John 5, look in verse
14. And this is the confidence that
we have in Him. That if we ask anything, now
what's it say? According to His will. According
to His will. Isn't that what we want? Lord,
Thy will be done. according to His will. He heareth
us. We know this. And if we know
that He heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have
the petitions that we desired of Him. We know this. He's going
to give us His will. He's going to do that. True prayer
also is this. It is inspired by the Spirit
of God. It's inspired by the Spirit of
God. We don't know what we should pray for, do we? Really. Most of the time, I can say this
from my own experience, most of the time it's very selfish.
Most of the time it has a lot to do with me than mine. A lot
of the time. And we don't really know what
we should pray for as we ought, but He does. The Spirit of God
knows. He knows. He knows how to pray
according to His will. Let me show you that in Romans
chapter 8. In Romans chapter 8. In Romans chapter 8. In verse
26, it says, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities,
for we know not what we should pray for, as we ought to. We
know we're too much flesh. But the Spirit itself maketh
intercessions for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. There's
a prayer. You know, prayer's not always
in words. Sometimes it's a groan, and God can read every groan.
He knows every groan. He knows the sight of every heart
of His children. He knows that groan. What I can't
put words to, He does. He can. The Holy Spirit can.
And He does. He prays according, He says,
to His will. And He that searcheth, in verse
27, and He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind
of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints.
Listen. According to the will of God. according to the will
of God. Now, prayer shows our dependence
also on our Father. The Scripture says, Cast all
your cares upon Him, for He careth for you. It shows our dependence
upon Him. What if you never called upon
Him? If you never call upon Him, you never thank Him. I guarantee
you that. But His children do. It's not
possible. It's not possible to be born
of God and not call upon Him in prayer. It's not possible
to be born into this world and not breathe. It's just not possible. And be alive and walk around.
It's not possible. And then it is an act of worship.
He prayed this morning. That's a part of worship. It's
a part of that leper that came to him. And he fell down and
worshipped him. He said he worshipped him. He
said, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. It's a part of worship when we
call upon our Father. Then it's a show of submission.
It is a show of submission, bowing, bowing to the Lordship of Christ,
bowing to the will of our Father. They said, Lord, teach us how
to pray. He said, I'll teach you here, listen here. Our Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done. on earth, in my house, in your
house, as well as in heaven. We will think as much of prayer
as we think of the God we pray to. It depends on how much we
think of God and how much time we actually spend in prayer calling
upon Him. It really does. And then prayer glorifies God.
It always recognizes Him for who He is. I like to start prayer, and I
like to hear a prayer that begins with who God is. Recognizing
God for who He is. Holy, just, sovereign. That's
who He is. Merciful and gracious. It glorifies
Him. And then it's real communion
with God. It is real, actual communion with the living God
through prayer. It's really talking with God. And then prayer receives the
blessings of God. You know, every blessing that
we have has been prayed for. We don't have a blessing that
has not been prayed for, first by our Lord and then by us. Now,
the results of the church praying here, it says the angel of the
Lord was sent to set Peter free. Even while the church prayed
and delivered, or deliverance was at work, even while they
prayed, God was at work delivering, while they were over there praying.
Look over in Isaiah 65. This shows God's foreknowledge.
Prayer is not informing God that something's going on that He
needs to give attention to. That's not prayer. Look in Isaiah
65, in verse 24. And it shall come to pass that
before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. Oh, this shows God's foreknowledge
here. He knows. We're the ones that's
getting the benefit from it. God already knows. But let me
make a couple observations here that I'll wind this around. This
angel that the Lord sent to set Peter free and to bring him out
of that prison, I thought the Lord God of heaven and earth,
the Father sent the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to set us free. He sent his Son into this world
to set us free. And when that angel came into
the prison, it says, the light shone round about them. God does
nothing in the dark. If you'll notice, every time
God works, it's always in light. I've read it in Psalm 104, as
I was sitting there a little before church started here. And
it says, thou cover'st thyself with light as with a garment.
Everything God does, he does in light. Christ said this when
he came into the world. He said, I come as a light into
the world. When he struck Saul down on the
road to Damascus, he said the light shone round about him.
God does nothing in the dark. He does it in the light because
it's right. He doesn't have to hide. Crooks do things in the
dark. God does it in the light. And
that angel, he went into that prison. And he went into that
prison to set one person free, Peter. There's a particular person in
that prison he's going to set free. Our Lord, the angel of
the covenant, came to set a particular people free. And he's going to
do it. And he's doing it. And he has
done it. To set them free. Even as that angel came to set
Peter free from that prison, and no one else could do it,
but that angel did it. No one else could set us free
from the curse of the law, sin. When you look at Peter, how he's
sitting here, between two guards, he's actually handcuffed to these
two guards. And he's sitting there, asleep,
right along with them. And that angel comes in, and
he smokes him on the leg, and he wakes him up, and he says,
come with me, Peter. Those others died because of
him, but he said, Peter, you come with me. You're not dying
tonight. You're going to live. You're going to live. That's
what our Lord has done. He has come into this world and
He has taken off the shackles of sin, the power of sin. He's taken off the shackles of
the curse of the law. They've dropped off. We don't have them
on us now. We don't have them on us. But God, He has set us
free. And it says, even the iron gate
of the city opened up. They walked out and this gate
that leads to the city is locked. They'd do that to keep the enemy
out at night. They'd lock those gates to their cities at night
time. And that gate opened up automatically. It just opened up. There's nothing. There is no obstacle that our
Lord was not able to overcome in saving us from sin. Nothing. Nothing. Then Peter went to where
the church was gathered. And he went there, and he knocked
on the door, and Rhoda came to the door, and she got all excited
and went and told him. And they said, you're mad. Here
they are. But I can't blame them now. I can't shoot them, because I
have to shoot myself. Because I'm guilty of doing the
same thing at times. They said, Rhoda, you're mad. That whole church was gathered
together praying that God would release Peter. God does it, and
they don't believe it. I thought, here's a good tattoo
for us. We live in a day of a lot of tattooing. We ought to tattoo
on our foreheads, shame on me. Shame on me. Not to believe God
That's what you're praying for. Then why pray? Really? Why pray? If you're not going to believe
Him, why do it? Listen, it is evident that God
blesses us for Christ's sake who always believe God. God blesses
us for Christ's sake. He always believes God. He believes
God perfectly, and that's made to my account. And then last
of all, Herod got what was coming to him. Nobody, listen, no one
ever gets away with a crime. I was watching a program the
other day, and they had this old case file. And I mean, they
had this room full, full of folders of murders that had never been
solved. I mean, it was just full. And
I was telling Nicky, I said, nobody, nobody gets away with
that. We may not catch him, but they've
already been caught. No one ever gets away, not even
with the least of sin. No. When Herod put James to death,
he thought, I'm going to really seal my glory here. I'm going
to kill Peter. Well, God providentially sets
Peter free. Then he turns and he deals with
Herod. He turns and he deals with him. Vengeance is mine,
saith the Lord. He said, I will repose. And look
what happened. And the people gave a shout.
It says in verse 21, And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal
apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them.
You know, if you read the verses before this, I believe it was
the people of Samaria came and tried to kind of make peace because
there was a lot of trouble going on. And so being the smart people
they are, they stroked his ego. So he makes this oration and
they all gave a shout, this is the voice of a God. They just
wanted to get on his good side. And he fell for it. He fell for it hook, line, and
sinker. He said it's the voice of a God, not of a man. And immediately,
immediately, the angel of the Lord smote him. Because he gave God not the glory.
You remember what Peter did when Cornelius fell down at his feet?
He said, Cornelius, don't do this. He said, Cornelius, don't. Get up, Cornelius. Don't do this.
Don't worship me. Don't fall down at my feet. We
worship God and God only. He stopped him. He stopped him. That happened another time with
the Apostle Paul, and he stopped him. And over in the book of
Revelations, it happened with John. He fell down at the feet
of an angel, and he stopped him. He said, don't do this. Oh, Herod. He said, do this. Just keep on
doing that, all right? And God killed him. God killed
him. Why? Because he gave God not
the glory. Give unto him, the scripture
says in the Psalms, give unto him the glory due unto his name,
even in the little things. Even in the little things. In
all things, let us believe God, and give thanks unto him, and
give him the glory that's due unto his name. And I want to
close by reading from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. I'll close by reading this. 1 Thessalonians chapter
5. Look in verse 14. Now we exhort
you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded,
support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none
render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which
is good, both among yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything,
listen, in verse 18, in everything give thanks, for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Preach not the Spirit, despise
not preaching, prove all things, and hold fast that which is good.
Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you
who will also do it." He'll also perform what he's promised. Well,
I hope this was a blessing to you. If not, you can blame Tom. He told me don't quit. Don't
change. But I enjoyed looking at it. I enjoyed looking at it. I think
one day, Lord Willie, somewhere down the road, looked at the
providence of God. Well, I want to go to the book
of Esther. I'm telling you, you want to talk about looking at
the providence of God, go read the book of Esther. I don't think
God's name is even mentioned in that book. I'm not sure, but
I don't think it's mentioned in that book. But boy, his providence,
his providential hand, that's another one. All right, man. Come on.