This morning we're going to take
a brief look at Acts chapter 12. I'm not going to do a verse
by verse, but I felt like we had to read the whole chapter
to get a sense of what was going on. I'm entitling the message
from this chapter, Acts 12, the providence of God, prayer unto
God, and the power of God to deliver. So we can shorten it
by providence, prayer, and power. That's what we see here. Providence,
prayer, and power. Now every believer is blessed
by the good and sovereign purpose and providence of God. I love
to think about that and rest upon his word, his promise. He said, all things are working
together for your good. To them who love God, to them
who are called according to his purpose. Everything God does,
he does on purpose. And the one purpose that he works
all things by is his glory. Secondly, every believer is also
blessed with the privilege of calling upon God in prayer. What a great privilege we have.
He said, call upon me and I will hear, I will answer. Our Lord
said, men ought always to pray. And the apostle writes, pray
without ceasing and everything give thanks. That's what these
folks did. When they were in trouble, they got serious about
praying. He has told us to make our requests
made known unto him. He has told us to call upon his
name for help. He said, I'm on the throne of
grace. He said, come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in our time of need. And James said, you have not
because you ask not. He's rich unto all that call
upon him. PRAYING UNTO THE LORD, A PRIVILEGE
GOD'S GIVEN TO US. SO WE'RE BLESSED BY THE SOVEREIGN
GOOD PROVIDENCE OF GOD. EVERY BELIEVER HAS THIS PRIVILEGE,
DISTINCT PRIVILEGE OF CALLING UPON OUR FATHER FOR OUR HELP. ALSO EVERY BELIEVER HAS BEEN
AND HAS EXPERIENCED DELIVERANCE BY THE POWER OF GOD. Deliverance
by the power of God, for the gospel is the power of God unto
salvation. We've experienced God delivering
power, God who saved us and called us according to his purpose and
grace, given unto us, that's the experience of salvation.
Now in this chapter, God gives us VALID INSTRUCTION. IN THIS CHAPTER 12 OF ACTS WE
SEE THE MIGHTY HAND OF GOD WORKING OUT ALL THINGS TO HIS GLORY. to his glory. Remember from Romans
chapter 11, of him and through him and to him are all things
to whom be glory both now and forever. Oh, the depth of the
riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable
his judgment and his way past finding out. We call that the
good and sovereign providence and purpose of God. He says,
I've spoken it. I have purposed it, I'll bring
it to pass, I will do it. We cannot stop the purpose of
God. We see in this chapter, the close
of chapter 11, and in this chapter, the mighty working of the hand
of the almighty God. He sent in the land, he sent
a famine in the land, The last part of chapter 11, the Lord
on purpose, his good and sovereign purpose, sent a famine in the
land, a great dearth in the land. The Lord sent persecution among
the believers in Jerusalem, as it says in the first few verses
in chapter 12. The Apostle Paul is killed, excuse
me, the Apostle James is killed by the hand of Herod. These are
trials. Where do they come from? The
hand of the Lord. Peter's put in prison, waiting
to be executed like his friend James. We see also that Peter is delivered
by the mighty hand of the Lord. Herod is also killed by the same
angel that delivered Peter. The Lord will have mercy upon
whom he will. All those soldiers that kept
Peter in the prison cell, they were also executed. And we see
yet in all of this, verse 24, Acts 12, but the word of God
grew and multiplied. In the midst of all this hardship,
in the midst of all these trials and trouble and fibrillation
and heartache, God continued to bless his people. Now, just
looking upon this as a casual viewer from a distance, we would
say, well, these people are, man, they're just really being
persecuted. No, they were being blessed by
the Lord. That's what I want you to see.
The first point is this, the good, wise, and sovereign purpose
and providence of God. That's what we see in this chapter,
the good, wise, sovereign providence of God. That's what we see, the
Lord doing all things according to the working of His mighty
power. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. I got this from Brother Fortner's
bulletin over the weekend. We believe, according to the
scriptures, that the Lord our God is a God of purpose, absolute,
unalterable purpose. Before the world began, Almighty
God sovereignly purposed all that ever comes to pass in time.
Nothing in this world is left to chance. EVERYTHING IS MOVING
TOWARD THE PREDETERMINED END OF GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE WITH
ABSOLUTE PRECISE ACCURACY. THAT'S SO. I BELIEVE THAT'S SO. I BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD TEACHES
THAT. ALL THINGS, ALL THINGS ARE WORKING ACCORDING TO GOD'S
DETERMINED END AND PURPOSE. THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
IS RULING AND REIGNING AND CONTROLLING ALL THINGS BY HIS INFINITE WISDOM
AND SOVEREIGN POWER. I jotted this down from Isaiah
14, and I hope to bring a message from Isaiah 14 on Wednesday evening,
but here's what Isaiah 14 says. The Lord, this is the purpose
that is purposed upon the whole earth. This is the hand that
is established and stretched forth upon all nations, for the
Lord of hosts hath purposed WHO SHALL DISACKNOWLEDGE? HIS HAND IS STRETCHED FORTH,
WHO CAN TURN IT BACK? HE SAID, I PURPOSED IT, I WILL
DO IT. WHAT GOD HAS PURPOSED IN ETERNITY,
HE BRINGS TO PASS IN TIME. THAT'S WHAT THE PROVIDENCE OF
GOD IS. THESE THINGS THAT UNFOLD IN TIME ARE ONLY THINGS THAT
GOD HAS PURPOSED FROM ETERNITY. HE WORKS ALL THINGS AFTER THE
COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL, in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of this earth, and none can stay his hand or say
unto him, God Almighty, what doest thou? God is God over all,
blessed forever. He's subject to none, influenced
by none, he's absolutely independent, does as he pleases, when he pleases,
with whom he pleases, he depends upon no one. HE IS THE ETERNAL
GOD WHO DOES ALL THINGS WISE, WELL, AND ON TIME. THE SOVEREIGN
PURPOSE OF GOD BROUGHT THESE TRIALS AND BLESSINGS UPON THE
LORD'S PEOPLE IN THAT DAY. AND WHAT WAS TRUE IN THAT DAY
IS TRUE IN OUR DAY RIGHT NOW. GOD IS WORKING ALL THINGS IN
OUR LIVES ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. Now, I don't even understand
all the things that have happened in my life, almost 68 years old
now. I don't understand some of the
things, most of the things that the Lord has brought to pass
in my life, but I know it's all by his sovereign purpose. Being
a believer, though, does not exempt us from trials, heartache,
and sorrow in this life. YOU READ THROUGH THE BOOK OF
ACTS, THESE PEOPLE WERE HATED, HUNTED, AND PERSECUTED BECAUSE
OF THE GOSPEL. THEY SUFFERED SICKNESS, HEARTACHE,
AND TRIAL. BEING A BELIEVER DOES NOT EXEMPT
YOU FROM HEARTACHE AND TRIAL. OUR LORD SAID THIS IN JOB 14,
MAN THAT'S BORN OF WOMAN, FEW DAYS AND FULL OF TROUBLE. HAVEN'T YOU FOUND THAT TO BE
SO? We have seen that over and over again in our study in the
book of Acts. But here is our comfort. Our
Lord said this before he left those apostles going to Calvary
Street to put away our sin. He said, these words have I spoken
unto you that in me you might have peace. In this world you
shall have, what? Tribulation. I know it to be
so, I've experienced it. But be of good cheer, he said,
I've overcome. I have overcome. Man that is
born of a woman, just a few days, trouble when we get here. Someone
said we'd come forth from the womb and they spank us on the
rear end, and when we die, they throw us in a hole and put dirt
on our face. And everything in between is
just trouble. That's about our life, isn't
it? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
will sustain us and encourage us in a day of heartache and
sorrow. His word, in his word, we find
great comfort in the day of trouble. We find comfort in him. Psalm 46, when we were flooded
10 years ago, it's been 10 years now. And when I was trapped in
the house over here on the second floor with the water raising
at a rapid rate clear up to the second floor, I didn't know if I was going
to survive. I really didn't. And here's the verse that flooded
my mind. God is our refuge and strength
of every present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. Everything worked out okay. And
then during that time, I got a lot of letters from different
people and someone sent me a letter with this psalm, Psalm 55, verse
22. I've got the same little scrap
of paper posted on my computer in there on my screen. And it
says in that psalm, cast thy burden upon the Lord. He shall
sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved. Cast your care upon him. Peter
writes that in his epistle. Cast your care upon him. He careth
for you. The Lord sends us precious trials
by his wisdom to teach us and mold us and to conform us to
his will. Remember what we read? Don't
turn there, let me just read it to you. 1 Peter, when he writes
about trial, heartache, and sorrow, wherein you greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness, through
manifold temptations, if need be, The trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though
it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. God sends
these precious trials. They're called precious trials.
The Lord sends these trials our way because that's what we need.
The Lord will give us also grace for the trial in the way that
he sees fit. He's promised us grace. He said,
my grace, when Paul prayed for that thorn in the flesh to be
removed three times, he asked the Lord three times, Lord, take
this thorn away. And the Lord said, my grace is
sufficient for you. Paul rejoiced in the grace of
God in the midst of trouble and heartache. The Lord has promised
to never leave us nor forsake us in the time of trial or at
any time. He said, lo, I'm with you always,
even to the end of the earth. He said, I'll never, no never,
no never will I leave you nor forsake you. These trials the
Lord sends in our life are precious trials because they always accomplish
the purpose of God in our lives. My dear friend Scott Richardson
used to say, we're either in a trial or coming out of a trial
or getting ready to go into one. Isn't that what we experience
in the reality of life? Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. So that's the first
lesson. The good and sovereign providence
of God. These folks had trouble and heartache. but they also had peace in Christ.
The second thing is this, what did these believers do when they
were persecuted and hated and suffering heartache and sorrow?
Look at verse five. Peter, therefore, when he was
kept in prison, prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him. Again, in verse 12, The last
part of verse 12, where many were gathered together, what
were they doing? Complaining against God. God,
this ain't right, this ain't fair, I don't deserve this. Boy,
I hope we don't think that way. They were praying, asking God
for mercy, mercy. They cried unto the Lord. Sometime
mark this down, Psalm 107. It talks about repeatedly heartache
and trial, heartache and trial, Psalm 107. And then it says at
least four times, then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble
and he delivered them out of his distresses. And then it says,
oh, that the, that we would praise the Lord for the goodness of
his grace toward the children of men. God sends us trouble
that we might call upon the Lord. Someone said trials give new
life to prayer. That's pretty good, isn't it?
Trials give new life to prayer. I found this to be true in the
26 years that I've tried to preach the gospel here. We've been through
many trials, and the Lord has sustained us. We've been through
some trials, and we'll be going through some more trials. If
we didn't have trials, you know what? We'd be lifted up with
religious pride, And we look around other people and say,
well, you know, if you were, and you were, the Lord sends
his trials to strip us. The Lord often strips us and
puts us in the dust to show us how frail we are that we might
learn to lean upon the Lord and to call upon him. The eyes of
the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their
prayers. That ought to encourage us to
pray unto the Lord. PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, REJOICE
EVERMORE, PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, AND IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS.
THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS CONCERNING YOU. THAT'S
I THESSALONIANS 5, 16, 17, AND 18. PRAYER IS THE VERY LIFE BREATH
OF A BELIEVER. Someone said prayer is asking
the Lord to reveal His will unto us and then asking for grace
to do His will. We do not pray to change His
will. I remember some years ago when
we lived in Asheville, Kentucky and they were, there's a big
steel mill there at that time. It was called Armco Steel. And
they were talking about shutting the steel mill down. This was
in the early 80s. Now that place is completely
closed down. But a bunch of those religious
people got on this campaign that we're gonna get together and
we're gonna gang up on God and we're gonna change his mind. Forget it. He said, I'm the Lord,
I change not. Prayer has something to do about
finding out what the will of the Lord is and then asking for
grace to bow into it. Our Lord said this, he said,
after this manner, therefore, pray. Our Father, which art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Remember what our Lord, as he
submitted unto death, submitted unto the will of the Lord, he
said, Lord, he prayed, not my will, thy will be done. Thy will
be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
kingdom, thine is the power, thine is the glory. Amen. Amen. Now here's the third thing,
the power of God to deliver. The purpose, the providence of
God, the privilege of praying unto the Lord, and then the third
thing we see is the power of God to deliver and bless in the
time of trial. Peter was delivered by the angel
of the Lord. Delivered by the angel of the
Lord, as it says in verse 7, the angel of the Lord came upon
him and a light shined in the prison. And he smote Peter on
the side and raised up quickly, saying, arise up quickly. And his chains fell off. That
angel said, you follow me? And they went right out of that
prison. The doors opened up and they walked right through. The
chains fell off. How do you account for such deliverance? The power of almighty God delivered
him. Peter was not in there walking the floor. jumping up
and down, complaining to the prisoners, trying to shake off
his chains. He was in there sleeping, waiting
upon the Lord to deliver him. It wasn't Peter's will that delivered
him, was it? It was the Lord that delivered
him. Peter knew what was going to
happen the next day. He was scheduled to be executed
like his friend James, but something strange is going on in that jail
cell. Peter's asleep, resting in the
sovereign purpose of God. What's he doing? Resting in the promise of God.
He knew all things working together for his eternal good. He knew
if his life was spared, he would go on serving the Lord. But if
he knew that the Lord was pleased to take his life, that would
even be better. And one day, not many years after
that, Peter was killed for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter believed God and gave him
rest in his heart and in his soul, being persuaded that all
that God has promised, he's able to perform. The Lord our God,
and here's the point, the Lord our God is able to deliver us
from the prison house of sin. There's a picture of Peter in
prison, surrounded by those guards, chained to the floor, chained
to the wall, no way he's getting out of there in the energy and
strength of the flesh. His condition, naturally, is
our condition spiritually. Dead in sin, no way to deliver
ourselves, and God sent the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us. He's
able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. The Lord
Jesus Christ came to set the prisoner free, to set at liberty
those who were held captive, and that's what the Lord has
done. Whom the Lord set free, they are free indeed. And that
is a picture of our deliverance by the power of God. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Now, something else we can learn
right here on this point about the sovereignty of God in salvation. The same angel that delivered
Peter He's the same angel that killed Herod. Did you notice
over there in verse 21? And upon a set day, Herod arrayed
in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made a great oration.
And the people gave a shout saying, it's the voice of God and not
of a man. And the angel of the Lord smote
him. because he gave not God the glory. What did Peter say about his
deliverance? Look at verse 17, Acts 12 verse
17, but he beckoning unto them with the hand to hold your peace,
declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. That's our testimony. He didn't
even say, well, you know, the angel of the Lord, He said, no,
the Lord delivered me from the prison. And that's our testimony. But here's the point I would
make. Those soldiers were killed, Heaven was killed, and Peter
set free. The Lord will have mercy upon
whom he will have mercy. He is absolutely sovereign in
all things. He'll harden those whom he'll
harden, and he'll have mercy upon whom he will have mercy. EVERY BELIEVER THAT'S SAVED BY
THE GRACE OF GOD HAS THIS SAME TESTIMONY THAT PETER HAD. IT'S THE LORD WHO HAS DELIVERED
ME. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD. ALL
OF HIS DOING. HE CHOSE ME, REDEEMED ME, CALLED
ME, QUICKENED ME, SAVED ME BY HIS GRACE. EVERYTHING HE DID. WELL, PREACHER, WAIT A MINUTE.
DON'T WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING FOR SALVATION? Our faith and our repentance
does not bring salvation. Salvation brings faith and repentance. Salvation's of the Lord. Our
faith is not the cause of salvation. Our repentance is not the cause
of salvation. Our baptism is not the cause
of salvation. Christ is the reason of our salvation. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again to justify us. We have deliverance from the
wrath to come by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He freely
justifies us by his grace through the redeeming work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I pity the sinner who's looking
to his faith, looking to his repentance, looking to his experience,
looking to his baptism. That's a terrible place to find
salvation. In what you have done, in your
obedience, Peter didn't say, well, you know, I figured out
how to get out of that jail. Those guys weren't so smart after
all. I figured a way out. No, he said, the Lord delivered
me. That's our testimony. It's the Lord. It's the Lord
who has delivered us. Now, here's the last thing. Verse 24 and 25, but the word
of God grew and multiplied. You would think, naturally, that
the spread of the gospel would be diminished. and the influence
of the gospel would be lessened. But the more men tried to smash
it down, the more it blossomed, the more it grew. It says in
Acts chapter eight, remember, when they were persecuted at
the time of Stephen's death and Saul was breathing out, threatening
and slaughter, making havoc of the church, they went everywhere,
they're scattered abroad doing what? Preaching, preaching, preaching
the word of the Lord. The word of our God grew and
multiplied. They were persecuted, but they
went everywhere preaching the Lord. Our Lord said, I will build
my church, and the gate of hell cannot stop it. Never fear, the
purpose of God will always work to his glory, to the eternal
good of his people, and to the everlasting destruction of his
enemies. Thank you. She gets my water
for me every week. Thank you. Everlasting destruction
to the Lord's enemies. Listen to this promise. The Lord
said unto my Lord, Psalm 110, sit thou at my right hand till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
his strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine enemies
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power in the beauty
of holiness on the womb of the morning thou hast to do of thy
youth he said I will never leave you I'll never forsake you let
me read this to you over here in Isaiah 41 if you want to write
this down let me just read it to you Isaiah 41 10 fear thou
not for I am with thee Be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I
will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, I will uphold thee
with the right hand of my righteousness. Again, in Isaiah 43, verse one,
but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, he that
formed thee, O Israel, fear not. For I have redeemed thee, I have
called thee by thy name, you are mine. When you pass through
the waters, I'll be with thee through the rivers, they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior, since thou wast precious in my sight. Thou has been honorable,
I have loved thee, therefore will I give men for thee and
people for thy life. God's gonna take care of us.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Now let me read this to you in
closing. And I jotted this down, copied
it. I love that copy and paste. Copy
and paste, just pasted it right in here. We sang a moment ago
that song, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood. That's a good
song. We've been singing it for 40
years. Never tire of it. William Cowper
also wrote this hymn in 1773. And it was written at a time
in his life when he was so depressed and blue so downhearted that
he went out that night to try to commit suicide. And if I remember the story right,
he summoned a carriage, or we would say a taxi cab, to take
him down to the riverside where he might jump in and take his
life. God sent a thick cloud bank And
the driver of the carriage said, we're not going anywhere. You
go back in your house. And he sat down and he wrote
these words. God moves in a mysterious way
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in the abital, aminal minds
of never failing skill, He treasures up his bright design and works
his sovereign will. You fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break with blessings on your
head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his
grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides his smiling face. His purpose will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. In due time, he will.