Acts chapter 11. In Acts chapter 11 we see a great
famine came upon the land, and these Gentile believers sent
a gift out of love and gratitude down to the church in Jerusalem,
and they sent it by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Now chapter
12 of Acts, the book of Acts chapter 12. About that time,
about that time of this famine that God sent in the land, this
famine affected not only the believers, but it affected those
who were unbelievers. It affected everybody involved. And about that time, it says
in chapter 12, verse 1, Harry, this wicked man with wicked motives,
going about to do wicked deeds, he stretched forth his wicked
hands, to bring evil, to bring harm. He didn't open up his hand in
a generous way. He opened up his hand in a malice,
with malice, with murder on his hand, with blood on his hand.
And he determined to stamp out Christianity, to stamp out these
followers of Christ and begin at the top. And he's going to
work his way down. And he killed James. He killed
James, the brother of John. You know, that was a great trial,
wasn't it? You know, that affected the believers. You know, it did. You know, it broke the heart
of John, the beloved apostle, that his brother had been executed,
been arrested and slain. Oh, Herod, because he was a politician. because it pleased the multitude. Here's a Roman pagan king ruling
over all these Jews, and when he executed old James and saw
that it pleased the rest of the Jews, he said, well, boy, maybe
that'll get me some more votes. I'll just kill the rest of them,
be more popular. They'll look to me for all things.
And he proceeded further to take Peter also. These were the days
of unleavened bread. Passover was coming on and when
verse 4, when he apprehended Peter, put him in prison, delivered
him to these 16 soldiers to keep him till Passover was over. And then he was going to bring
him forth and parade him before the people and mock him before
the people, killing, publicly executing. Now, this chapter
serves to illustrate unto us the wise and good and holy providence
of God." What is the providence of God? That which unfolds in
time is nothing but the providence of God that He has decreed from
eternity. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning, the good, wise, and holy providence and
purpose of our great and glorious God. We see that illustrated
here in this chapter. We read in the book of Romans
11, verse 36, "...of him, and through him, and to him are all
things." All things are of God. All things are of God. You think
what they were going through here in this day? Famine in the
land. How'd that happen? Who withheld
the rain? It was of God, wasn't it? All things are of God. The death
of James the Apostle, was that an accident? Man's days are determined
of God. His death was by the purpose
of God. The imprisonment of Peter, how'd
that happen? God purposed it, that he might
get glory to himself. The glorious deliverance of Peter,
how'd that happen? Was it by accident? God dispatched
an angel from glory. You see the providence of God
unfolding. He does all these things he does
on purpose to teach us that he's God. Beside him there is no other. How about the death of Herod?
God sent a plague of worms upon him that devoured his flesh. He died because he didn't give
glory to God. You see, these were hard trials
that were placed upon the early church and the early believers.
Trials! But they didn't come by accident.
They came by purpose. Perhaps you're experiencing a
traumatic trial in your life. Things that are going on in your
heart, in your life. If you're a believer, it's ordered
of God. Purpose of God. Trials that believers
experience come by God's divine purpose. God divine, His divine
order. All things are of God. All these
things teach us that God is God. As someone rightly said, God
is God and we are not. That's a good definition. God
is God and we are not. He is the Most High Lord of heaven
and earth. He rules and reigns over all
things. All things in heaven and in earth. His will will be done. He taught
us to pray that way. Our Father, Thy will be done
in earth as it is in heaven, and it will be. Prayer has something
to do with finding out what the will of God is for you. It doesn't
change His will. One old writer said about the
sovereignty of God, and that's what we're talking about, the
sovereignty of God. Many of you read Arthur Pink's
book on the sovereignty of God. But Arthur Pink said that our
God is God, subject to none. Influenced by none, absolutely
independent, God does as He pleases, with whom He pleases, only as
He pleases, always as He pleases. And that's what the Scriptures
teach. In Psalm 135, Whatsoever the Lord please, that's what
He did, in heaven, earth, seas, and all deep places. I'm saying
that God is God over all things, over all events. What unfolds
in time is what God purposed in eternity, in all things of
him and through him. He said, I purposed it. I'll
bring it to pass. I'll do it. I'm God. Beside me, there is none other.
Learn this lesson. Learn this lesson well. Learn
it well. And it will sustain your heart
in trouble. It will encourage your soul.
It will bless your spirit. It will correct your thinking.
It will strengthen your resolve to rest in His wise and good
providence. There was two old preachers traveling
down the road years ago. One of them's name was A.D. Muse. This is back in the 40s
or 50s. There was another old preacher
riding along with him. His name was Josh Dravett. And
they were headed somewhere to hold a meeting. And their car
spun out of control, rolled down an embankment. Both of them injured. And Brother
Muse yelled over to Brother Dravett, Josh! Josh, are you okay, Josh? You know what he said? God is sovereign and we'll be
thankful. God is God, my friend. No accidents
in the lives of God's people. You see, when you understand
that God is in control of all things, He'll give us rest. He'll
give us peace in our heart. He works with all things after
the counsel of His own will. Faith in God's sovereignty is
the only antidote for fear and anxiety. Now, it's hypocrisy
to talk about the sovereignty of God and then complain. And
we're so prone to do that. You see, the things that happen
in our lives, my friend, if you're here and loving him, it's my
purpose. All things work together for good to them who love God,
to them who are the called according to God's purpose. Now, several
lessons we have in this chapter here, and I'm not going to do
a verse by verse. I've tried to do that in the reading. But
what can we learn from this? Number one, God's wise, sovereign
providence brought this trial upon His people. In this early
church, God's wise and sovereign providence brought this trial
upon His people who were object of God's love and mercy. They
were. God loved them and chose them
and blessed them in Christ, gave them faith. But He also gave
them a trial. He also sent heartaches. Famine
in the land, persecution of the church, where experienced by
believers. God's people, and here's my point,
God's people are not exempt from trials and heartaches in this
life. Are they? No. The Lord Jesus Christ, He's called
the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. God had one son without
sin, That's Christ. Sinless. None without sorrow. None without sorrow. Don't expect
to live a life as a believer without heartache, pain, and
trouble. It's not reality. Whom the Lord
loveth, whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
does not eliminate pain in our life. It doesn't. Don't expect it. Expect heartache
and trouble. You see, my friend, God sends
these trials our way on purpose. Let me show you good scripture
on this. Find the book of Psalms, and then right before Psalm is
the book of Job. I want you to find Job chapter
2. Job chapter 2. Job was a man who was blessed
with much. He had children. He had livestock. He had a good life. God removed
all of it. Remember? Job chapter 2. Remember
what he said? The Lord gave. The Lord hath
taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And then in chapter 2, verse 9, his wife complained to him.
Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thy integrity? Why don't you just curse God
and die? But he said unto her, Thou speakest
as one of the foolish women speakest. What, shall we receive good at
the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil, or calamity,
or trouble? And all this did not Job sin
with his lips." You see, this trial was sin of God. God sends
these trials in our life to teach us that He is God. Secondly,
God will give us grace in the day of trial. Turn over here
to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. He said, I'll never
leave you, I'll never forsake you. 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
You remember the Apostle Paul had this trial, this trouble
in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12. Verse 7, lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of revelation, there was given
to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing
I besought the Lord thrice, three times, that he might depart from
me. And he said to me, Well, you're going to keep that thorn,
but remember this, my grace is sufficient. For my strength is
made perfect in your weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in persecution." I take pleasure
in persecutions? What? I take pleasure in distresses? For Christ's sake, for when I'm
weak, that's when I'm strong. When God wills me down and shows
me that I'm nothing, if God's ever going to use you, He's going
to have to show you that you are nothing, that you might depend
upon Him, depend upon His grace. God sends these trials. God will
give us grace to endure these trials. Turn to the book of Hebrews
13. Hebrews 13 says this, Hebrews 13 verse 5, You know, we don't have to endure
these trials alone. Hebrews 13, 5. Let your conversation
be without covetousness, and be content with such things as
you have. For He has said, I'll never leave
you, I'll never forsake you, so that we may boldly say, The
Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. He has said, so that we may boldly
say, He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you.
Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the earth. God's
purpose will always be accomplished in these trials, therefore are
good. Turn over here to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 1 Peter
1. Verse 6, 1 Peter 1 verse 6, Wherein
ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be. For a season, underscore that,
if need be. It must be need. If you're going
through a trial, it must be necessary. If need be. You are in heaviness
through manifold temptation, trial, that the trial of your
faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honor and glory at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ." They're
for our good. They're to burn off the dross
of pride and self-reliance that cause us to rest upon Christ
fully. So God's first point is this. God brought this trial, these
trials upon these people who were objects of God's love. Secondly,
these trials brought these believers back to the text. Acts chapter
12. These trials brought the believers
to seek the Lord and cry unto Him for help. Look at verse 5. Acts 12 verse 5. Peter therefore
was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the
church unto God for him. Prayer was made. Again, look
at verse 12. when they were in the house of
Mary. And when Peter came, there were
many gathered together praying, praying unto God. Doesn't heartache
and trial drive you to the throne of prayer, to the throne of grace? It does. That's why God sends
those things in your life. One songwriter said this, trials
give new life, new energy to prayer. I tell you, it does.
It does. The Lord often humbles us and
strips us to focus our attention upon Him that we may come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and grace
to help in time of need. I need Him. I tell you, when
you're really in trouble, desperate, desperate, you'll cry unto Him,
Lord, have mercy. When you're going along and everything's
going well, Skies blue, lights are green, full stomach. You
just kind of go on your way and forget God. I tell you when heartache
comes, trial comes, wake up call, wake up call. And these people
were praying. You know, prayer is a very life
breath of a believer. It is. It's a very light breath
of a believer. God uses prayer and preaching
as one of the means to accomplish His purpose. They were crying
unto Him, Lord, deliver Peter! And God heard their cry, and
God answered that prayer. Does God answer prayer? Absolutely. Absolutely He does. Here's my
third point. Faith in God's sovereignty, God's
sovereign providence, gave Peter confidence and assurance and
peace in the midst of trouble and heartache. Look at verse
6 and 7. When Herod would have brought
him forth, in Acts 12, the same night Peter was sleeping. Now,
he knew what was going to happen. He knew what happened to James,
his beloved brother and friend. He knew what was going to happen
the next morning when they brought him forth, and yet this man is
sleeping. How often when we have just a
little bit of a hiccup in our day, I mean just a little itty
tiny little hiccup, we roll the bed all night long in worry.
I'm speaking for myself. You may not have the problem
I do, but oh how weak my flesh is. But here's Peter, chain handcuffed
to two soldiers, And the rest of them, the other 14 soldiers,
surrounded, knowing that his head's going to be taken off
the next morning, and here he's sleeping. And he's so sound asleep
that the angel of the Lord has to come and hit him on the side,
poke him in the ribs. Peter, get up. We're getting
out of here. How could he be so carefree?
I mean, I desire that. I desire that. He giveth his
beloved sleep. I went to the hospital a week
or so ago, had one of those procedures done where they put you to sleep.
And just before the nurse said, we're going to put you to sleep,
I said, he giveth his beloved sleep. That's one of the scriptures. And she said, what did you say?
And I said, he giveth his beloved sleep. Boy, the last thing I
remember, I was out. But oh, to lay down in the face
of trouble and heartache, just with rest and resolve. God's
in control. That's what Peter, how could
he be at rest and ease? He knew God was God. He believed
God is able. And he was fully persuaded, like
Abraham, what God promised God's able to perform. Let me give
you four things he knew. He knew, first of all, he belonged
to the Lord. He knew that he was chosen of God in eternity.
He said to those apostles, you didn't choose me, I chose you.
Left to himself, Peter never would have believed the gospel. He knew he belonged to the Lord,
that the Lord died for his sins, and that he was called by God's
grace, saved by God's grace. Secondly, he believed the precious
promise of the Lord. In this life you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I've overcome! I've overcome! He believed God. Thirdly, he
knew that Herod was under God's control. You remember the proverb,
Proverb 21? The king's heart is in the hands
of the Lord and he turns it whether so ever he will. He knew that
Herod was under the absolute control of God Almighty and he
couldn't touch a whisker of Peter without God's decree. He knew
that. Fourthly, he knew also if he
lived, it would be good to serve the Lord the remaining days of
his life. Now, Peter eventually did die.
He was martyred for the gospel one day later. But he knew if
he lived, it would be good to serve the Lord. And he knew if
he died, it would be better for me to live as Christ, to die
as gain, to be absent from the body, to be present with the
Lord. He knew that. And he rested in that. And he
lay down in absolute repose, resolve, no worry, carefree,
trusting his sovereign God. I desire that kind of faith,
don't you? God forgive me. God help me to believe him. My fourth point is this. We see
in this story in Acts chapter 12, the sovereignty of God in
salvation displayed before us. the sovereignty of God in salvation.
And I mean by that, he'll have mercy on whom he will have mercy. He'll show grace to whom he will
show grace. The same angel that delivered
Peter out of prison, out of a hopeless situation, out of a maximum security
prison, the same angel that delivered Peter killed Herod. The same hand of God that delivered
Peter killed this monster. Peter's deliverance pictures,
does it not? It's a good picture of salvation
by God's grace. You remember in verse 17 of Acts
chapter 12, when Peter finally came to the house and got their
attention, he declared unto them how the Lord had brought him
out of prison. You see, Peter being chained
in prison. That's a picture of our condition
by nature. Chained in bondage under the
law, under sin, without hope, without help, and without God.
And he, by sovereign mercy, intervenes and comes in with a light, strikes
us on the side, wakes us up and says, follow me, we're going
out. Out of this prison. Out of sin. Out of bondage into
liberty in Christ. That's salvation. And that, my
friend, by the sovereign grace of God alone, he'll have mercy
on whom he will. He'll pardon whom he will. And
Herod's death here is certainly a type of those who were unbelievers. Did you notice there in Acts
chapter 12, verse 23, immediately the angel of the Lord smote him
because he gave not God the glory? That's what unbelief does. Unbelief
says, oh, look at me. Unbelief says, oh, look what
I've done. Unbelief says, well, I think I can get it done on
my own. I don't think I really need a Savior. Unbelief glorifies
the flesh, but a believer glorifies God. Those who die in unbelief,
I tell you what, Our Lord said, except you believe that I am
He, you'll die in your sins. Those who refuse to give God
the glory and salvation, those who go about to establish their
own righteousness by the deeds of their hands, they will die
a miserable death in their sin. He that believeth not the wrath
of God abideth on him. So we see a picture of God's
sovereignty and salvation. Deliberate people killed Herod. Lastly, never fear. Look at one verse,
verse 24. But the word of God grew and
multiplied. The word of God grew and multiplied.
We've seen this repeatedly. And here's my point. Never fear.
The purpose of God, the grace of God to promote His gospel
and glorify His name cannot and will not fail. God's not a failure. It says in Isaiah 42, My elect,
My servant, he cannot fail. He put down all opposition. He
did not fail to execute God's purpose in honoring God's law
and putting away the sin of God's people, satisfying the law, establishing
righteousness, went back to glory when He by Himself purged our
sins. He cannot fail because He's God. And he will not. Our Lord said,
upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell
cannot turn my purpose. This chapter started out with
a rage of Herod against God's people. He stretched forth his
hand to kill the apostles and thought if he killed the apostles
he would get him claimed to himself and destroy God's purpose. This
chapter ends with his demise and the triumphal spread of the
gospel. But the word of God grew and
multiplied and Herod died. God. Who won the battle? Huh? Wasn't much of a fight, was it?
God's purpose will be done. He must reign. Psalm 110. He must reign until he puts all
enemies under his footstool. All enemies will be made to bow
to the Lord Jesus Christ and confess He is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. Never fear! Never fear! Fear not, I am the Lord. I'm
going to preach that up at Kingsport in just a little bit. Isaiah
chapter, Isaiah 43. Fear not. Fret not thyself because
of evil doers. Fear not! Fear not! Never fear,
the church of God is safe. You doubt it? The church of God is safe. He
says, I give my sheep eternal life and they shall never perish.
The gospel of God is safe. Still the power of God in the
salvation. He's still calling out his people with the gospel
of God's grace. The glory of God is safe. God
determined in salvation to have all the honor and glory. Because
our Lord sits sovereignly on His throne, ruling and reigning
all things according to His own wise counsel and purpose. Therefore He is able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever
lives to make intercession for us by His grace and will.