Open up God's Word to Acts. Acts chapter 12. Picking up on our study. So, as a lot of you are aware, I'm going to be married in a couple of weeks.
But in all seriousness, I'm feeling like the weight that a lot of you have experienced who are married.
And just preparing yourself, not just for the event, but for actual marriage.
And preparing yourself spiritually above all.
Feeling just the weight of this is a big deal and I have to come to God to work on me and to prepare me as best as I can be.
And I reached out to a friend of mine recently, Zach Watson, who lives in Dawsonville now.
But a guy who invested into me a lot of my early Christian life.
God's really given this guy just a talent and a gift to understand the Word and to teach the Word.
Just a man who loves Jesus.
And one of his, when he went to seminary, he exempted his first Greek course by translating the book of James.
Yeah, he's that kind of guy.
I hate people like that.
I feel like I, but, but I reached out to him just to say, hey.
And he just encouraged me like, man, as you're preparing to get married, like let that elevate your thoughts towards the heavenly marriage and the return of Christ.
And as you will be purifying yourself for our heavenly bridegroom one day.
For the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And allow that to like even be the driving force behind, like while you're preparing now.
And just really, really challenged me.
And to think about Christ returning and the end coming, there's some things that do have to happen first.
And one of those is that the gospel should be preached to all nations and then the end will come.
And with that in mind, I just want you to be aware that the end will not come easily.
That there are many people, many leaders, many nations who hate Christ, who hate the gospel.
And many obstacles that we as the church are going to have to wade through with our own blood, with our own sweat.
That many will die to bring the gospel to the nations.
And with that in mind, I want us just to keep that in our minds as we're reading today and as we're looking at Acts.
And just to throw some other stuff out there, like while you're listening, like look for yourself in the story.
Like that's a tip for listening to God's word.
Not just kind of waiting for the preacher to give you the application and you can kind of check out until then.
The application is going to come from text.
And you need to be able to pay attention and ask God and His Spirit to open your eyes.
And as if God was addressing you personally from His word, because He is.
And every time that you hear the word, you're accountable for what you hear.
So if you're just here to gain knowledge, then you need to ask God to change your heart,
because we're held to the standard of which we've attained in God's word.
So let's just read our text and then we'll dive into it.
It would be really awesome for me to turn there myself so I can do that.
All right.
Our text today is just going to be Acts 12.
We're going to start in verse 18 and go down through chapter 13 into verse 3.
Chapters and verses are not inspired by God.
Just the text is.
So we are going to just continue reading down a little bit.
But starting in verse 18, it said,
Now when the day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
And after Herod searched for him and did not find him,
he examined the sentries in order that they should be put to death.
Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.
Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon.
And they came to him with one accord.
And having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain,
they asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food.
And on an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes,
took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.
And the people were shouting, the voice of a God and not a man.
And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down,
because he did not give God the glory.
And he was eaten by worms, and he breathed his last.
But the word of God increased and multiplied.
And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service,
bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.
Now there was in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers,
Barnabas, Simon, who was called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene,
Manon, a lifelong friend of Herod the Tetrarch,
and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said,
Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
Then after fasting and praying,
they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Let's join me in a word of prayer.
Father, I just ask that during this time,
your people would worship through the hearing of your word,
that you would have the desired effect on them,
and that it would carry them from this place to obedience,
to sacrifice,
and to laying down our lives for others for the sake of Christ.
And I pray that you would help me to communicate with clarity
and to not fear man,
but to only fear you.
God, we just offer at this time,
I pray it would be pleasing to you.
In Christ's name, amen.
So last week,
Daniel preached in the,
starting in the earlier part of chapter 12,
and this was basically the acts of Herod Agrippa.
There are several Herods in the New Testament.
This one is more or less the third main Herod,
Herod Agrippa.
And so he kind of went on a rampage,
and he sought to stop the advancement of the gospel in his territory.
Herod Agrippa was in some hot water with the Roman authorities.
He owed a lot of debt,
and he had just some chaos going on in his realm
that he had been given charge of.
And basically, he had to get his stuff together,
or he was going to feel the wrath of Caesar.
And in some ways,
he thought that the new sect of Christianity
was causing a lot of this problem
and causing threat to the stability of the region.
So, with that in mind,
I just want you to,
again, as we look through this,
just think about how
it just feels like
the whole world
is against us as believers.
Here in the West,
we've enjoyed a season of peace
where there hasn't been
that much hostility
as you might find
in some other parts of the world.
But I feel,
just as many of you might,
just if you've been looking at
our nation now,
and even just the crazy political situation,
that,
I mean,
things are,
you should just know,
like the Bible says,
things are not going to go our way.
They're not.
Our hope is not in America
or in our government.
Though we pray for them,
and at any moment,
God could,
if He wants to,
bring revival.
But we also just know
that it's just not going to go our way.
We know that it's going to get harder.
We know that it's going to be
increased secularization
and increased hostility to the truth.
And when that happens,
we've got to have enough fiber in our faith
and trust in our Lord
to press through that regardless
of like what comes.
And I feel like many of us
are just going to blow over
when this happens
because we've become so used to
comfort and ease in the West
and our Christianity
really isn't what's exhibited
in the Word of God
a lot of the time.
So we have to prepare ourselves
and I want this text
to be a means of that,
a means of encouragement to you.
And we're just going to do it
with just asking two questions
just about the text
and then applying that.
So again,
listen for yourself throughout this,
but what are,
the first one,
number one,
what are Herod's evil desires?
What are Herod's evil desires?
Like what are his intentions
in this,
in these chapters here?
Because they are pretty evident.
And you can see,
you can see this,
but I want you to jump back
just briefly to the beginning
of chapter 12
and look at verses 1 through 5.
Just the beginning of chapter 12.
This is what Daniel preached on last week.
It says,
about that time,
Herod the king laid violent hands
on some who belonged to the church.
He killed James,
the brother of John,
with the sword.
And when he saw
that it pleased the Jews,
he proceeded to arrest Peter also.
This was during the days
of unleavened bread.
And when he had seized him,
he put him in prison,
delivering him over
to four squads of soldiers
to guard him,
intending after the Passover
to bring him out to the people.
So Peter was kept in prison,
but earnest prayer for him
was made to God
by the church.
Alright, so in this,
you can see very clearly
Herod's evil desires.
One, just sort of very plain,
was that Herod desired
to contain or even eliminate
the expansion of the gospel.
He didn't want it going any further.
He said,
this has got to stop.
So he had never been a fan of Jesus,
never been a fan of believers.
And it says that he laid
violent hands on them.
It means like to render
an evil effect,
to inflict evil harm on someone.
This was his desire.
This will be the desire
of anyone that is hostile
towards the gospel
coming to their nations.
And then it says that they,
he not only did that,
but he kind of singled out
the leaders of the church.
He killed James,
the brother of John,
with the sword.
Kind of implying,
like under the law,
someone who preached
blasphemy was to be beheaded.
So more or less,
that's what his charge was,
but that's how he died.
And then on the other hand,
he arrested Peter
and threw Peter in prison,
more or less kind of saying
that I'm going to keep you
for something special.
You're going to be
the prized bird in my cage.
I'm going to bring out
for a special occasion
to humiliate you
and then show you
who's really the boss.
So he kind of held Peter
over to the side
as a prized captive
or a trophy of his power.
And Jesus had said to James
earlier in the gospel of Mark,
this cup that I drink,
you also will drink.
This idea that very soon,
like you will be charged
for the same crimes
which I'm being charged for,
and you're going to die.
And Jesus had told them,
remember the word
that I've said to you.
A servant is not greater
than his master.
If they persecute me,
they will persecute you.
If it's happening to our Lord,
then it's going to happen to us.
If we really are following him.
And Herod would be the first,
in a way,
of many kings,
emperors,
presidents,
chancellors,
who would seek to halt
the stop of the gospel
by trying to kill
the followers of Christ.
It's going to happen.
So,
but even underneath this,
underneath this,
this desire
to eliminate
or contain the church,
look at our text.
Very scary.
Verse 3 says,
when he saw
that it pleased
the Jews.
So,
underneath all of this
was a very sinister desire,
and that was
he wanted
the praise of men.
He wanted,
really,
which is fueled by
pride,
right?
He wanted the approval,
the praise of men.
It says,
when he saw
that it pleased the Jews.
So,
the ultimate source
of all these atrocious acts
is Herod's pride
underneath it all.
So,
I want you to
follow me here.
We're going to kind of
single out some things,
but let's just simply,
for the sake of
just understanding,
let's just define
pride
as an excessive
desire
for others
to see us
as impressive
or admirable.
An excessive
desire for others
to see us
as impressive
or admirable.
And so,
he wanted
the applause
of his subjects,
and he also
wanted the approval
of Rome
to,
you know,
that he's bringing
stability to his region.
And this was
his desire
very clearly
in our text.
And he sought
desperately
the praise of men.
That's why he kept
Peter on the sideline
because later on
he wanted to bring him
out to show
in front of all
the people
that he was
the man.
So,
don't get this wrong.
Like,
here his actions
are an overflow
of the evil heart
that he had,
not the other way around.
Alright,
that's what our Lord
said,
like,
out of the hearts
of men
come all kinds
of evil.
And he even
names,
like,
pride
among those things.
So,
we're not really
defined by that.
What's in here
is what comes out.
It's just
how it is.
That's our nature.
It's an overflow
of our heart.
And notice
that,
unlike Saul,
who earlier in Acts
was persecuting
the church
for religious zeal,
he was doing it
for just his own
pride and vanity.
So,
even unlike Saul
who had become Paul.
If you look
over to verse 20
in our text,
you see that
he has some
of the people
that are dependent
on him
coming and groveling
before him,
begging,
you know,
to get back
in his good graces
from Tyre and Sidon
because they
were dependent
on his food
supply.
And just,
you know,
come and beg,
come and grovel.
Let me show you
who's really
in control.
Let me show you
that you're going
to die
if I don't feed you.
And so,
that's what they're doing.
They sent these delegates
or whoever
to come to Herod
and to plead
with him
to like not cut off
their food supply.
these are like
little coastal cities
in Syria.
And so,
he'll do whatever
it takes
to feed that ego.
He'll do it
through killing believers.
He'll do it
through giving speeches.
And he'll do it
through,
you know,
showing that
I'm the one
who feeds you.
This is the hand
who feeds you.
So,
he has a desire
for power.
But then we go on
and we see
in verses 21
and 22,
that he just,
you know,
bit off the whole thing
and began to like
array himself
and pump.
And it's,
whatever it takes,
he's going to do it.
And he delivered
a speech
or an oration.
So,
back in this time,
just in ancient times
in general,
in Greco-Roman society,
like,
people who came to give
who were great orators,
they would,
it was a source
of entertainment.
Like if,
you know,
you could invite
somebody up here
and they could,
use very smooth speech
and persuade you
and control you,
you would get applause
for that.
And so,
whether he was good at it,
who knows,
but that's what he did.
And he delivered
this speech
and we see very clearly
in our text
that all the people
just cried out,
you know,
bravo,
like you are amazing,
you are the man.
And then they said,
the voice of a god
and not a man.
Right?
Very scary words.
And so,
I want you to contrast,
contrast,
earlier in Acts
when Peter
encounters Cornelius
and he,
like,
Cornelius falls to the ground
to worship Peter
and Peter says,
get up,
stand up,
I'm a man
just like you,
I'm not a god.
In contrast,
later on with Paul
when people try to
identify him
as the god of Hermes
and he again
pushes that off
and says,
I'm a man,
like,
get away from me.
Do not call me
anything supernatural.
So,
the difference
is Herod is like
craving this,
loves it.
Yes,
call me a god.
Right?
And,
people who
crave the praise
of man,
Christ is always
going to be
a thorn in their side
because,
he said,
how can you believe
you who receive glory
from one another
and do not seek
the glory that comes
from the only God?
Like,
how can you just receive
the praise of man
and not,
like,
that's why you won't
come to me
because you love
the praise of others
and you reject
the praise of man.
If you have
real faith in Christ,
your desire will be
to exalt him,
to take attention
off of yourself
and put it on him.
A long time ago,
maybe in the 70s,
doesn't matter,
but,
if you go down
to my study,
you'll see a picture
of a guy that has
like a nice,
like,
fro and a beard
and,
his name was Keith Green.
He was one of my,
definitely one of my heroes.
We sang one of his songs
a while back,
There Is a Redeemer,
I think the name,
and,
but he was
a man just radically
changed by Christ
back in the,
the hippie movement,
the Jesus freak movement,
and,
he immediately just like
turned into like
the,
one of the most like
on fire evangelists
I've ever,
ever seen.
But he was a musician.
He played the piano
and he was a songwriter
and he was the,
one of the first
Christian musicians
to kind of come out
and say,
I don't want to charge
people for my music
because if,
I don't want to like,
I don't want money
to be a barrier
to ministry
and to the gospel.
And,
I go on and on about him,
but anyways,
my uncle,
Scott,
he actually heard
Keith Green play
like back in the day
and I was like,
really?
So he told me a story,
he said,
yeah,
like,
Keith came out
on the stage
and people were just like
going crazy,
like applauding him,
and like shouting his name
and he just like sat down
at the piano,
his head low
and like everyone's out here
just cheering
and Scott said that
when everyone finished,
he like grabbed
a little microphone
and pulled it down
and he says,
God despises
the praise of man.
Like,
let your,
the Christian music
that you listen to
kind of be judged by that.
It's just turning to a circus
in a lot of ways,
but like,
don't crave the praise
of man
at all.
He would like go ballistic
on people.
That wasn't the only occasion
who,
who like gave him great,
you know,
praise and stuff.
But,
so very clearly
in our text,
we see
that
two evil desires
that are kind of
pushing Herod
to do these things
that he has
coming from his evil heart.
He wants to contain
or eliminate the gospel
and the spreading of it
and he really just wants
to fuel his own pride,
his own vanity
and he wants to seek
the praise of men
above the,
above praising God himself.
So,
kind of like
the height of this,
he,
uh,
raised himself
in God-like pomp,
puts on his royal
robes
and he thinks
that he is the man.
Like,
this is,
this is it,
right?
And you see
that God
has his own plans
for Herod
and his schemes.
So,
listen,
lives that are driven
by pride
and by vanity
and by the approval
of others
is in opposition
to God.
Okay?
It just is.
So,
Herod is talking
some serious trash
to his Creator.
So,
what does God do?
What is God's response?
This goes to our
second question.
How does God
thwart
Herod's evil desires?
Or how does he dismantle?
Or how does he,
uh,
you know,
um,
tear apart
Herod's evil desires?
And we see this,
um,
first,
and we're going to,
like,
correspond to all these
little things
that I just mentioned.
But if you,
I just want you to stop
and just think about this
before we do it.
Um,
I want to encourage you
that
in this,
this day
when,
like,
everything seems to be
going horribly wrong
in the church,
um,
not just here,
but worldwide,
when,
when so much is,
at least here in the West,
you see people
sacrificing the truth
for the praise of man
to gather crowds
to be cool.
And over,
and abroad,
you see,
like,
death and persecution.
So much is,
is happening.
But I just want to
encourage you
that God
still reigns.
I want to assure you
that God
is not subject
to man's sinful desires
and man's sinful schemes.
He is not.
He holds
the life breath
of every living thing
in His hand.
He is not threatened
by any of this.
So Herod proudly
sought
all this stuff
by plotting
and by cunning
to have this place
of honor,
right?
And it's,
it's scary
because if you're
really careful,
you can see
this sort of stuff
in our own lives,
right?
But,
what I want to
encourage you with
is that
wicked men
do not
thwart God's plan.
He thwarts
their plan.
It says in Psalm
146
that He thwarts
the way
of the wicked.
They fall
into their own traps.
Job wrote,
He frustrates
the devices
of the crafty
so that their hands
achieve no success.
He catches the wise
in their own craftiness
and the schemes
of the wily
are brought
to a quick end.
Be encouraged
by that.
And if Herod
had just read
the scripture
that he had
at his disposal,
he could have read
the words of Solomon,
and he could have
seen this,
the Lord tears down
the house
of the proud.
Pride goes
before destruction
and a haughty
spirit before the fall.
why is God
opposed
to people
who are proud?
There's a lot
of ways
to answer that,
but if I had
just one stat
that I would say
because we have
nothing to be proud
about,
we have nothing
in and of ourselves
to which we can brag
or boast about.
any good
that is in me
or in you
or anyone else
has only come
by the grace
of God.
And so how can
you boast
about something
that you were
given
by somebody else?
It's a,
for sinful,
broken,
corrupt man
to say
that like,
I am worthy
of praise
when he received
everything he did
from God himself,
it's,
it's blasphemous.
Only God,
because God
is perfect,
God is pure,
God is holy,
only he is worthy
of that kind
of praise,
so it's not wrong
for him to ask
for it.
A long time ago,
Jonathan Edwards
said,
it is right
for us to give
glory to someone
in proportion
to that person's
excellence.
True?
God has infinite
excellence though,
so he is worthy
of infinite glory.
And only then,
right,
only then can we
actually be
made right with
God,
if we lay
our pride
aside.
We have nothing
to be proud
about at all.
The wicked,
the pride,
the vanity
of Herod
puts him
on a collision
course with
God.
Alright?
Puts him
on a collision
course with
God.
So,
as we talk
about this,
I want you
to just see
three things
that God
does
just to
dismantle
or thwart
Herod's
plans.
So,
first,
if you
remember,
he was
persecuting
the church
and he
arrested
Peter.
I want you
to look at
verse 18
or 19.
it says,
And when
the day
came,
there was
no little
disturbance
among the
soldiers
over what
had become
of Peter.
And after
Herod searched
for him
and did not
find him,
he examined
the sentries
in order
that they
should be
put to
death.
And then
he went
down to
Judea and
Caesarea
and spent
time there.
Peter.
So,
what's
happened is,
like God,
with no
problem at
all,
releases
Peter from
prison.
That's what
Daniel preached
on last
night.
Go back
and listen
to that
or go back
and read
this chapter.
But God
just miraculously
just set
Peter free.
The angel of
the Lord
came and
set him
free.
They like
slipped past
the guards.
They went
out the door
and into the
city.
And Herod
was so
angry that
he just
like ordered
all the guards
to be put
to death.
Word can't
get out of
this,
so you
have to
die.
Again,
defeat his
own ego
and pride.
So,
I want you
to hear this
too,
though,
just a
little
connection.
Why didn't
God do
that for
James?
Why did
James die
and not
Peter?
I don't
have the
answer to
that.
But I
can tell
you that
by this
act,
James
dying
does not
mean that
God couldn't
deliver him
and chose
not to.
Some
people bear
witness to
the gospel
through death
and others
bear witness
to the gospel
through life.
And so,
God dismantled
this and
took away
his prized
prisoner from
right under
his nose.
It's
awesome.
So,
to God,
like Herod's
schemes are
laughable.
Psalm 1
says that
he who
sits in
the heavens
laughs at
the schemes
of men.
So,
the score
so far
is God
won,
Herod's
zero.
Look down
to verse
21 and
23.
We see
that he,
at the
apex of
all this,
he kind
of raised
himself with
all the
prompt and
gives the
speech.
It's the
moment he's
worked for,
and just
when all
eyes are
on him,
just when
all eyes
are on
him,
that's
when God
shows to
reveal to
Herod that
he is not,
there is only
one God,
and he is
not it.
Ends his
life.
So,
the score is
now game
over,
God wins.
So,
the other
way is that
he thwarts
this plan is
he just
kills Herod,
takes his
life,
takes his
life.
His angel,
the Lord,
struck him
down.
I like the
old language,
the Lord
smote him,
I like that,
the smote.
So,
amazingly
enough,
I'll spare
you,
but just
so you
know,
the ancient
Jewish
historian in
the first
century A.D.,
Josephus
Flevius,
he wrote an
account of
this,
and it's
pretty much
what Luke
says.
Luke gives
you the
short version,
Josephus
elaborates a
little bit,
and makes
it very
dramatic.
It says
that right
after Herod
made this
speech,
that he saw
like an
owl fly in,
and he
just like saw
it,
and like
to a lot
of cultures,
owls are
bad omens,
and the
people were
praising him,
saying he's
a god,
and he
just falls
and he dies
with something
going on in
his stomach,
you know,
the worms,
eaten by
worms,
very dramatic,
and so,
we see at
this point that
God has said
to Herod,
enough,
like I've
allowed you
to live and
blaspheme
my name,
enough,
and some
of these
people standing
by would
have clearly
seen that
their praise
was wrong,
right?
So,
why death,
right?
Why is death,
what is the
theology behind
death,
okay?
There is a
theology behind
death.
Death was a
part of the
judgment of
God on
people who
have rebelled
against him,
who have
sinned against
him,
who said,
you are not
worthy,
so we're
going to live
the way that
we want to,
and all of us
have done
that.
All of us
have done
that.
So,
I want you
to hear
this,
though.
This is
Don Carson.
He said,
the modern
mood is
to live as
if death
was not
waiting for
us in the
end.
We just
kind of go
on about
like it's
not going
to happen,
hoping it
won't happen,
but then he
says,
but why
death?
And listen
to this,
death is
God's
limit on
creatures
whose
sin is
they want
to be
gods.
Death
is God's
limit on
creatures
whose sin
is they
want to
be gods.
So,
it's God's
ultimate way
of saying
like,
do you
think you're
like me?
Well,
let me show
you how
you're not.
You're going
to die
because I
am the
only
immortal,
invisible
God
who was
and is
to come.
Death
shows us
that.
And he
says,
the soul
who sins
will die.
And because
of sin,
we all
will die.
Because of
Christ,
though,
we can
have life
and life
eternal
in him,
but we
still will
face a
judgment
because of
sin.
So,
the moral
of the
story is,
if you
stand against
God and
his purposes,
you're going
to go down.
There's no
way to
stop what
he has
planned.
That is
the moral
of this
story.
If we
oppose God,
you will
lose.
And not
just lose a
little bit,
lose massively.
for eternity.
So,
he frees
Peter.
He kills
Herod.
And then,
what's the
third thing
that God
does?
He spreads
the gospel.
Look at
verse 24.
The very
thing that
Herod was
hoping wouldn't
happen,
he's like,
just get
out of my
way.
This is
going to
happen.
But the
word of
God
increased
and
multiplied.
So,
again,
God made
the fame
and glory
of Christ
spread,
not the
fame and
glory of
Herod
spread.
So,
salvation
is going
to come
to the
nations.
And like
Jesus said,
it's going
to start
here in
Judea,
and it's
going to
spread out.
It's just
going to
go out.
And to
all the
nations
are reached.
And the
whole number
of the
church
is brought
in.
It's going
to happen.
So,
don't stand
in God's
way.
Get behind
Him.
And if
this is
God's
purpose,
you have
nothing to
lose.
Like,
throw
yourself
into that
recklessly
even.
Who cares
what it
costs you?
This is
God's
purpose.
And we
go on
and see
this,
in this,
just without
getting in
it too
much,
we see
the church
that had
started
in Antioch,
and we
see that,
you know,
who is
Paul and
Barnabas and
some others
kind of all
coming together
there.
But a
really interesting
one that
stands out
is that,
you see,
verses this,
it's verse
one,
you see
Manan,
a lifelong
friend of
Herod,
the Tetrarch.
So this
guy who
was a
leader of
the church
of Antioch
grew up
with the
same Herod
who killed
John the
Baptist,
the same
Herod who
stood at
the trial
of Jesus,
the same
guy he
grew up
with,
and now
he is a
leader of
the church
in Antioch,
so just
go figure.
And so
they began
to commission
and send
out Paul
and Barnabas
to go on
what we
might call
Paul's
first
missionary
journey,
and he
begins
taking the
gospel out
to the
Gentiles.
Most of
us are
Gentiles,
this is where
it started,
just kind of
going out.
So God
exploded
the cause
of Christ
because of
this little
incident,
right,
that was
nothing for
him to
overcome
at all.
So,
in conclusion,
I want us
just to
think about
a couple
of things.
One is,
very clearly,
if you've
been listening
to the
text,
that we
need to
beware of
pride in
our own
lives.
Don't
be too
swept to
Judge
Herod.
Pride is
not a
small matter
to God
at all.
I'll just
go back
to the
definition.
Pride is
an excessive
desire for
people to
see us
as admirable
or
impressionable.
So,
I want you
to also
know that
insecurity
that we
all have
is like
connected
to pride.
Pride is
this hope
that they
will see
us as
great
and
admirable.
Insecurity
is that
instead of
them seeing
that,
they see
that we're
not perfect,
that they
see our
imperfections,
that they
see our
flaws,
that we
can't live
up to
who God
is.
And we
all have
that problem.
I don't
care who
you are.
Some deal
with it
more than
others,
but we
all have
it.
So,
what is
that one
thing that
you're afraid
of that
you want
people to
see you
as?
You want
the praise
of men.
You crave
the praise
of man.
What area
is that in
your life?
It's linked
to pride.
C.S.
Lewis said,
pride is a
spiritual
cancer.
It eats
the very
possibility
of love
or contentment
or even
common sense
away.
Pride is
a serious
thing.
So,
what area
do you
really want
others to
recognize you
for?
What do you
seek to
portray?
Is it like
brains,
knowledge,
and how
smart you
are?
is it
wealth,
accumulation,
and luxury?
You want
people to
see how
well off
you are
and all
the stuff
you have?
Is it
for physical
attraction?
Is it
I want
people to
see me
as cute
or sexy
or attractive?
This is
what I'm
going to
invest my
life into
and I
hope that
they don't
really see
that I'm
not that
way.
What is
it for
you?
Is it
athletic
skill?
Is it
I want
people to
praise me
for my
performance
on a
field?
All those
things,
guys,
like hear
what James
said,
James 4,
6,
God opposes
the proud
and gives
grace to
the humble.
Pride robs
us from joy
and contentment
as believers
because it
takes our
gaze off of
the one who
gives us that
joy and
contentment and
puts it on
us.
We can't
really produce
any of that
in and of
ourselves.
We can't.
It says
that God
regards the
lowly,
the broken,
those who
recognize that
they are
nothing apart
from him,
that they
need him.
They rightly
acknowledge their
spiritual condition
before him.
And it is
those who
come to
Christ and
say,
I am far
from perfect.
I am a
sinful,
broken person
and I need
you to be
my deliverer.
I want to
give you
my life.
Jesus said,
everyone who
exalts
himself will
be humbled,
but the
one who
humbles
himself will
be exalted.
So,
where is
that in
your life?
Attack it.
Attack it
with God's
word,
attack it
with prayer,
attack it
with other
believers around
you.
Like,
pray that
you be like
John the
Baptist where
he said,
I must
decrease,
but he
must increase.
that when
they see
you,
they see
Jesus and
not who
you're trying
to make
yourself into.
So,
that is
one,
and just
beware of
pride in
our own
lives.
It's there.
So,
where do
you struggle?
It's not
okay to
God.
It's not
okay to
justify some
of these
things.
And I
also should
tell you
that your
pride is
probably one
of the
number one
things in
the way
of you
carrying the
gospel forward.
You don't
want people to
see you as
losers.
You're
uncool,
unpopular.
You want
to be
accepted.
You want
to be
cool.
So,
pride even
can stand
the way
of advancing
the gospel.
So,
again,
deal with
it.
You know,
it's there.
We need
God to
help us
attack it
unashamedly.
Being
ashamed of
the gospel.
So,
what I
want to
last
let us
encourage you
with,
I've got
my papers
out of
order.
No
big deal,
they're
numbered.
So,
and the
other one
is,
in the
twilight of
where
believers
seem to
be kind
of losing
favor on
a national
level,
even,
we need
to remember
again,
like,
take solace
in that
God,
this is
nothing to
God.
Like,
he is still
in control.
It's not
who's in
Washington or
who's in
some other
parts of the
world.
he is
still in
sovereign
control.
It's the
story of
humanity.
Those who
exalt themselves
against God
will be
brought low.
Listen to
this.
This is
Job 42,
verse 2.
Job said
this,
I know
that you
can do
all things
and no
purpose of
yours can
be thwarted.
So,
throw yourself
into that
and take
comfort into
that.
because all
those who
stand in
the way
of God,
according to
His sovereignty
and the
dictates of
His will,
they're destined
to be brought
down.
It's going
to happen.
So,
be bold.
Be courageous
with the
gospel and
go.
The people
who think
that they
are so
strong before
God now,
people who
curse Him
and mock
Him,
one day
when they
face Him,
I heard
Paul Washer
say this,
and he gave
me goosebumps.
He said,
they'll be
like a little
wax figurine
before the
sun.
They'll melt
away.
Their pride,
their courage
won't stand
before God.
Take comfort
in that.
A long
time ago,
I should say
just a few
years ago,
Matt Chandler,
a brother in
Christ,
preacher of
the word,
he was in
the city
of Rome
meeting with
some other
pastors from
27 different
countries.
And as
they were
meeting there,
it just
dawned on
Him,
that they
were meeting
like in
the shadows
of these
ruins of
the Coliseum
where they
used to
feed our
brothers and
sisters to
animals and
kill us.
And now,
like that's
just ruins.
It's as if
God just
said,
it's no big
deal,
nothing's going
to stop my
purpose,
and the
gospel is
going to go
forward
regardless.
So if we
are with
Christ,
we are
going to
not be
defeated.
Stand with
Christ.
Take
solace in
the fact that
He rules over
all things.
And with
that, I
want you to
just see
God's
sovereignty as
fuel for
going and
taking the
gospel forward
and allowing
no obstacle
to stay on
your way.
Nothing.
We're pretty
pathetic sometimes.
If you think
about the
stuff that we
are afraid of
happening to
us on the
college campus
or entering
the workplace
with our
families,
I received
Voice of the
Martyrs magazine.
I encourage
you to.
It's a great
ministry,
very God
exalting.
But this
is an
addition I
got recently
and this
just made
me tear up
a couple
of times
at least.
And I
think,
and one
reason is
because it's
so dear to
us,
because I'm
pretty sure
that a lot
of us who
know Jay
and Carolyn
Whetstone,
who have
invested their
lives much in
Central Asia
and the
Middle East,
spent many
years in
Afghanistan
preaching the
gospel of
Christ,
and it
dawned on me
that I
think this
was a
family that
they knew.
And when
Jay came
back one
time,
we met
back in
the corner
and we
prayed for
all the
stuff that
had happened.
But this
is about a
family that
came from
South Africa
and the
Garnowalds.
It's
Warner,
his wife,
Haneli,
and their
two kids,
Jean-Pierre
and Rhoda.
And he
was a
Dutch
Reform
pastor in
South Africa
and just
really felt
like,
man,
God's
cause has
got to
go to
the
nations
no matter
what.
And they
weighed the
cost.
They said
that we
could die
going,
our kids
could die,
and they
decided to
go to
Afghanistan.
They took
their kids
with them.
And not
long before
these other
things happen,
Warner,
the dad,
he spoke
at a
conference,
and he
spoke on
counting the
costs for
Christ.
And the
last thing
he said
was,
we only
die one
time.
It might
as well
be for
Christ.
Make your
life count,
in other
words.
And so,
in November
2014,
in Kabul,
Afghanistan,
Haneli,
the mom,
was out
kind of
running some
errands.
their two
teenagers
were back
at the
facility in
Kabul,
where they
lived,
kind of
taking a
day off
from school.
And their
dad,
Warner,
was teaching
a class
in that
facility.
And around
three o'clock,
there was
three Taliban
guys who
went over
the wall
and into
the compound
and started
shooting up
the place.
And I'm
pretty sure
this is what
Jay was
talking about
when he
was here.
And that
God just
preserved them
in the midst
of that.
But they
were told
before they
go,
you could
die.
It says,
our friends
and our
family tried
to keep
us away
from going
to a
crazy place
like
Afghanistan
and to
stay like
in the
comforts of
South
Africa.
And it
was just
clear that
the Lord
wanted them
to be there.
So when
these guys
came into
the building,
they began
shooting up
things and
Haneli,
the mom,
was on
her way
home.
She heard
the shots
and saw
the smoke
and all
the hysteria
going on
in the
streets and
she kind
of sat
out outside
just in
tears and
she kept
reading over
and over
Psalm 91.
And later
on, one
of the
teenagers who
escaped the
facility heard
one of the
terrorists say,
they're all
dead.
We got them
all.
They're all
dead.
And so
later on,
they found
the bodies
of her
two kids
in the
top of
the apartment
who had
been killed,
both who had
great walks
with Jesus,
both who were
excited about
taking the
gospel further
and further
to the
nations.
They both
were killed
and her
husband was
killed.
Trying to
get others
out of the
facility,
he himself
was shot.
And this
is something
that she
said later
after all
this happened.
She says,
I don't
think that
we will
know 100%
what was
the impact
of what we
made in
Afghanistan
through the
years.
I think
that we
will know
one day
when we
are in
front of
the Lord,
but I
believe with
all my
heart that
we made
an impact
on people's
lives.
I believe
also that
my family's
blood that
was shed
like the
seed for
the Afghan
church,
that there
will be
10,000 fold
harvest in
the end
because I
believe God
has the
last move.
And she
said,
for me
on the
field,
it was a
life of
sacrifice and
difficulty,
but in
the middle
of all
of that,
the Lord
gave us
the reward
of his
presence.
And he
himself was
with us.
Guys,
we have to
have more
confidence in
our God.
We have to
believe in
the power of
the gospel.
it's so
hard for us
here.
Like we're
tempted in
so many
ways just
to lay
down,
blend in,
not cause
a fuss,
and we're
told that by
our culture.
But we
have to
stand for
Christ and
we have to
proclaim the
gospel.
It's not,
it's no
different for
us here.
We need to
be faithful.
And so be
encouraged by
the fact that
like according
to God's
purposes,
none of this
will be
stopped.
He's going
to do it
with or
without you.
And the
gospel will
go to
all the
nations.
All the
nations.
So let's
just pray
together.
Let's