If you would, would you please open your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 12.
!
I got to preach on Acts chapter 10 a little bit over a month ago.
And before we kind of go into where Nathan brought us last week and where we are right
now, I definitely want to draw attention to something that David said in his prayer.
David was praying that we would be participating in the service through our worship, through
the music, through our prayers, through the preaching, through the receiving of the word,
through our giving.
So, painting the picture that all of this is worship, not just the music that was played.
Even as you're listening right now, like you're honoring God in the way that you receive this,
in the way that you ask God and you're praying for Him to show you what you need to see about
this text.
So, all of this is worship.
I need your prayers while I preach.
I am so, I'm not infallible like God's word is.
Thankfully, God chooses to use us.
And so, I take that very seriously.
But, please pray for me during this time.
Be praying for other people here that are bringing completely different stories into the service
who need to hear God's word.
And God's word pierces us like an arrow.
So, and each person needs to hear this in a way that God is kind of preparing their hearts for.
So, be praying for me.
Be praying for each other.
Be remembering that all of this is worship.
It's not just the music on the stage.
So, with that, let's kind of talk about where we've been in Acts so far.
Last week, Nathan preached on finishing up Acts 11.
And we kind of have seen a lot of really big pivotal things happen in Acts so far.
We've seen the church grow from just a very, very small number, a couple hundred people,
to thousands of people being added daily.
And it just, it's crazy.
And so, then we're seeing persecution come.
We see Stephen martyred.
And then we have this other big event with the Gentiles being brought in.
And we talked about that in Acts 10.
So, there's a lot of really big events.
The church is growing.
Gentiles are being added into the church, which to us doesn't seem like a big deal.
But if you're a first century Jew, that's a huge deal.
And now, what we've been doing, where we were last week,
is we were kind of talking about Paul and Barnabas.
And they're in Antioch.
So, now what the author of Acts, Luke, is doing is he's bringing us back into Jerusalem.
And if you remember, where we left in Jerusalem was Stephen being martyred.
So, we're coming back to persecution.
And you're going to see that persecution is this really, really big theme of Acts.
And we're going to kind of hit it over and over and over again.
And something that you're going to see, if you're noticing,
is that where there's persecution, there's going to be gospel growth and gospel sharing.
Where there's gospel sharing, there's going to be persecution.
It's not so much a cause and effect, but think of it as two sides of the same coin.
If you see persecution, you're going to see gospel growth.
When you see gospel growth, gospel proclamation, you will see persecution.
And we know that persecution will come to the believer.
The text that we're going to look at this morning is 2 Timothy 3.12,
which says that all who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted,
which is not an easy thing to hear.
We also know that Satan is the enemy of the gospel.
We have an enemy, and it's not our neighbors or those who disagree with us politically.
It is a spiritual enemy whose desire is to stifle the gospel
and keep the believer apart from God.
We see that it's in Ephesians where Paul is saying,
hey, our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
So it's not against people, but it's against these principalities.
It's against these authorities of the spiritual world.
And so we know that Satan is the enemy of the gospel,
and Satan's drive, his goal, is to silence the believer,
to silence the proclamation of the gospel,
to keep the believer away from God.
So the question that I'm asking, that I'm posing to you this morning is,
it's not will you respond to persecution,
but how.
How will you respond to persecution when it comes?
So with that, we're going to read Acts 12, verses 1 through 19,
and then we're going to pray real quick,
and then we're going to go right into it.
Starting in verse 1.
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.
Now when Herod was about to bring him out on that very night,
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,
bound with chains,
and centuries before the door were guarding the prison.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him,
and a light shone in the cell.
He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying,
Get up quickly.
And the chains fell off of his hands.
And the angel said to him,
Dress yourself and put on your sandals.
And he did so.
And he said to him,
Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
And he went out and followed him.
He did not know what was being done by the angel was real,
but thought he was seeing a vision.
When they had passed the first and the second guard,
they came to the iron gate, leading into the city.
It opened for them of its own accord,
and they went out and went along one street.
And immediately the angel left him.
When Peter came to himself, he said,
Now I am sure the Lord has sent his angel
and rescued me from the hands of Herod
and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.
When he realized this,
he went to the house of Mary,
the mother of John,
whose other name was Mark,
where many were gathered together and were praying.
And when he knocked at the door of the gateway,
a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.
Recognizing Peter's voice in her joy,
she did not open the gate,
but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.
They said to her,
You are out of your mind.
But she kept insisting that it was so.
And they kept saying,
It is his angel.
But Peter continued knocking.
And when they opened,
they saw him,
and they were amazed.
But motioning to them with his hand to be silent,
he described to them
how the Lord had brought him out of prison.
And he said to them,
Tell these things to James and to the brothers.
Then he departed and went to another place.
Now when day came,
there was no little disturbance among the soldiers
over what became 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.
Pray with me real quickly.
Heavenly Father,
thank you for your word.
Thank you for giving it to us
that you speak to us through your word.
No other text can do that, God.
Only your word can.
Only your word can speak to us
in a unique way
that convicts us,
that encourages us.
And we pray that you would do those things this morning,
that you would use me,
God, a sinner,
that you would use me to proclaim your truth,
that there would be clarity this morning,
that we would all walk away
encouraged, convicted,
and changed by your word.
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen.
Okay, so,
if you're taking notes,
one of the first things that we're saying right now
is that persecution will come to the believer.
Persecution will come to the believer.
That is seen in Acts chapter 12,
verses 1 through 2.
If you're looking at a text,
you can see 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.
So,
I want to take like a quick second
and just do a little bit of character clarification,
because if you're looking at the text,
it might be a little confusing who's who.
Okay, so James,
not the author of James.
Okay,
you remember,
if you recall,
Jesus is walking alongside the Sea of Galilee,
and he calls two men.
Do you remember their names?
It's James and John.
They're brothers.
That's the James that we're talking about.
So, this is,
while Stephen was the first martyr of the gospel,
this is the first apostle who's been martyred.
This is not James, brother of Jesus.
Okay,
that's the James who wrote the book of James.
Okay,
second thing,
his brother is John.
Later on in the story,
they talk about John Mark.
That's not James' brother.
Okay,
next thing I need to say,
when Peter asks about,
let's see,
verse 17,
he says,
tell these things to James.
It's not the James that just died.
So,
he knows.
He's talking about James,
Justice,
brother of Jesus,
who's now going to start kind of leading the church in Jerusalem.
Second thing is Herod.
There's a lot of Herods.
Okay,
there's Herod,
the one that tried to kill baby Jesus.
That's not the Herod we're talking about.
There's the Herod that questioned Jesus.
That's Herod Antipas.
Okay,
that's not the one that we're talking about here.
Herod Agrippa,
that's the one we're talking about.
He's the one who we're going to continue on with the story later on.
Okay,
so,
the couple things that we see here in the text.
Do you guys notice that James just kind of gets persecuted and killed with no trial?
Like,
there's nothing that happens.
There's no,
there's no,
like,
he goes before a public forum.
There's no,
there's nothing.
It's just James is,
at least that's the way that Luke describes it in the text,
is James is just killed.
Out of nowhere.
And then,
you'll see what Herod does,
is he kind of waits to see what the Jews are going to react to it.
So,
he kills James.
Herod is kind of looking for the applause of man in this.
And he sees,
okay,
well,
how are the Jews going to react to this?
And they react favorably.
And he's like,
okay,
I'm going to kill Peter next.
So,
he throws Peter in prison.
Again,
no trial.
Think about that.
That's you.
I mean,
no trial here.
And you're just,
there's no one to say,
no,
this guy,
he's a good man.
He should not die.
There's no one to do that.
If you were thrown in prison,
you would have friends who'd be able to come to your call,
and they would be able to voice their opinion for you,
and vouch for you,
and say,
no,
this is a good woman.
This is a good man.
That does not happen to James or Peter.
They don't get that opportunity.
So,
it's so,
it's so incredibly unjust.
And so,
Peter's next in line,
and the thing that,
the reason why he hasn't been executed yet,
is so that Passover can be honored.
There's this really tragic irony in upholding the law,
and upholding these feasts,
so that once those are done,
then we can kill our guy.
So,
again,
Peter's next in line to die,
and the only thing that's waiting on that,
is Herod's approval,
and the Passover being completed.
And so,
like James and Peter,
we're going to be persecuted just the same.
It's going to look differently,
and there's reasons why I would say,
we too will be persecuted.
The first reason is that Jesus is our master.
This is huge to get.
John 15,
20.
So,
Jesus is talking to his disciples,
and he says,
remember the word that I said to you,
a servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you.
If they kept my word,
they will also keep yours.
Okay,
this is worth turning to,
2 Timothy 3.12.
Okay,
so,
Paul is writing this verse,
not from the comfort of freedom,
and the comfort of a library somewhere,
or a study.
Paul is writing this in chains,
knowing that his execution is near.
So,
Paul is writing this text,
and he says in verse 12,
indeed,
all who desire to live a godly life in Christ,
will be persecuted,
while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse,
deceiving,
and being deceived.
So,
that's huge to get,
because Peter,
Paul is not saying that from theory.
He's saying that from personal experience.
And,
so,
again,
the first reason is that Jesus is our master.
We're identifying with Christ,
we will be persecuted.
The second reason is that
we're foreign to the world.
Peter kind of exhorts his writers over and over again,
saying,
hey,
you guys are strangers and exiles.
And then we see that theme with Paul where he says,
hey,
you're to be in the world,
but not of the world.
So,
saying that
this earth is not our home.
The ways of the world are not our ways.
We are called out of this world.
We are called out of sin,
and we're called strangers and exiles.
So,
the world will see that we are,
we don't go with everything that the world goes with.
So,
that we're foreign to the world.
It's not a question of,
like I said earlier,
it's not a question of will we respond to persecution,
but how will we respond to persecution?
Because of these reasons,
Jesus is our master,
we're strangers and exiles to the world.
We're going to appear different,
because we've been called out of darkness,
so we no longer look like that darkness.
So,
how are we going to respond?
The first thing is that,
we can kind of look at,
the reaction of the church.
The church is persecuted,
and it doesn't shrink back,
but instead it goes forth of a message even more,
and it proclaims it even more.
It's that two sides of the same coin.
There's persecution,
there's going to be gospel proclamation,
and the church doesn't shrink back from that gospel proclamation,
and so,
as people who will be persecuted,
we respond by,
not being surprised,
when it comes.
The church isn't shocked by it.
And if they are,
Luke doesn't add that into the story.
It makes it very clear,
that the church,
responds to James being killed unjustly,
out of nowhere,
with no trial,
and Peter being next in line,
they respond with prayer,
they're not surprised,
they're not going,
and creating a mob,
and demanding justice.
They're counting it all joy.
And then they're praying.
We're going to get into that in a minute,
but that's the church's response.
Do you see that?
Like,
it's so important to see.
Okay,
persecution comes,
the church prays.
That's the church's response.
Not surprised.
Yes,
grieved.
I don't want to,
I don't want to understate that,
that the church is some machine,
that is so godly,
and so holy,
that when one of their own gets killed,
or someone doesn't get healed,
they're immediately like,
well,
God is good,
we're just going to pray,
and that's what we're going to do.
Like,
no,
I'm sure,
like,
by no means do I believe,
that the church was not mourning James' death,
and they weren't crying out.
Like,
I absolutely believe that.
So,
church is not mechanical in that.
But,
it isn't surprised,
and they respond in prayer,
grief,
and in prayer.
The thing that I want to ask is,
okay,
so what if we aren't seeing persecution in our lives?
This is a big question.
We're,
we're seeing the type of persecution here,
where someone's being executed,
and thrown in jail,
wrongly.
So,
we're not seeing that.
We're sharing the gospel,
but we're not seeing ourselves be thrown in jail.
And thankfully,
our,
our government protects us in that way.
But,
nonetheless,
the promise is true.
Right?
The promise is true,
that all who desire to live a godly life,
will be persecuted.
There is not,
this,
explanation that he gives,
saying like,
unless you're living,
in a country that allows you to share the gospel.
No,
no,
he's just saying,
hey,
all who desire to live a godly life,
will be persecuted.
So,
what if we don't see that though?
What if you're looking around,
you're saying,
well,
we're not seeing that.
Again,
I'm not saying it's going to look exactly like the way it's looking in Acts.
At least in this country,
it won't.
For now.
But,
I want to give a couple reasons,
why I don't think we see persecution happen all the time.
And,
the first reason is that there are spiritual forces at work.
So,
like we said earlier,
again,
our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but it's against these spiritual forces.
And so,
Satan is happy to not persecute us,
if it means that we enjoy our luxuries more than we do share the gospel.
So,
it's a particular challenge that we face in the West.
Because we have all of our comforts,
and we do have these freedoms and these liberties that allow us to not have to worry about gathering this morning and reading the Bible.
But,
Satan doesn't see a need for us to be persecuted if we're already doing what he wants us to do, which is silence.
Which,
if we're not proclaiming the gospel boldly.
And,
again,
comforts are a blessing.
Material things in and of themselves are not evil.
But,
they can be a distraction,
right?
Like,
they can be a distraction from us knowing why we're here,
getting caught up,
getting caught up in everything that is happening in our season of life.
Whether it is,
like,
you're in college.
Like,
things that Satan wants you to focus on,
which is your schoolwork.
And,
making sure that you get through that.
Making sure that you get the grades that you need.
And,
there's so many different stages.
I mean,
that we could kind of go on and on and on about.
But,
I'm just saying that our comforts can be a blessing,
but they can be a distraction.
And,
I think that we can be Christians who are over-medicated by luxury.
Remember,
all who strive to live a godly life will be persecuted.
We will be persecuted.
It'll look differently,
but we will be persecuted.
So,
the first reason we're saying that there's spiritual forces at work.
The second,
and this is also the third reason,
so you're going to have to listen to both.
The second reason is that,
second and third is that,
we either aren't striving to live godly lives,
or,
we aren't people who have God in our lives.
So,
we either aren't striving to live godly lives,
or,
we aren't people who have God in our lives.
So,
I hope that you're catching my heart,
and what I'm saying with that.
So,
I think that,
what's really happened is that we have,
we hear that,
we hear that phrase,
that,
that verse,
all who desire to live a godly life,
will be persecuted.
And,
we've redefined the word godly,
to suit our lifestyles,
to mean something different than what Paul is talking about here.
And remember,
it's two sides of the same coin.
Persecution,
and gospel proclamation.
They go hand in hand.
It's not a cause and effect,
but what we're saying is,
if there is one,
there will be the other.
I'm saying,
yes,
if you share the gospel at work,
it's possible you might get passed over for a promotion.
It's possible that,
if you share the gospel at work,
you might lose your job.
It's possible that,
if you share the gospel with your friends,
that you might face social isolation.
You might get passed over for things.
It's possible that,
you might share the gospel with your classmates,
and suffer for it grade-wise.
It's going to take different forms,
but I'm saying that there is a cost to sharing the gospel.
And when there is gospel proclamation,
there is persecution.
I am saying that it's possible that you could share the gospel,
and not be persecuted,
and not experience hardship.
I'm saying it's possible.
I just don't think that it's likely.
I would be hard,
you would be hard-pressed to find someone who is boldly proclaiming the gospel,
and is not experiencing any problems with that.
And here's the thing.
We will bear fruit.
If we're believers,
and we've been changed,
we will bear fruit.
And to some,
that'll taste like a peach.
But to others,
it'll taste like a lime.
And the gospel will be a cold glass of water
to someone who's in need of refreshing,
and whose soul is weary,
and they're thinking about spiritual things.
It will be a cold glass of water to them.
But to those who have no desire for it,
who reject it,
it will be a glass of vinegar.
It's a polarizing effect.
So what I'm saying is,
if we're seeing little to no polarizing effect with our words,
we're looking less and less like our Lord,
and that should make us pause.
And that should make us wonder
if we actually do know and are communing with God.
That should make us pause.
That should make us ask,
all right, God,
am I desiring to live a godly life
the way that you have defined that in the Bible?
Okay, next thing that we're saying
is that prayers should be made by the church.
We've talked about persecution,
and we're saying,
okay, prayers will be made by the church.
You see that as the response from the church
that this event happens to.
Look at verse 5 and 12.
Verse 5,
So James has been killed.
Peter's thrown in prison,
and he's scheduled to be executed by the end of the day,
and the church is praying in response.
Interestingly enough,
there's one person who's not praying.
Did you notice that?
The guy who's about to die is not praying.
He's, like, sleeping.
And it's like,
I feel like we've been here before.
Something big is about to happen,
and someone should be praying,
and it's always Peter,
and he's sleeping.
It's like,
he either, like,
is the most relaxed guy in the world
who's just not worried.
He's like,
God's sovereign in this,
or that dude just loves him some sleep.
Which I can identify with.
The other interesting thing,
just as a little side note,
do you notice that,
okay,
the church is praying for Peter's release,
but when Peter is actually released,
they're surprised.
Like,
it's either,
again,
they were either surprised,
like,
they didn't think that what was going to happen
was going to happen,
or it didn't happen the way they thought
it was going to happen.
It's like,
it's really,
really odd.
I'm not trying to critique the church too much there,
but it's like,
what?
So,
so Luke,
the author,
he takes significant time
to talk about prayer in the story.
Like,
why,
why did he go so much into this,
why did he go into that story of,
like,
Peter shows up,
the church is praying,
and then the servant girl goes,
and they're like,
and she's like,
hey,
it's Peter.
And they're like,
no,
it's not,
and they keep praying.
Like,
why does,
why does Luke go into that story?
I think he goes into that
to show,
to talk,
to make a significant point
to talk about prayer.
So,
because of that,
I'm saying that we should be praying collectively.
That's what the church is doing in this instance.
So,
individual prayer should be happening,
yes.
But that should already be going on.
And group prayer should be a knee-jerk reaction
like it is here.
And again,
that's why Luke attaches that
to this text.
He's trying to make this point.
They're persecuted.
They're thrown in jail.
Something like,
unjustly,
prayer's happening.
Again,
not mechanically,
but it is a knee-jerk reaction.
And it's important to remember
that God uses man's prayers
as a vehicle,
as a means to accomplish his will.
Does he need us?
No.
He's totally sovereign,
entirely in control,
but he uses our prayers
as a vehicle,
as a means.
If you recall,
Acts 10,
you could flip over one page,
and you could see that in verse 4,
Cornelius,
who's the centurion,
he's praying to God.
Listen to the way
that God describes his prayers.
He says,
Cornelius is praying,
and then this angel appears,
and in verse 4 it says,
and he stared at him in terror,
and he said,
what is it, Lord?
And he said to him,
your prayers and your alms
have ascended
as a memorial before God.
That phrasing,
another version says it's,
your prayers have ascended
as a fragrant offering to God.
So it's like God,
it's like you smelling something
really, really delicious,
and it's like,
oh man,
that gets me going,
I love that.
And that's Cornelius' prayers
in this instance,
and that's what we're saying
with this text,
is that our prayers,
they please God.
Our prayers please God.
God uses them as a means,
and they please him.
But praying collectively
is not a knee-jerk reaction for us,
if we're honest.
I think that individual prayer
sometimes can be,
and that most of us,
our reaction is to pray,
and that's good,
but I don't want to leave out
this piece of collective,
group-wide prayer.
Often it's not a knee-jerk reaction.
The thing is that group-wide prayer,
if you have noticed,
if you are,
is anyone here like a,
like you love to people-watch sometimes,
you love to notice trends
and like the way that people do things
and just the interesting things
that go on during prayer.
Have you noticed that it's awkward sometimes
that we're easily distracted,
and we feel pressure to impress
in our prayers?
It can feel forced, right?
Like our group prayer,
when we say like,
okay, let's get together
and let's pray,
if you've been in your community groups,
like you've probably experienced
some difficulty in group prayer.
Like it doesn't just flow like water,
it's just,
sometimes it's difficult
and it's not as easy
as you would hope it would be.
And I think that reveals something
about our view of God in prayer.
Sometimes we view prayer
as like a ceremony or a ritual
that we have to go about.
There's these certain rules
that make up prayer.
So what I'm talking about
with the people-watching thing,
some things that I thought about,
like the rules that kind of affect prayer,
here are the rules of prayer
that I've noticed.
If you're going to pray,
you must always announce,
all right, let's pray now.
Again, none of these,
I'm not critiquing them
and saying they're really, really terrible.
It's just showing something about like,
I feel like we can all identify
with different rules.
So there's the,
we have to announce
that we have to pray,
that we're going to pray.
It's not like if someone
was sharing something with me
and I was like,
man, that's really, really good.
God, like what do you,
like we want you to accomplish it.
Like we couldn't just go into that necessarily.
It would be like,
okay, like let's all gather together
and let's pray right now.
Sometimes you'll get in that time
where it's like,
if we're going to pray,
we're going to pray to the left
and you're going to pray
for the person to your left
and they're going to pray
and we're going to complete
the circle here.
And then the other thing is,
if you've ever gotten in a situation
where you're in a group
and everyone's prayed
but two people,
it's like this unspoken agreement
between that person and you
that like,
I won't have to pray
if you don't pray
and then we'll wait.
We'll wait this thing out.
We will like go through the storm here
and then someone,
someone else will say amen
and so amen signals
the end of our prayer time.
It's like this unspoken agreement
and it's just like,
that's just human nature.
Like that's okay.
I'm not critiquing it
and saying like that's the worst thing
in the world.
I'm just saying that sometimes,
and I feel like other people
can share more rules
but it seems like there are rules to prayer
which again is,
I think it's reflecting something
about our view of prayer.
We view prayer
as a ritual or a ceremony
with certain rules
rather than commuting
with the Almighty.
Hardly can we say
prayer is a knee-jerk reaction.
When was the last time,
just as a gauge,
when was the last time
we prayed for more than 30 minutes?
When was the last time
that we cried out in prayer
and showed emotion in our prayers?
When was the last time
that we did that?
And I don't want to come down too hard
but I do want to say
I think this is a muscle
that you have to work out.
Just like anything.
Like someone needed to show you
how to read your Bible.
Someone needed to show you
how to share the gospel.
And just like that,
learning how to pray collectively
is not an easy thing
and we need,
it's a muscle
that we have to work out.
So how do we do that?
I have a really complicated plan
for how we do that.
We just start doing it.
It's not something
that we need to overthink.
As you leave here,
like are you praying right now?
As you leave today,
as you go over your meals,
like are you thinking about
how do we pray?
How do we ask God
that He would transform our hearts?
It starts with,
what about the one-on-one encounters?
What about with the
quarter group discipleships?
Like are you making prayer a focus?
I have noticed that
in the times that I've discipled guys,
prayer has not been a focus.
It's been something that we do
at the very, very end of our meeting.
It is not the focus of it.
And I feel like in some ways,
I've failed certain guys
by not showing them
how important prayer is.
By not letting that be a major focus.
I let the content
that we're going through
be the main focus.
And at the very end,
we have like a quick little prayer.
But rarely have I
like gotten with these guys
and be like, hey, like,
let's cry out together.
Let's really labor for the people
that we are praying for
and we want to see changed
and transformed.
So it starts there.
It starts in your core groups.
It starts in your community groups.
And it's just something that
we sometimes,
and this isn't for every case,
but sometimes we have to
act our way into right thinking
rather than think our way
into right acting.
And with that,
we should be praying expectantly.
Right?
The church, again,
the thing is that
they are praying,
but they,
it's like there's some disconnect.
Again, it's either
they were praying
and things didn't happen
the way they thought
they were going to happen
or they didn't,
or they just didn't think
it was going to happen at all.
There's something
that's a little bit off
in the church here
in chapter,
or verse 12 of chapter 12.
So this verse that came to mind
is James 1, 5.
And if you want to turn there
real quick,
it'll be one of the last ones
that you'll turn to.
So,
starting in verse 5,
James is talking about
praying for wisdom here,
but the principle
is still the same.
He says in verse 5,
If any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask God
who gives generously to all
without reproach,
and it will be given him.
But let him ask in faith
with no doubting,
for the one who doubts
is like a wave of the sea
that is driven
and tossed by the wind.
For that person
must not suppose
that he will receive
anything from the Lord.
He is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways.
So,
James is touching on this point
of like,
hey,
not doubting when you pray,
believing,
praying expectantly.
How often is it
that we pray for something,
whether it's healing
or a job
or an opportunity
to share the gospel,
and then it doesn't happen,
and it's like
we're the first ones,
God's like the first one
that we do blame.
We're like,
oh,
like why,
or question,
or just get frustrated with,
like,
God,
why didn't you do that?
But,
when God does answer that prayer,
it's almost like
we write it off
as like it was going
to happen anyways.
Like,
I mean,
I interviewed,
well,
like I prepared
for that interview.
And we're like,
no,
like,
I mean,
like the doctors knew
what they were doing.
They're like,
they're great doctors.
And like,
we thank God,
we like throw up a prayer to God
and like,
thank you.
But it's not like
it consumes us like,
oh my gosh,
we prayed that this person
would be healed
and God used the doctors
and he was healed.
Like,
so we were the first ones
to blame God,
but when he does answer
our prayers,
like we often like
skirt that joy.
the other thing
that I thought
was something
that we kind of
might struggle with
a little bit more
in the reform camp
and I have to say this
very,
very carefully
and I ask you
to hear my heart
in this.
So,
we know about
the sovereignty
of God.
We know that God
is good,
that he doesn't need us,
that he's going to do
what he's going to do
and that he uses
our prayers.
We have a tendency
to keep ourselves
from truly praying
expectantly
in this way.
And again,
hear my heart in this.
I think that
we know that God
is not the God
of the wealth
and prosperity gospel
and we know that
just because he doesn't
give us what we ask
for in prayer,
we know that he's
still good.
But,
and we know that
it's right for Jesus
to pray in the garden,
hey,
let this cut past
before me,
but your will,
not my.
Right?
So,
we get that concept
that Jesus is saying,
hey,
I really want this
to happen,
but it's not my will,
I'm submitting
to your will.
And I think that
where we hurt ourselves
when it comes to
praying expectantly
is that anytime
that we pray for something,
again,
a job interview,
healing,
gospel sharing,
we will ask for that
and then we'll always
follow that up with,
but if it's your will,
God,
like,
if that's what you
want to happen,
then make that happen.
And,
again,
while I'm saying
that that's right,
because we're so quick
to follow it up,
I think that
if we're not careful,
it can be a subtle way
for us to insulate
ourselves from pain,
that
when God doesn't
answer the prayer
the way that we
want him to,
it's almost like
we already protected
ourselves,
we saw that happening
two or three steps
down the line
and we were like,
but if it's your will
to not let that happen,
then let me be okay
with it.
And,
again,
I'm not saying
that's wrong,
I'm not saying
that's bad,
I'm just saying
it is something
that can subtly
keep us from
praying expectantly.
It's good and
biblical to say
this,
but while it can
soften the blow
of our disappointment,
it can also
stifle our praise
for when God
does answer
our prayers.
Do you see that?
Like,
it's super,
super subtle,
and I'm not saying
don't pray for God's
will to be done,
I'm just saying
it's something
that we need
to be on guard
for.
Like,
okay,
when I pray this,
when I say,
let your will be
done,
am I insulating
myself from pain
in case you don't
give that to me?
Because I think
that that hurts us
again in the way
that we praise God
when he does come
through with those
things.
I'm not suggesting
that we adopt
a name it and claim
it mentality
when it comes to
prayer,
that's not what
I'm suggesting.
I'm saying that
we pray expectantly
knowing that God
hears.
We don't need to
pray harder,
you don't need to
pray louder.
We pray expectantly
knowing that,
we pray expectantly
so that our praise
or our hurt
are not stifled.
We let God
work through that.
Even in the painful
moments,
we still let God
work through that.
We still wrestle
through that.
We don't numb
ourselves so that
it doesn't hurt
as bad.
So let's pray
expecting God
to work in power
because power
will be displayed
by God
for his church.
So this is my
kind of last
and final point
is that power
will be displayed
by God
for his church.
How?
We're saying it's
for God's purposes.
There is this
interesting detail
where James is killed
but not Peter.
There's much rejoicing
over the fact
that Peter
is released
miraculously
but that miracle
didn't come to James
and God saw that
it was good
for that to happen.
There were different
outcomes
for different men.
One got to come
home and one didn't.
But God is good
in both situations.
God is glorified
in the martyrdom
of James
and in the release
of Peter.
Could he have
released James?
Absolutely.
100%.
Like none of us
are doubting that.
God uses it
for his purposes.
We see that
Peter's released.
He encourages
the church.
He reminds them
of God's sovereignty
and God's
continued plan
to use Peter
to advance
the gospel.
And the other
thing that's great
about God's power
being displayed
by God
for his church
is that God
does this
because of us
but also
in spite of us.
So,
their prayers,
God uses those prayers.
Those are
the means,
the vehicle
that God
accomplishes
his purposes.
But,
Peter's sleeping
and the church
isn't praying
completely expectantly.
You know what I mean?
Like those are the
two things
that are a little
off about the situation
but God still
answers their prayers.
So,
God works
because of our prayers
but also in spite
of our prayers.
Like he does,
he is sovereign,
he is good.
He doesn't need
our prayers
but he invites us
in to have
them be the means,
that vehicle
that drives his will.
And then this is
the why.
Why does God
use his power
to be displayed
for the church?
This is
the biggest point,
guys.
God is entirely
devoted to
the advancing
of the gospel.
He is relentless
in it.
Nothing
will keep
the gospel
from being advanced.
Okay,
the miracle
is awesome
but there's
a bigger purpose
to it
and I don't want
to say
don't pay attention
to the miracle
because just stop
and think for a second
like the insanity
of this miracle.
The fact that
Peter is guarding,
so what would have
happened is
he has a
chain around
one leg
and a chain
around the other
and those are
both connected
to guards
and there are
two guards
guarding the doors
and there's
four of these
four man groups
and they take
different shifts.
So it's like
you would think
that they were
guarding the most
valuable man
in the world
or the most
violent man
in the world
but they're
guarding Peter
who's done
no violence.
It's an odd
thing but
nevertheless
it's almost
like God
uses that
uses man's
attempts
to prevent
Peter from
escaping
just to show
how big
and powerful
God is.
Nothing
stands in
God's way.
He suspends
his own
laws of
physics.
The laws
that he
created
he suspends
them.
He says
you will not
hold this man
any longer
and the chains
fall off of him.
He shines
this light
in the cell
and it wakes
up Peter
after touching
him
but not
the guards.
He walks
through the gate
the gate
opens for him
he walks
out of the city.
Like this
is a big deal
like God
suspends
all of these
things
all these
things
that would
be impossible
for the sake
of God
building up
his church
and advancing
the gospel.
That is the
point of this
miracle here.
It's not
just to say
oh that was
super cool
and I think
that God's
neat
and isn't
he powerful
no it's
to say God's
relentless
in his pursuit
of the gospel
and he will
accomplish it
and he's
using Peter.
The physical
properties
bend their
knees
to God's
purposes.
God is
entirely
about
the
proclamation
of the gospel
entirely.
So in
closing thoughts
I believe
that Luke
wrote this
text
to encourage
the church
to remain
steadfast
under persecution
steadfast
in prayer
because of
our belief
in God's
power.
Steadfast
in prayer
that we'll
believe that
God will
hear our
prayers
and he
will
accomplish
his will.
And it's
easy to look
inward
I believe
it's easy
to look
inward
and be a
little bit
discouraged
or maybe
be discouraged
or maybe see
this as an
indictment
on our
lack of
prayer
or our
lack of
belief
sometimes
or our
lack to
proclaim
the gospel
when we
really need
to
because we're
afraid of
uncomfortable
situations
because
a million
different
reasons
it's easy
to look
in that
and especially
for myself
I know
that I
fail so
much of
this
like I
am not
the greatest
of this
I'm in
that group
I'm in
that camp
where I'm
saying guys
I've
redefined
godliness
to mean
something
different
to mean
something more
palatable
for me
something
that's a
little bit
more
comfortable
for me
so that
I can
still say
that I
am my
own
instead
of saying
I'm
gods
and I'm
bought
with a
price
and it's
no longer
me
but it's
Christ
like I
want to
avoid
that
and I
fail at
this
so please
please
hear me
but
in that
even though
it's easy
to be
discouraged
the message
is not
try harder
the message
is not
pray louder
pray more
or that
you need to
believe more
or that
your faith
is little
that's not
the message
that we're
saying
it would
be a
travesty
to believe
that
to get
that out
of this
message
that okay
we need
to go
home
we need
to pray
more
and we need
to be
more godly
and we need
to share
the gospel
more
and like
hoo-ha-hoo
let's go
like that's
not the
message
and it
would be
like a
travesty
for us
to go
in that
direction
instead
what we're
saying
is that
god's
power
his
message
centers
on
himself
nothing
will
stand
in god's
will
nothing
will
stand
in god's
way
of the
gospel
and that's
not dependent
upon us
at all
it's not
dependent
upon how
good we
are
but
god
invites
us
to be
a part
of that
so here's
what i'm
saying that
the messages
of this
to you
that we
go home
with this
is that
remind
yourself
of that
daily
remind
yourself
of that
right now
remind
yourself
of that
as we're
about to
take the
lord's
supper
remind
yourself
of what
christ
has done
for us
and how
god
has
redeemed
us
from
darkness
and
taken
us
into
light
and
jesus
is
our
master
and
we
are
formed
the
world
that's
what
we
remind
!
ourselves
of
!
not
try
harder
you need
to pray
more
you need
to believe
more
it's
believing
that god
will accomplish
his purposes
and reminding
ourselves
of that
and then
reminding
each other
of that
in your
core
groups
reminding
each other
of that
in your
community
groups
that god
is relentless
about his
pursuit of the
gospel
and he
uses us
and we
get to be
a part
of that
that
is what
i want
us to hear
out of this
i want
us to hear
that
god
invites
our
prayers
in
persecution
will
come
and it
should
come
if
there's
gospel
proclamation
there's
going to
be
persecution
but it's
all
relying
on
it's
all
hinging
on
god's
power
believing
that god
will
accomplish
what
he
desires
to
accomplish
let's
pray