SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Sermons from the Way Church KC, a community of listening saints in Kansas City, following the way of Jesus and pushing back darkness together.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
SPEAKER_00: How are we all doing today?
SPEAKER_00: Can everybody hear me okay?
SPEAKER_00: If the microphone doesn't work, I can talk really, really loud.
SPEAKER_00: So that works too.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, there we go.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, good morning, everybody.
SPEAKER_00: All bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, hopefully.
SPEAKER_00: If not, it's okay.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not either.
SPEAKER_00: If I fall asleep, somebody wake me up.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm gonna be reading Acts chapter 12, the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I did not know what I was signing up for when I signed myself up with this.
SPEAKER_00: Um so if you guys will please stand for the reading of the word, we're going to read Acts 12.
SPEAKER_00: About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
SPEAKER_00: Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.
SPEAKER_00: And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell.
SPEAKER_00: He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, Get up quickly, and the chains fell off his hands.
SPEAKER_00: And the angel said to him, Dress yourself and put on your sandals, and he did so.
SPEAKER_00: And when he said and he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
SPEAKER_00: And he went out and followed him.
SPEAKER_00: He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought that he was seeing a vision.
SPEAKER_00: When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city.
SPEAKER_00: It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.
SPEAKER_00: When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: They said to her, You are out of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, It is his angel.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.
SPEAKER_00: But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Tell these things to James and to the brothers.
SPEAKER_00: Then he departed and went to another place.
SPEAKER_00: Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
SPEAKER_00: And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.
SPEAKER_00: Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.
SPEAKER_00: Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastoise, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food.
SPEAKER_00: On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.
SPEAKER_00: And the people were shouting, The voice of a God and not of a man.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
SPEAKER_00: But the word of God increased and multiplied.
SPEAKER_00: And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord, you may be seated.
SPEAKER_02: Well, welcome everyone to the Waychurch KC.
SPEAKER_02: My name is Zach.
SPEAKER_02: I have the privilege of being the lead pastor here.
SPEAKER_02: And it's great to see everyone.
SPEAKER_02: What's up, Moody?
SPEAKER_02: I didn't even see you on your way in, man.
SPEAKER_02: So, we got a lot of text to get through today, obviously.
SPEAKER_02: But if this is your first time here, welcome.
SPEAKER_02: We're glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: We're glad you've joined us.
SPEAKER_02: We'd love for you to plug in, to jump in, to become part of our way family.
SPEAKER_02: It's a sweet family.
SPEAKER_02: That's what I truly believe.
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, we'd love to get to know you.
SPEAKER_02: Um, if this is your first time, we do have a gift for you.
SPEAKER_02: So uh grab me at the welcome table right outside of the sanctuary doors, and I'll give you a fun little gift.
SPEAKER_02: Um so that is that.
SPEAKER_02: Um we've been in a series through the book of Acts, walking verse by verse through Acts.
SPEAKER_02: Um, our series is entitled Living by the Spirits and Following the Way.
SPEAKER_02: And so we're on Acts 12.
SPEAKER_02: We've been running through Acts for a little while now, and we'll continue in that today.
SPEAKER_02: Today we're gonna be in Acts 12, as Madeline read.
SPEAKER_02: Um, but before we we jump in, um, I just want to take us a brief second to speak to kind of the cultural moment we're in, right?
SPEAKER_02: I know if you're watching the news, you're seeing that there is war, there's bombing, there's all those things.
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it can seem like anxiety-ridden, it can seem um stress-inducing.
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, there's there's a watching world, there's people hurting.
SPEAKER_02: And I think in times like these, it's it's easy to be gripped by fear, to worry for loved ones.
SPEAKER_02: I know that we have some friends in this church who who have a pastor friend that's that's stuck in Israel right now, that's trying to get back to the United States.
SPEAKER_02: Um, so like we need to be in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: We must be people of prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Um, we can be filled with like uncertainty about the future.
SPEAKER_02: But here's what I want you guys to hear this morning.
SPEAKER_02: As followers of the way of Jesus, we're reminded that while nations rise and fall and wars rage, our ultimate hope is not in this world.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus himself declared in John chapter 16, verse 33, that he has overcome the world.
SPEAKER_02: So our confidence does not rest in the things of this world, but our confidence rests in the sovereign, true King who is Jesus, the one who is unchanging, who holds every heart, who holds every nation in his hands.
SPEAKER_02: So let's briefly.
SPEAKER_02: I want to just take a second to pray and then we'll dive into Acts.
SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, you are the Lord of lords.
SPEAKER_02: You are the sovereign Lord over every nation, over every ruler.
SPEAKER_02: And as we we see conflict and uncertainty in our cultural moment, we confess that our hope is not in the things of this world.
SPEAKER_02: Although at times we may falsely think it is.
SPEAKER_02: God, we ask for mercy in the Middle East.
SPEAKER_02: We ask for mercy in the United States.
SPEAKER_02: We ask that you restrain evil, that you protect the innocent, that you grant wisdom to leaders.
SPEAKER_02: God, I ask that you would bring peace where there's violence and fear.
SPEAKER_02: God, I ask that you would guard our hearts from anxiety, from misplaced trust, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And I pray that we here at the Way KC would be a people who have our eyes fixed on you, Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who reigns above every power and whose kingdom cannot be shaken.
SPEAKER_02: God, I ask that you would sovereignly use even these troubled times to bring people to saving faith.
SPEAKER_02: God, as we dig into the book of Acts, I ask that you speak through me, that you would move me out of the way and let your words be made clear.
SPEAKER_02: We love you, we praise you, and it's in the mighty name of Jesus I pray.
SPEAKER_02: And all God's people said.
SPEAKER_02: Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_02: So, so let's jump right into Acts 12.
SPEAKER_02: We got a lot to get through.
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to go long because Roman will give me a look.
SPEAKER_02: So we've we've been in kind of this transitional moment in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: Um, we we remember our thematic verse is Acts 1.8, which says, and you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_02: So we're witnessing this Acts 1.8 expansion take place here in Acts 12.
SPEAKER_02: We've we've been looking at it in Acts 10, 11, and then 12, it's kind of exploding.
SPEAKER_02: So Acts 12, it kind of serves as a turning point of sorts.
SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of crazy stuff that happens here.
SPEAKER_02: So James is executed, Peter is imprisoned, and then he's delivered from imprisonment.
SPEAKER_02: King Herod is struck down, and the word of God multiplies.
SPEAKER_02: So Luke, what he's doing here in chapter 12 is closing the Jerusalem chapter of the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: The apostolic circle is broken by martyrdom.
SPEAKER_02: Peter begins to fade from prominence, not in the life of the early church, but strictly in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: And so what we'll see as we continue through Acts is that the mission will now move outward more forcefully to the nations, to the ends of the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And the message here is unmistakable.
SPEAKER_02: Kings rise and fall.
SPEAKER_02: But the word of God rises and multiplies.
SPEAKER_02: What this is, is a new Exodus story of sorts.
SPEAKER_02: Herod, he serves as a Pharaoh-like king.
SPEAKER_02: There is bondage during Passover, and there's divine intervention.
SPEAKER_02: There's judgment on the oppressor, and there is the multiplication of God's people.
SPEAKER_02: What the author Luke wants us to see is that Jesus Christ is now leading a greater exodus.
SPEAKER_02: Not from Egypt, but from sin, death, and tyranny.
SPEAKER_02: And at the center of it all stands Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: So here's our big idea in today's text.
SPEAKER_02: When earthly powers rage against the church, Christ rules, prayer rises, chains fall, pride collapses, and the word multiplies.
SPEAKER_02: With that, we're going to look at four responses that we should have to God's sovereignty.
SPEAKER_02: First, we should pray fervently when persecution arises.
SPEAKER_02: Second, we should trust when chains bind.
SPEAKER_02: Third, we should believe boldly.
SPEAKER_02: And fourth, we should refuse worldly glory.
SPEAKER_02: So let's jump right in.
SPEAKER_02: Point number one, pray fervently when persecution arises.
SPEAKER_02: Acts 12, verses 1 through 5, the Word of God says, About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.
SPEAKER_02: He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
SPEAKER_02: And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.
SPEAKER_02: This was during the days of an unleavened bread.
SPEAKER_02: 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.
SPEAKER_02: So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
SPEAKER_02: So James is killed with the sword.
SPEAKER_02: Peter is arrested during Passover, and Herod begins to seek public approval to apple to appease the Jewish people.
SPEAKER_02: The persecution of the early church is increasing, and spoiler alert, in the early church in the first century, it will continue to increase from here.
SPEAKER_02: And this Herod that's being referred to, this is Herod Agrippa I.
SPEAKER_02: He was the grandson of Herod the Great.
SPEAKER_02: He was friend of Emperor Claudius.
SPEAKER_02: And just to give you a little more context in history, he would have been ruling in Judea in 41 to 44 AD.
SPEAKER_02: So that kind of gives you a time frame of when this is going down.
SPEAKER_02: And he was politically motivated to please the Jewish leadership.
SPEAKER_02: We see that just in those first five verses there.
SPEAKER_02: And what's happening, the sword of the state is unsheathed against the early church.
SPEAKER_02: Luke says that Peter was kept in prison.
SPEAKER_02: But he also says that the church was praying fervently to God for him.
SPEAKER_02: Earnest prayer for Peter.
SPEAKER_02: And what's crazy, the Greek word used here for earnest or for fervent, depending on what version you're reading, this has this idea of being stretched out, of intensity, of a straining sort of thing.
SPEAKER_02: And if you look at Luke chapter 22, verse 44, this is the same word used for the type of prayer that Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_02: So, family, that should give us an idea of the emotional intensity of the church's prayers for Peter.
SPEAKER_02: We should also see its connection to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was praying so earnestly, so fervently, that he began to sweat blood.
SPEAKER_02: Now it doesn't say anything about the early church sweating blood from their prayer, but that's sort of intensity, that's a sort of intercessory prayer that they were lifting up to God.
SPEAKER_02: Notice the contrast, if you will.
SPEAKER_02: Herod, he begins to lay hands violently, but the church, they lift their hands in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Herod, he begins to wield the sword against the church, but the church wields the weapon of prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Family, I think that the early church understood something that we must recover.
SPEAKER_02: Firstly, that political power is not ultimate power, that God reigns from heaven, that God is in control.
SPEAKER_02: And secondly, what the early church shows us is that prayer is the work and it works.
SPEAKER_02: Like we, as the Way KC, are to be a people of prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Just like the early church was in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_02: This scene, it it I alluded to this, but it has this these echoes of the Exodus story.
SPEAKER_02: Exodus, second book in the Old Testament, second book in the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe we'll dig into an Exodus series sometime.
SPEAKER_02: Pharaoh, he he oppressed Israel during Passover.
SPEAKER_02: But when Israel cried out, the Lord heard their cries.
SPEAKER_02: And so here we we see Peter being chained and the people crying out to God in the same way.
SPEAKER_02: Heaven is not silent here.
SPEAKER_02: So for us, as we just look at these first five verses to start with, what are we to do?
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think to put it simply, we must be a praying people.
SPEAKER_02: We must be a people who pray fervently, who pray earnestly when opposition arises.
SPEAKER_02: Not a casual sort of prayer life, not a, hey, we're just gonna pray to transition the worship team off stage and we're gonna pray to close the service, but no, like a life that's embodied by prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Prayer is not our last resort, it's our first line of offense.
SPEAKER_02: And also defense.
SPEAKER_02: So may we be a people, Crystal, who pray as if God rules history because he does.
SPEAKER_02: May we be a people that pray as if Christ intercedes for us because he does.
SPEAKER_02: May we be a people who pray as if the Spirit empowers our cries because he does.
SPEAKER_02: And maybe you're sitting here today and you're like, man, but like I hear you, but you don't know what I'm facing in my life right now.
SPEAKER_02: You don't know what's going on behind the scenes.
SPEAKER_02: You don't know what's going on in my life.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're facing spiritual bondage, maybe you're facing familial conflict, maybe you're facing cultural hostility, maybe you're walking through personal suffering, maybe you're in the midst of addiction, maybe there's brokenness surrounding.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're walking through the pain of searing loss.
SPEAKER_02: And if that's you, my guess is that the temptation is to panic or to strategize or to try to take control.
SPEAKER_02: But what I want you to hear this morning is that Acts 12 teaches us that when these things happen, when the sword rises, we pray.
SPEAKER_02: Because our King, King Jesus, is greater than every Herod.
SPEAKER_02: When cultural pressure rises, the temptation is to lobby first, to organize, to defend.
SPEAKER_02: But Acts 12 shows us that prayer precedes strategy.
SPEAKER_02: Prayer comes before strategy.
SPEAKER_02: And I think about our journey as a church plant.
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, we want, we, we, we strategize, right?
SPEAKER_02: We we fundraise, we do all these things, and I can spiral like none other.
SPEAKER_02: Just ask my wife how I can spiral, and I'm like, I don't know how it's gonna work, God.
SPEAKER_02: But every time he comes through, prayer, prayer can't be an accessory for us as a church plant.
SPEAKER_02: Prayer must be foundational for us as a church plant.
SPEAKER_02: That's what the early church in Acts shows us.
SPEAKER_02: So, next, what happens when a praying church entrusts its crisis to a sovereign Lord?
SPEAKER_02: Well, what happens in the book of Acts, and I believe what still happens now, is that chains begin to fall.
SPEAKER_02: Point number two is that we must trust when chains bind.
SPEAKER_02: Trust when chains bind us.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter twelve, verses six through eleven, the word of God says, Now when Herod was about to bring the hymn out, on that very night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door door were guarding the prison.
SPEAKER_02: And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell.
SPEAKER_02: He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, Get up quickly.
SPEAKER_02: And the chains fell off his hands.
SPEAKER_02: And the angel said to him, Dress yourself and put on your sandals, and he did so.
SPEAKER_02: And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.
SPEAKER_02: And he went out and followed him.
SPEAKER_02: He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
SPEAKER_02: When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city.
SPEAKER_02: It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.
SPEAKER_02: When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.
SPEAKER_02: So Peter, he's he's bound by two chains, he's guarded by two soldiers, he's surrounded by two sentries, and he's locked behind an iron gate.
SPEAKER_02: And what is he doing?
SPEAKER_02: He's sleeping.
SPEAKER_02: The night before his likely execution, he is sound asleep.
SPEAKER_02: Now, now, you guys remember Peter from the Gospels and from earlier in this Acts series.
SPEAKER_02: This is the same Peter we've studied.
SPEAKER_02: This is the same reader, Peter, that we read about in the Gospels.
SPEAKER_02: Luke chapter 8.
SPEAKER_02: This is the same Peter who once panicked in the midst of a storm while Jesus slept during it.
SPEAKER_02: This is the same Peter who once denied Christ out of fear.
SPEAKER_02: And now he sleeps before execution for having faith in this Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Oh boy, Peter has come a long way.
SPEAKER_02: He is now like embodying and living out trust in the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Psalm chapter 4, verse 8 reads, In peace I will both lie down and sleep.
SPEAKER_02: For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
SPEAKER_02: Man, may that be our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: For you alone, O Lord, make us dwell in safety.
SPEAKER_02: That's Peter's prayer.
SPEAKER_02: Then suddenly an angel appears.
SPEAKER_02: A bright light fills the prison.
SPEAKER_02: Chains fall off, shackles are broken, the gate opens by itself.
SPEAKER_02: And who initiates this?
SPEAKER_02: It's not Peter.
SPEAKER_02: It's not Peter's great faith.
SPEAKER_02: It's not simply his trust in the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: It's not his cleverness.
SPEAKER_02: He's not there like picking the lock on the chains that are shackling him.
SPEAKER_02: He's not negotiating his way out of prison.
SPEAKER_02: It is God who is orchestrating this, who is making the chains fall.
SPEAKER_02: Peter is passive.
SPEAKER_02: He's asleep.
SPEAKER_02: But God is acting on his behalf.
SPEAKER_02: So here's the truth for us.
SPEAKER_02: We should trust when chains bind.
SPEAKER_02: We should trust the Lord for deliverance.
SPEAKER_02: Now, some of you are in these midnight seasons like Peter.
SPEAKER_02: You feel chained, you feel surrounded on every side, you see iron gates ahead of you.
SPEAKER_02: But hear this this morning.
SPEAKER_02: The same Christ who walked out of his own tomb can break every chain that he chooses to break.
SPEAKER_02: And what I don't want us to hear is any sort of like prosperity theology.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, James died, right?
SPEAKER_02: You can safely assume that the early church was praying for James too, and he died, but he is still delivered eternally, right?
SPEAKER_02: So we may not see the prayers answered on this side of the new heavens and new earth.
SPEAKER_02: But we can trust that he is good.
SPEAKER_02: We can trust that he is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: We can trust that there is deliverance eternally if we never see deliverance in this world.
SPEAKER_02: So James, he wasn't abandoned.
SPEAKER_02: Don't hear that, that like James was abandoned and Peter was not.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord was faithful to both of them.
SPEAKER_02: It just looked differently.
SPEAKER_02: James was received into glory.
SPEAKER_02: So deliverance is not always escape from death.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it's deliverance through death.
SPEAKER_02: But either way, regardless, either way, Jesus Christ reigns.
SPEAKER_02: That's the truth.
SPEAKER_02: That's the fact of the matter.
SPEAKER_02: So because Christ reigns, because Christ still breaks chains, we can sleep peacefully.
SPEAKER_02: We can trust in him.
SPEAKER_02: We can obey when he says, follow me.
SPEAKER_02: Chains breaking, though, it delivers a new sort of test.
SPEAKER_02: It delivers a sort of test not of like survival, but of belief.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what we see in this story here.
SPEAKER_02: Point number three, believe boldly.
SPEAKER_02: Believe boldly.
SPEAKER_02: Acts 12, verses 12 through 17 reads this.
SPEAKER_02: 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.
SPEAKER_02: They said to her, You are out of your mind.
SPEAKER_02: But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, It is his angel.
SPEAKER_02: But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.
SPEAKER_02: But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of pr out of the prison, and he said, Tell these things to James and to the brothers.
SPEAKER_02: Then he departed and went to another place.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, he shows up at the prayer meeting.
SPEAKER_02: They're praying for him.
SPEAKER_02: And he's like, I mean, that's crazy to me.
SPEAKER_02: And Rhoda, the servant girl, hears his voice and she immediately rejoices.
SPEAKER_02: So she's so excited she forgets to open the door.
SPEAKER_02: To open the gate.
SPEAKER_02: And the early church, the early disciples, they respond, You're out of your mind, Rhoda.
SPEAKER_02: It's his angel, Rhoda.
SPEAKER_02: And there was a deep, like first century Jewish belief in guardian angels, and it shows like they're what all that they still have to learn and grow in.
SPEAKER_02: They believe that Peter might have been dead already.
SPEAKER_02: So they're praying for Peter.
SPEAKER_02: They don't have the um best outlook on what's gonna happen to Peter.
SPEAKER_02: They just watched another dude get killed.
SPEAKER_02: Now Peter's likely gonna be killed.
SPEAKER_02: And so they're struggling to believe that the answer is at their very gate.
SPEAKER_02: The answer to their prayers is knocking on the door.
SPEAKER_02: And I think that we can so easily do the same.
SPEAKER_02: Like, how often do we just pray safe prayers?
SPEAKER_02: How often do we just pray cautious prayers?
SPEAKER_02: How often do we pray without expectation, without believing that it's as good as done if we ask it?
SPEAKER_02: Yet, what scripture shows us is yet that God can answer beyond what we can imagine, beyond what we could ask, think, or imagine.
SPEAKER_02: Ephesians 3 20.
SPEAKER_02: Rhoda, the little servant girl, she believes before the gathered believers do.
SPEAKER_02: And Luke is highlighting for us this divine reversal.
SPEAKER_02: The lowly often perceive what the powerful miss.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, he keeps knocking.
SPEAKER_02: And eventually, finally, they open up, open the gate, and they're amazed.
SPEAKER_02: And so here's what we learn from this part of the narrative.
SPEAKER_02: We must believe boldly in the God we pray to.
SPEAKER_02: I'll say it again.
SPEAKER_02: We must believe boldly in the God we pray to.
SPEAKER_02: If we confess that God speaks, that God saves, that Christ reigns, that faith receives, that God alone gets the glory, then we should pray and believe accordingly.
SPEAKER_02: I think of that quote from uh The Chronicles of Narnia, the line The Witch in the Wardrobe, where they're talking about Aslan.
SPEAKER_02: Aslan serves as like the Christ figure, that's the imagery there.
SPEAKER_02: And one of the the kids is like, is he safe?
SPEAKER_02: Referring to Aslan.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna butcher it.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't write this down.
SPEAKER_02: I think it's he's not safe, but he is good.
SPEAKER_02: And if you've watched, I'll I'll send it out in the message.
SPEAKER_02: That's what happens when I get out.
SPEAKER_02: I try to do an illustration or a quote that I don't have written down.
SPEAKER_02: Either way, if we believe that God still speaks, which we do, then we better start listening.
SPEAKER_02: If we believe that God still saves, then we must recognize that God can save the hardest of hearts.
SPEAKER_02: Think about your pre-Christian life, your BC days, if you will.
SPEAKER_02: My guess is you might have had a pretty hard heart.
SPEAKER_02: I know that I did, and then Christ softened that.
SPEAKER_02: So if we believe that Christ still reigns, which we do, then we can believe and trust that no prison is ultimate, that no chains can shackle us.
SPEAKER_02: If we believe that scripture is authoritative, which we do, then these promises are not just like symbolic comfort, but they're scriptural certainty, right?
SPEAKER_02: So with that, as we become and continue to grow into being a people of prayer, we can expect him to save sinners.
SPEAKER_02: We can expect him to heal marriages, we can expect him to provide resources for this church plan, we can expect him to sustain the missionaries that we've sent out.
SPEAKER_02: We can expect him to grow his church.
SPEAKER_02: So when he answers, we're not to be shocked.
SPEAKER_02: We're to rejoice.
SPEAKER_02: We're to believe boldly and rejoice.
SPEAKER_02: So we'll land the plane with the last eight verses of Acts twelve.
SPEAKER_02: I know we've we've covered a lot of terrain today.
SPEAKER_02: It's fun.
SPEAKER_02: So what we see is what that while the church struggles to believe answered prayer, a king is preparing to believe he is a god.
SPEAKER_02: ACT 12, 18 through 25.
SPEAKER_02: Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.
SPEAKER_02: And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.
SPEAKER_02: Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.
SPEAKER_02: Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyree and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having pers persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food.
SPEAKER_02: 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 of a man.
SPEAKER_02: Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
SPEAKER_02: Verse twenty four.
SPEAKER_02: But the word of God increased and multiplied.
SPEAKER_02: Point number four is refuse worldly glory.
SPEAKER_02: Refuse worldly glory.
SPEAKER_02: Herod he sits enthroned in royal robes.
SPEAKER_02: And the Jewish historian Josephus, he records how Agrippa he wore silver garments that shimmered in the sunlight.
SPEAKER_02: And the people shout, the voice of a god and not a man.
SPEAKER_02: The crowd is flattering him for political favor.
SPEAKER_02: And he accepts it.
SPEAKER_02: He's like, Yeah, that's me.
SPEAKER_02: And immediately an angel strikes him down.
SPEAKER_02: Peter was struck to life by an angel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Herod is struck to death by an angel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: The man who sat in thrones on a worldly throne is reduced to decay.
SPEAKER_02: Because glory that is stolen, it always rots.
SPEAKER_02: That wasn't Herod's glory to claim.
SPEAKER_02: And why is Herod struck down?
SPEAKER_02: Well, it tells us very plainly in the text.
SPEAKER_02: It says he did not give glory to God.
SPEAKER_02: He did not give glory to God.
SPEAKER_02: The theology is clear.
SPEAKER_02: God will not share his glory.
SPEAKER_02: It is his.
SPEAKER_02: He is worthy of it.
SPEAKER_02: Isaiah 42, 8 reads, I am the Lord, that is my name, my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
SPEAKER_02: Herod, he was seeking control over bodies, over the people, but now his body is consumed by worms.
SPEAKER_02: Kings, worldly kings who claim divinity, they always decay.
SPEAKER_02: The fact of the matter is that Christ alone reigns eternally.
SPEAKER_02: Christ alone.
SPEAKER_02: So what are we to do with this story that closes Acts 12?
SPEAKER_02: Well, as people who live in this world, we must refuse the glory that belongs to God alone.
SPEAKER_02: We must refuse worldly glory, brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_02: And don't think for a second that this applies only to like tyrants like Herod or kings like Herod.
SPEAKER_02: This applies to us as believers.
SPEAKER_02: It applies to me as a pastor.
SPEAKER_02: It applies to leaders.
SPEAKER_02: It applies to churches.
SPEAKER_02: We're not placed here in this neighborhood to seek to build our own name.
SPEAKER_02: God has not called me as pastor of this church to build a platform.
SPEAKER_02: As believers who follow the way of Jesus, we're not to crave applause like, hey, look how good I'm living.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: We're not to measure success by the things of this world.
SPEAKER_02: We're simply to glorify God.
SPEAKER_02: Think about the contrast that we see here between King Herod and King Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Herod wore royal robes that shimmered in the sun.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ wore a crown of thorns.
SPEAKER_02: Herod received mockery.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Herod received praise.
SPEAKER_02: Christ received mockery.
SPEAKER_02: Herod's throne was of this world.
SPEAKER_02: Christ's throne is eternal.
SPEAKER_02: Only one throne remains.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, we should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.
SPEAKER_02: 1 Peter 5, 6 reads, humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
SPEAKER_02: Luke, he contrasts two voices for us here.
SPEAKER_02: The voice of a God, that's how Herod is referred to, and the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: Lowercase G God, big G God.
SPEAKER_02: And that's how this story in Acts 12 and Zash and Eden come up and begin to bring us to a close.
SPEAKER_02: After martyrdom, after imprisonment, after execution, after political drama, Luke writes, right there, verse 24, but the word of God increased and multiplied.
SPEAKER_02: But the word of God increased and multiplied.
SPEAKER_02: Not merely the church, not merely attendance, the word.
SPEAKER_02: This is the same phrase used of Israel multiplying in Exodus.
SPEAKER_02: It's now applied to the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: The word is personified, it advances, it's unstoppable, it conquers hearts.
SPEAKER_02: Herod's speech fades because he's dead.
SPEAKER_02: And God's word multiplies because it is alive.
SPEAKER_02: This is deeply, deeply relevant for us as a congregation.
SPEAKER_02: As we continue to plant this church, we must remember that the only unstoppable force in this church is the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: It's not money, it's not buildings, it's not leadership, it's not whatever you're thinking, not how great our worship is, it's not how great our preaching is.
SPEAKER_02: It's the word of God.
SPEAKER_02: It's God who does the work.
SPEAKER_02: So may what is said about the early church in Acts 12, verse 24 be said about us of the way KC, that the word of God increased and multiplied.
SPEAKER_02: Because here's the thing: when the word spreads, people are saved.
SPEAKER_02: Generosity increases, mission advances, the kingdom grows.
SPEAKER_02: Nothing can stop it.
SPEAKER_02: Not persecution, not famine, not political power, not financial pressure.
SPEAKER_02: So we must devote ourselves to the word above all else.
SPEAKER_02: Because when the word multiplies, the church flourishes.
SPEAKER_02: I'll say one last word about Peter here, and then we'll take communion.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, he's freed from prison here in Acts 12.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus stayed in prison.
SPEAKER_02: Peter, he escapes death here in this chapter.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus embraced death.
SPEAKER_02: Even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_02: Peter is delivered by an angel.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus was abandoned to the cross.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what I want you to see.
SPEAKER_02: Peter walked free because Jesus Christ did not.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: So that he, he being Christ, could secure our final exodus.
SPEAKER_02: His resurrection broke the ultimate chains.
SPEAKER_02: It broke the chains of sin, it broke the chains of death, and it broke the chains that Satan holds.
SPEAKER_02: Peter's prison doors opened because Christ's tomb was empty.
SPEAKER_02: Herod fell because Christ reigns.
SPEAKER_02: The word multiplies because Christ lives.
SPEAKER_02: And the same is true for us today.
SPEAKER_02: We are free because Christ is risen.
SPEAKER_02: Prison doors can open for you because Christ's tomb was empty.
SPEAKER_02: And enemies of the cross will fail because Christ reigns today.
SPEAKER_02: And the word will continue to multiply because Christ still lives.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_01: Join us Sundays at 10 30 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: in the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City.
SPEAKER_01: Or find us anytime at the wakeac.church.