Praise the Lord. It feels like a long time since
I have shared on Sunday morning. And there's
been so much happening. This week, we've had
one thing after another. And this week, for a
couple days, I just went, oh, thank you, Lord.
You happy to be alive? Are you happy? To have
the breath of God in your lungs. His air fueling
you. Praise God. And so I am, because of that,
I'm looking forward to sharing this word with
you. I took two words and I combined them into
one. So that means I get to preach twice as long.
Is that right? Oh, oh, that was harsh. Who did
that? Brother Bill? Brother Bill? Wow. Yeah,
now you're not getting out till 1230, Bill. You
can all blame him. I told somebody this morning,
I said, I feel ornery today. I don't know where
that's going to take us. Thank you, Lord. But
if you'll go with me in your Bible to Acts chapter
12. Acts chapter 12. I want to talk a little
bit to us this morning as your pastor. We have
been through some things. And we're still going
through some things. And I want to take the time
to read an entire chapter. Is that okay if we
honor God's word that way? I'm going to read
Acts chapter 12. Now about that time, Herod the
king stretched out his hand to harass some from
the church. Then he killed James. the brother
of John, with the sword. And because he saw that
it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to
seize Peter also. Now it was during the days
of unleavened bread, so when he had arrested
him, he put him in prison, delivered him to four
squads of soldiers, that's 16 soldiers, to keep
him. intending to bring him before the people
after Passover. Peter was therefore kept in prison,
but constant prayer was offered to God for him
by the church. And when Herod was about to bring
him out that night, Peter was sleeping, bound
with two chains between two soldiers. And the
guards before the door were keeping the prison.
Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him
and a light shone in the prison and he struck
Peter on the side and raised him up saying, arise
quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. Then
the angel said to him, gird yourself and tie
on your sandals. And so he did. And he said to
him, put on your garment and follow me. So he
went out and followed him and did not know that
what was done by the angel was real, but thought
he was seeing a vision. And when they were past
the first and the second guard posts, they came
to the iron gate that leads to the city, which
opened to them of its own accord. And they went
out and went down one street, and immediately
the angel departed from him. And when Peter had
come to himself, He said, now I know for certain
that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered
me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation
of the Jewish people. So when he had considered
this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother
of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were
gathered praying. And as Peter knocked at the
door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to
answer. And when she recognized Peter's voice
because of her gladness, she did not open the
gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood
before the gate. But they said to her, you are
beside yourself. Yet she kept insisting that
it was so, so they said, it's his angel. Now
Peter continued knocking. And when they opened
the door and saw him, they were astonished. But
motioning to them with his hand to keep silent,
he declared to them how the Lord had brought
him out of the prison. And he said, go tell these
things to James and the brethren. And he departed
and went to another place. Then as soon as it
was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers.
about what had become of Peter. But when Herod
had searched for Peter and not found him, he
examined the guards and commanded that they should
be put to death. And he went down from Judea
to Caesarea and stayed there. Now Herod had been
very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon,
but they came to him with one accord, and having
made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend,
They asked for peace because their country was
supplied with food by the king's country. So
on a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel,
sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.
And the people kept shouting, the voice of a
God and not of a man. And then immediately, an
angel of the Lord struck him. Because he did
not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms
and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.
We'll stop right there. Father, I thank you for
your word this morning. And I just ask that your
anointing that is on your word would just flow
through my words this morning. And I just ask
that you would penetrate our hearts. Penetrate
our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, Stephen
was the first martyr of the church. You can read
about that in Acts chapter 7. But this situation
was a little bit different. Because this was
the first of the twelve apostles. Judas was replaced
by Matthias in Acts chapter 1. And of those 12,
James was the first to be martyred. In time,
11 of them would go on to be martyred. James'
brother John, who wrote the book of Revelation
late in life from the island of Patmos, would
be the only one to die a natural death. You need
to understand how James' death impacted the church.
James was an apostle. Paul taught us in Ephesians
chapter 2 that the household of God, verse 20,
having been built... on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being himself
the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building
being fitted together grows into a holy temple
in the Lord. Paul taught us that apostles and
prophets were the foundation of the church. And
the twelve had been the foundation of the church.
Up until this time, the five -fold ministry is
also listed in Ephesians chapter 4, apostle,
prophet, pastor, teacher, evangelist. And Paul
said that the five -fold ministry is God's gift
to you so that you can mature and grow in your
faith in Christ. And so there are people that
are called into the ministry that this, that...
Paul is describing here that God uses to equip
the rest of the church to reach the lost and
grow the kingdom of God. So apostles were, especially
in that time period, viewed as incredibly important.
I believe that apostles are incredibly important
in today's time period as well. But we're talking
here one of the twelve. And it impacted the church.
Now, apostolic power was really important. In
Acts chapter 7, when there was revival in Samaria,
who did Philip call when they wanted to receive
the baptism of the Holy Spirit? They called the
apostles, and Peter and John came and laid hands
on them, and they received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. We see in the next chapter, in chapter
8 and verse 1, when the dispersion came. This
is when they tried to kick all of the Christians
out of Jerusalem. It says in verse 1, at that
time a great persecution arose against the church,
which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered
through the regions of Judea and Samaria, except
the apostles. The apostles had staying power
in the face of all of the government. And so
you begin to understand their strength. In Acts
chapter 2 and verse 42, it says, They continued
steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles.
apostles. They didn't have a New Testament. They
didn't have a church full of teachers. They didn't
have YouTube to go and listen to. They didn't
have all of those things. The apostles teaching
the foundational truths was what they had. And
so they went from house to house. When problems
arose in the church, they at one point came to
the apostles and said, solve this problem for
us. But listen to what the apostles said. Therefore,
brethren, seek out from among you seven men of
good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and
wisdom, who we may appoint over this business,
but we as apostles will give ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word. And so these
were the apostles. And now James is arrested.
Now his death came about more quickly because
when Peter was arrested, the Passover came. But
I want to ask you a question. Do you think when
James, the apostle, was arrested by Herod that
the church began to pray? I believe they did.
I believe that the church began to call out on
God. I don't believe that they just like Peter
better than James. For Pete's sake. That came
from the depths of my soul. They prayed for James
to be released. They sought God. They sought
the Lord. For his release. But what happened?
James. The apostle. Was put to death. By the
sword. These believers. You need to remember.
Did you know that all the apostles had been in
prison before? All of them. Let me read it to
you. Acts 5 .17. Then the high priest rose up
and all those who were with him, which is the
sect of the Sadducees, they were filled with
indignation and laid their hands on the apostles
and put them in the common prison. This is all
of them. But at night, an angel of the Lord opened
the prison doors and brought them out and said,
go stand in the temple and speak to the people
all the words of this life. And the story goes
on. James had been in prison before. Peter had
been in prison before. The angel of the Lord
had come and set them all free before. And so
they knew that God could work an incredible miracle.
And now James is arrested and the church is praying.
But he's put to the sword. And I want to ask
you a question this morning. What are you going
to do in your relationship with God when he does
not answer your prayer? What are you going to
do? We could just try to move on from the situation
that has just happened. But how many of you were
believing for Gary's healing? Yeah. Did you know
that even one of the Illinois basketball players
was praying for Gary's healing? In the final
four. I thought, who in this, Church has reach
like that. God didn't answer our prayer. And
we find ourselves in the middle of Acts chapter
12. What are we going to do when God colors outside
the lines? Let me just share a few things here
that are true. One, life. sometimes happens outside
the lines of your theological box. People have
asked me, was it God that took Gary? And I don't
have an answer. I don't have an answer. But I
know this, that God sometimes colors outside
of my box. Things happen in this life that don't
fit neatly into the things that I believe. And
they're challenging. And God is showing us in
situations like this because you've all been
there. In fact, you can think of other times
in your life when you said, why God? did this
happen? And the truth is that he is bigger than
our understanding. The second thing is this,
that God is God and we are not. And you have
to be okay with that. I refer to the passage
that says this, my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
than your thoughts. And as much as God reveals
to us, he doesn't reveal everything to us. And
the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that says this,
for now we see in a mirror, And there are times
in our lives where we feel like I am seeing clearly.
Everything is being blessed. Everything is happening
the way it's supposed to happen. I am seeing
clearly. But then there are times that smack
us in the face with the truth of this word that
we see dimly as in a mirror. He goes on and he
says, now I know in part, but then I shall know
fully. And that's where Gary's at right now.
He sees face to face and he doesn't speak in
tongues anymore. For the first time in his life,
he doesn't need to speak in tongues anymore.
You know, tongues are for this side of eternity.
They're not for that side of eternity. He sees
face to face. And that's good news. We see as
in the darkened glass, the King James says. And
fourthly, there are mysteries in the faith that
we cannot solve. When I was studying this passage
in Acts chapter 12, the Fire Bible notes say
this, quote, God allowed James, the brother of
John, And one of Jesus' closest original disciples
to die. Yet he sent an angel to rescue Peter.
That James should die while Peter lived for further
ministry is an example of the mysterious way
of God with his people. James had the honor of
being the first of Jesus' original disciples
to be martyred in his faith in Christ. End of
quote. It's a mystery why God answers this prayer
and not that one. We sing a song here sometimes
called Miracles. I believe in you. I believe
in you. You're the God of miracles. The author
of that song wrote that song just after his child
passed away. And yet he still stood before the
church and said, I believe in you. You're the
God of miracles. Do you think that father has
an answer? And you're connecting with some of
this because you have had questions in your life.
And I just want to just draw off this passage
and say, so what should I do? What should I do
when I don't understand what God has done? And
the first thing that I want to call you to church
is this, to keep believing God. I want to say
that again, and I want to hear somebody say amen
when I say it. God wants us to keep believing
him. Amen? He wants us to keep believing him.
Our role is to believe God. Hallelujah. And in
Hebrews chapter 11, it says this. These all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off, were assured of them,
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. Did you catch that?
God gave them promises and they said, Lord, I
believe your promises. But they died having not
received the fulfillment of the promise. And
sometimes that's the way that it is. That we
believe, we continue to believe God. Do you know
what brings pleasure to God? Do you know what
brings pleasure to Him? Faith. Without faith,
it is impossible to please God. So what is it
that pleases God? When a son, when a daughter
stands and says, I believe you. Hallelujah. I
believe God. I am standing in the place of faith.
You know what? You're bringing pleasure to the
Lord. And so I want to call you, and if you've
had something happen that you don't understand,
that God hasn't given you an answer on, or that
He hasn't answered your prayer, or if heaven
has been silent on something, I want to encourage
you to dig your spiritual heels in and keep believing
God anyway, church. Keep believing God anyway.
Come on. Secondly, I want to call you. to keep
giving yourself to prayer. God did not answer
their prayer for James. And when Peter was arrested,
did they throw up their hands and say, well,
I guess it's going to happen to Peter too. That's
not what they did. What did they do? They turned
up. their prayer even higher. And they sought
the Lord. You notice that phrase, it said, but
constant prayer was offered to God. And we can
infer that that prayer was on Peter's behalf.
Let me ask you another question. Did these believers
all have absolute, pure faith that Peter would
be released? When Rhoda came with the news that
Peter was free, they said, no. That can't be.
The moral of the story is don't send someone
named Rhoda to the door. Hopefully, is anybody
here named Rhoda? It's a beautiful name. They
didn't even believe, they didn't have full faith.
Yet, what did they do? They prayed anyway. They
prayed anyway. Can I encourage you to not allow
your feelings to determine whether you're going
to pray or not? What your mind is telling you
is sometimes different than what you know to
be the word of God. Can I encourage you to ignore
what your mind is telling you? Can I encourage
you all those feelings that are trying to bring
you down? Well, it didn't happen last month.
It didn't happen last week. I guess it's not
going to happen this week. Can I encourage you
to tune out those voices and to pray anyway?
Hallelujah. When you don't have absolute faith,
pray anyway. When you're discouraged and don't
understand, pray anyway. These believers gathered
to pray and they doubled down. And they said,
we're still going to trust in our Savior. Hallelujah.
Number three, when you don't understand. Guard
yourself from getting bitter. Guard yourself
from getting offended with the Lord. There was
a prophet that Jesus said was the greatest of
all the prophets. Anybody know his name? John
the Baptist. John the Baptist. He was Jesus'
cousin. Related by earthly blood. Arrested. And
he's in prison. And he had baptized Jesus. He
had prophesied over him. Behold the Lamb of God
that takes away the sin of the world. He had
baptized people alongside of Jesus' disciples
later on. He had watched. Jesus' ministry increased,
and what did he say? He must increase, I must
decrease. He was an awesome man of God. And while
he's in prison, and he sends some of his disciples,
and he said, would you go and ask Jesus, are
you the one or are we to wait for another? And
after seeing everything that John the Baptist
saw, you would think that by then he would know
the answer. He had heard all of the reports.
And so they came, and this is what Jesus said
in Matthew 11 verse 4. Jesus answered and said
to them, go and tell John the things you see
and hear. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
the poor have the gospel preached to them. Well,
can I tell you something? John already knew all
of that. John knew that there were miracles.
John knew. That the blind saw and the dead were
raised and the lame walked. John knew all of
that. Do you know what Jesus is saying to John?
He's saying this. John, I'm not going to tell
you. I'm not going to answer your question. And
then he said this. And blessed is he who is not
offended because of me. Right now, the spirit
of offense is raging through the church. We're
offended with people for how they voted. We're
offended with people for disagreeing in different
ways. Did you know that we can get offended with
God for things that happen in our lives? People
live in bitterness toward the Lord for decades.
Because of that time, God didn't answer my prayer.
Blessed is he who is not offended with me. Blessed
is he who, when they don't understand, hold fast.
Jesus would later say to Thomas after he was
raised from the dead, He, because Thomas said,
unless I see, unless I see Jesus, unless I put
my hands, my fingers in the holes in his hand
and his side, I will not believe. And Jesus appeared
to Thomas and said, Thomas, come here. Put your
hands, put your fingers in my hands. Touch my
side. Touch my side. Thomas, and Thomas said,
Lord, I believe. And Jesus said something. He
said, blessed are those who have not seen and
yet believe. Now there are areas of your life
where you see Jesus at work and you go, hallelujah,
I believe. I see the miracle. I see God at work.
It's powerful in my life. But what are you going
to do when you don't see? Blessed are those who
do not see and still believe. Hallelujah. You
have things happen in your life that you don't
understand, but you say, you know what, God?
I am still going to believe you. Who out there
will say that? I want to be like that. I want
to be like that. I want to be somebody that believes
no matter what. Oh, my God. Friend, lay down
your bitterness and your offense. Do you know
what you can do? You can just come to the Lord
and you can say, God, I allowed... bitterness
to come into my heart. Would you release me from
this bitterness? Will you just release me from
this offense? I've been offended with you, God,
and so I've been holding you at arm's length.
I don't want to do that anymore. Will you wash
me in your blood? Will you forgive me, God? And
will you help me be a person that is not offended
with you, that is blessed? Because I believe
no matter what. Do you know you can pray that
prayer this morning, and you can believe for
that to happen in you? your life. I've got one
more thing I want to share here in just a moment,
but I want to commend those of you who believed
for Gary's healing right up until the final moment.
I was there when several of you were praying
over Gary, believing for healing. And I was there
as Gary was declaring just a couple of days before
he passed, I am healed in Jesus' name. He was
declaring that. And I want to commend those of
you that stood in faith till the final moment.
That brings pleasure to God. And Gary was believing.
Even the day before, I laid hands on him and
I said, be healed in the name of Jesus. And he
was receiving that prayer. Many of you were praying.
And I want to commend those of you that have
taken a hard look into your own life. More than
one of you has come to me and said something
to this effect. Pastor, I saw. That Gary's life
counted for something. And I want my life to
count for something. And some of you have taken
an introspective look and said, what can I do
to make my life count for something? And I want
to commend you for that. And there are many across
this city right now. That are saying that same
thing. I want my life to count for something.
Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And although I don't
understand it all. I know this. God is not going
to waste the death of his servant. And any suffering.
God does not waste suffering in the kingdom of
God. He uses it for his glory. And he transforms
many. Jesus said of his own life, he said, unless
a seed dies and falls to the ground, it doesn't
produce fruit. And I feel the same way for Gary,
that a seed has fallen to the ground and it is
going to produce fruit in people's lives across
this entire region in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.
Church, you have done well. Keep. Believing God.
Keep believing God. I want to conclude with the
phrase that we see during Herod's tragic death.
He set himself against God. In verse 21, it says
this. A set day, Herod. A set day. On Tuesday,
during my devotions, I normally read four chapters
in my devotions. And on Tuesday, I read two verses.
And I was reading in Genesis chapter 21, and
it said this, for Sarah conceived and bore Abraham
a son in his old age at the set time of which
God had spoken to him. Everybody say set time.
So in Herod's case, we have a set day. In Sarah's
case, giving birth to Isaac, we have a set time.
And that was actually foreshadowing another miracle
birth that would take place thousands of years
later whose name was Jesus. In Galatians chapter
4, it says this, when the fullness of time had
come, God sent forth his son to be born of a
virgin whose name was Mary. And so we have a
set time for Herod. We have a set time for Sarah.
We have a set time for Mary giving birth to Jesus.
These are all set times. I began to think of
Daniel. Listen to this. In Daniel chapter 9 and
verse 2, Daniel, who had been deported to Babylon
as a teenager, is now in his 80s and later in
his life. And in Daniel 9 -2, it says, in the
first year, of the reign of the king, of the
new king, I, Daniel, understood by the books
the number of the years specified by the word
of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet that
he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation
of Jerusalem. Let me translate that for you.
Jeremiah said that the exile into Babylon would
last for 70 years. And Daniel, now reading that,
just did the math and said, 70 years are almost
over. Do you know what Jeremiah was saying? There
is a set time for deliverance, the deliverance
of Israel. Hallelujah. And so we have a set day
for Herod. We have a set time for Sarah and for
Mary. And now we have a set day, a set year for
deliverance from the exile into Babylon. These
are moments in time that are fixed. Hebrews 9
.27 applies to King Herod. It is appointed unto
man once to die and then to face judgment. An
appointed time. Wow. And I began to look through
these scriptures. And I came across Psalm 102,
verse 13. And I want to declare a set time over
Faith Church this morning. I want to declare
a set time of favor. Psalm 102 .13, when I read
this on Tuesday morning, it went... And when
we read this, I think Suzanne read this scripture
at the seniors prayer meeting, which any seniors
can come to. It's at one o 'clock on Wednesday
afternoon. We can get you directions to be there.
We had 10 people there last time. It was awesome.
And when Suzanne read this scripture, the power
of God was released into the room. And it was
tangible. Those of you that, wave if you were
there. Wasn't it tangible? It just went... And
I just sat there kind of stunned at the power
of the Word of God. And I want you to listen
to this passage. Psalm 102 .13 You will arise
and have mercy on Zion for the time to favor
her. Yes, the set time has come. I want to read
that again. Because I don't know if you picked
up on that for you, for your family, for this
house. I want to read it again. You will arise
and you will have mercy on Zion for the time
to favor her. Yes, the set time has come. There
is a set time for Herod's death. There is a set
time for Isaac's birth. There is a set time for
the birth of the Messiah. There was a set time
for the deliverance of the Israelites out of
Babylon. And there is a set time for God to pour
out favor on his people. Zion oftentimes represents
the New Testament church. Friends, we are about
to enter in to the days of favor. Will anybody
say, I want that on my family. I want that for
my life. I want the favor of God on my life.
The favor of God. The favor of God is on this
house. The favor of God is in this place. I believe
that every person that attaches themselves to
Faith Church will have the favor of God upon
their family, upon their finances, upon every
aspect of their life. The favor of God is going
to come upon them. It's why healing happens.
It's why restoration happens. It's why God gives
back families in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. God is doing incredible works in
families right now, putting families back together,
drawing families by His Spirit, bringing prodigals
home, doing incredible things because the favor
of God is on this house. The favor of God is
on your life. I want to receive the favor of
God in everything that He is bringing into my
life. So I preached both of my messages this
morning. And I want to give you an opportunity
to respond if Alexander would come and the team
to play. Maybe you've been in a place where You
know you can't stay there any longer. Place that
God's calling you from. And you know that there's
a place that he is calling you to. And this morning
you want God to do that work. Do you know the
greatest miracle of all is when we give our life
to Jesus. Hallelujah. And just as a quick bunny
trail, the most important part of the celebration
of life was when Kathy stood up and said, when
Gary gave his life to Jesus, that the first word
that was ever spoken to him was this, study to
show yourself approved unto God. and that every
morning he had his Bible open, studying to show
himself approved unto God. And if you want to
be a person of significance, if you want to make
a difference in your world, there's no shortcuts.
You can't just come down to the altar and have
the pastor pray over you and then the rest of
your life will be great. It doesn't work that
way. You've got to get up tomorrow and you've
got to read the word. And you've got to get up
the next day and you've got to read the word.
And you've got to get up the next day and the
next day and the next day. And you've got to
get yourself in the word of God. There is no
shortcut. But there are moments in time where
we make a turn and we say, God, I want my life
to count. Maybe I've been a bit disillusioned.
Maybe God has not met my expectations. But I
am still going to serve Him. And I'm going to
turn this morning and I'm going to say, God,
I believe. you. God I believe you. I'm not abandoning
my faith. I believe you. I believe you. This
is our God. What a God. So, Father, in this room
right now, there are people that you are calling
by your spirit, saying, son, daughter, come up
here. Come up here to a higher place. And you
this morning, you want to answer that call. And
you want to say, God, I want to step into everything
that you've got for me. I want to enter in to
the promise of God for my life. If that's you
on the count of three, I just want you to stand
up and come down to the altar. In the name of
Jesus, whether it's one or whether it's 35 or
the whole group, it does not matter. You just
respond to what the Lord is doing in your life.
Something is going to shift in your life this
morning. In Jesus' mighty name. One, two, three.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. No more status quo. No
more sitting on the sidelines. Come on. No more.
No more. No more. No more. You're saying yes.
You're saying yes to God this morning. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.