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  • 00:00:06,050 --> 00:00:08,660 Welcome to Expound, a verse-by-verse study

  • of God's word.

  • Our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God

  • by explaining the word of God in a way that is interactive,

  • enjoyable, and congregational.

  • 00:00:24,630 --> 00:00:27,240 Father, we just now calm our hearts.

  • We just push everything aside, making ourselves aware

  • that, not only do we have open Bibles,

  • but that all things are naked and open before the One

  • with whom we have to do.

  • As the writer of Hebrews reminds us that,

  • every thought and every action is under Your clear purview.

  • And so as we sit and we open our Bibles,

  • we also open our hearts.

  • Because it would seem that there is always

  • a need, some kind of a need that we have,

  • whether we are aware of it on the surface or not, it's there.

  • A need to be readjusted, realigned with your will,

  • reminded of something, encouraged with some thing

  • or some one's example.

  • But, Father, we are leaving that all to you.

  • And we know that, in as much as you dispense truth

  • through the Word of God to encourage,

  • to build up, to challenge, at the same time,

  • it depends on us.

  • And it depends a bit on our hearts,

  • for we remember the Lord Jesus said, "whoever has

  • ears to hear, let him hear."

  • So would you just make us sensitive to be

  • able to hear, in Jesus' name.

  • Amen.

  • Well, we've had some great times so far in the Book of Acts.

  • We've seen some incredible individuals.

  • In chapter 9, we saw a rabbi who fought God, and was converted.

  • His name was Saul of Tarsus.

  • He fought against God's plan for his life,

  • was trying to fight against the spread

  • of the church from Jerusalem northward into Syria, Damascus.

  • So he fought God and he was converted.

  • In chapter 10, we read about a soldier named Cornelius.

  • A centurion who followed God and he was converted.

  • He had a belief in God.

  • He went through some of the Jewish rituals, had

  • a basic system of belief, and Peter

  • came-- was dispatched to his house, shared with them

  • the truth.

  • And he received it.

  • So we have a rabbi who fought God, and was converted.

  • A soldier who followed God and was converted.

  • Now, in chapter 12, we read about a King

  • who fought God and was killed.

  • 00:03:21,590 --> 00:03:25,760 Interesting, Saul fought God and he was saved.

  • Herod fights God and he is slain.

  • And why is that?

  • Well, easy answer, he really ticks God off.

  • And you'll see why by the end of this chapter.

  • There is not a modicum of repentance in his hardened

  • heart.

  • He exalts himself like Satan did, like the Antichrist will,

  • and he will end his days on the earth

  • by the end of this chapter.

  • Now there is a theme that we have

  • noted throughout the Bible, and in particular

  • in the Book of Acts.

  • And that is the theme that we serve a sovereign God.

  • He is large and in charge.

  • He rules the world, and he over-rules

  • in the kingdom of men.

  • And there was a King who even came to that understanding

  • himself while he was ruling on the earth, named

  • Nebuchadnezzar, who paraded himself

  • around the city of Babylon.

  • And looked around and he said, is this not the great Babylon

  • that I have built?

  • And God didn't take kindly to that earthly King usurping

  • authority over God's power and sovereignty.

  • And so he let Nebuchadnezzar go insane for a period of time.

  • And when he finally came to, Nebuchadnezzar said, I now

  • know that God rules in the kingdom of men

  • and gives it to whoever he chooses.

  • So a King, then, an earthly ruler,

  • is also a steward in governmental work

  • over a people, over a city, over a nation, and one of them

  • is on display in chapter 12 named Herod.

  • Now Jesus did say that He would build His church, right?

  • He said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell

  • will not prevail against."

  • So we are watching Jesus build his church,

  • just like he said he would.

  • He builds it in Jerusalem.

  • It grows strong, even under persecution.

  • People try to put it out, doesn't work.

  • It grows.

  • It grows northward toward Damascus,

  • as we have already seen.

  • Saul try to put out that fire.

  • Didn't work.

  • Philip has taken the gospel into Sumeria

  • and shared with an Ethiopian eunuch, who takes it down

  • into Africa.

  • We also saw that the gospel is spread also into Syria

  • toward Turkey in Antioch.

  • Saul, we'll go back to Tarsus, or has

  • been in Tarsus before Barnabas gets him,

  • so it's spreading around.

  • "I will build my church and the gates of hell

  • will not prevail against it."

  • 00:06:33,460 --> 00:06:36,729 At the same time, one of the things

  • we wonder about or struggle with is,

  • in the sovereign plan and purposes of God,

  • what role does prayer play?

  • Does it matter if I pray or not?

  • I mean, if God is sovereign and does whatever He wants, then,

  • who cares if He hears from me or not,

  • or if I ask him for something?

  • If we live in an evil world, and even bad things

  • happen to good people, even God's people,

  • what role does prayer play?

  • Now, you're going to see some of all of these things,

  • kind of, converging as we get into chapter 12.

  • In verse one of chapter 12 it says, "now about that time,

  • Herod the King stretched out his hand

  • to harass some of the church."

  • If you know your New Testament at all,

  • you have come into grips with the name Herod

  • on many occasions.

  • And sometimes you read about Herod

  • and you'll scratch your head, because you read about Herod

  • somewhere else, and it's like, well, he died,

  • but then there he is again.

  • And then he's dead, but there he is again.

  • And he shows up in different places.

  • So we get confused.

  • Now let me just say, when you see the word, Herod,

  • it's a bit like seeing the word Caesar.

  • Because there's more than one Herod, unfortunately.

  • Because Herod-- the Herods, the Herodian Dynasty

  • was like a whole bunch of really bad dudes.

  • In fact, if I were to categorize the Herod family,

  • it's a messed up family, it's the family

  • who fought against God.

  • And you will see one here fighting against God.

  • So when we read about Herod, we're

  • not reading about the Herod that we

  • saw at the beginning of Jesus' life

  • when he was a baby in Bethlehem.

  • There was a Herod then.

  • So let me just give you a little thumbnail about how confusing

  • the Herodian family is.

  • Maybe I'll clarify it, maybe I'll make it worse.

  • But my point is-- my hope is to clarify it.

  • So let's begin with Herod the Great.

  • That's the one we read about at the beginning of the New

  • Testament.

  • Herod the Great was an Idumean.

  • That is, if you were to look at a map of Israel

  • and go east and south on the area

  • east of the Dead Sea and south, that's the ancient area

  • Nabataean area of the Idumeans.

  • So the Idumeans came from a guy named Esau.

  • So remember Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.

  • Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob.

  • Esau was the father, the progenitor,

  • of the Idumean Kingdom.

  • So he is related--

  • Herod, then is related to the Jewish people.

  • But he is not Jewish.

  • But he is in that Semitic family, from way back,

  • from Esau.

  • So his dad, Herod the Great's dad was called Antipater.

  • And Antipater was Idumean.

  • He had a conversion to Judaism, it is said.

  • Then little Herod was born, Herod the Great.

  • He wasn't so great till he called himself that.

  • But he was the guy who met with the Magi

  • when they were looking for the King of the Jews,

  • asked the Magi to find out who it was,

  • because he wanted to come and worship him.

  • And it was that Herod, Herod the Great,

  • who killed all the babies in Bethlehem.

  • Now Herod the Great was a great builder.

  • He was not a great person, but he was a great builder.

  • If you go to Israel today, you will

  • see things that were built by Herod the Great.

  • Even the retaining walls of the ancient temple

  • have Herodian stones.

  • There's things that he built like Masada,

  • and many fortresses around.

  • He just was this incredible builder.

  • But he was a horrible character, a horrible person.

  • He married 10 times.

  • So he had 10 wives.

  • He killed several of them.

  • He killed several of his children, his own sons.

  • In fact, back in Rome, there was a saying

  • that it's safer to be Herod's pig than it is his son.

  • 00:11:27,530 --> 00:11:30,410 Now one of the wives that Herod the great married

  • that he killed was a gal by the name of Mariamne.

  • She was Jewish.

  • She was Hasmonean.

  • Have you heard that term, Hasmonean?

  • She related to the Maccabees that

  • revolted against the Syrians.

  • And it was that Maccabean revolt that

  • birthed the festival of Hanukkah every year, the rekindling

  • of the temple sacrifices.

  • Well, he married her.

  • Now, unfortunately, he was in a bad mood and he killed her.

  • And he felt really bad about that.

  • But, of course, he couldn't do anything, because she was dead.

  • But he was Herod, so it didn't matter.

  • He was kind of above the law.

  • And one of her sons he also killed, named Aristabulis.

  • Am I confusing you yet?

  • We're just on the first one, Herod the Great.

  • So, anyway, that's how bad he was.

  • He killed wives, killed sons.

  • And, by the way, when he was close to death,

  • Herod the Great ordered all of the most notable citizens

  • of Jerusalem to be imprisoned, and upon his death,

  • to be executed.

  • Because he knew that when he died, there would be no tears

  • shed for him, but he wanted to make sure that when he died,

  • there would be mourning in Jerusalem.

  • That's how whacked he was.

  • 00:12:54,700 --> 00:13:01,740 One of Herod's sons was a guy named Herod Phillip the First.

  • Herod Philip the First was the husband of a gal

  • named Herodius.

  • So it's bad that there's Herods, but there are also Herodius.

  • Herodius was the gal responsible for the death

  • of John the Baptist, but not while she

  • was married to Herod Philip.

  • 00:13:21,770 --> 00:13:25,760 After Herod Phillip was another son named Herod Antipas.

  • Herod Antipas ruled up north in the Galilee region.

  • Jesus will stand briefly in one of his trials

  • before Herod Antipas.

  • It was that Herod, Antipas, that lured

  • Herodius away from Philip to marry him.

  • That's why John the Baptist denounced

  • that Herod, Herod Antipas, and her, Herodius.

  • And it was while she was married to Antipas that she made sure

  • that John the Baptist was killed.

  • 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:08,209 Now after that, there was a guy named Herod Archelaus, who

  • was the ruler of a few territories like Judah,

  • Samaria, Iturea, sort of in the central-northern parts.

  • He was a bad egg, evil king, he got deposed.

  • And in his place, yet another Herod, named Herod Philip II.

  • Now, he shows up in the Gospel of Luke chapter three.

  • And it was this Herod that built a city way up north called

  • Caesarea Phillippi.

  • If you've ever been to Israel, and you

  • gone to Caesarea Phillippi, it was built by Herod Philip II.

  • He built out one.

  • OK, now I mentioned that Herod the Great--

  • let's go all the way back to the really bad egg.

  • Herod the Great killed wives and killed sons.

  • One of his sons was a son named Aristobulus,

  • the son of Mariamne, his favored wife.

  • So Herod the Great kills her and kills him, Aristobulus.

  • But, Aristobulus, before his dad kills him,

  • has his own son, whom he names Agrippa.

  • So now we have Herod Agrippa.

  • And it's Herod Agrippa the First,

  • that is the Herod of chapter 12 of the Book of Acts.

  • Makes sense?

  • It's like, hardly, right?

  • So little Herod Agrippa is the son

  • of Herod Aristobulus, who died because his dad killed

  • him, and killed mom, Mariamne.

  • By the way, I said that Herod felt really bad

  • about killing his wife, He was in a bad mood that day,

  • and killed her.

  • And, sort of, to make retribution, he built a tower.

  • And you can still see remnants of the tower that

  • Herod the Great built, the Tower of Mariamne, by the Jaffa Gate

  • in Jerusalem.

  • The foundation stones are still there.

  • Guides will point it out to you.

  • So that's part of the fascinating history.

  • So Herod Agrippa the First is this guy now.

  • We're not done.

  • Because, to kind of complete the whole Herodian set dynasty,

  • there's going to be Herod Agrippa the Second that

  • shows up later on in Paul the Apostle's life,

  • when he stands trial in Caesarea before Herod, Herod the King.

  • And it says Herod Agrippa.

  • But that's not Herod Agrippa the First,

  • that's Herod Agrippa the Second, who is the new Herod in town

  • by the time Paul the Apostle gets imprisoned and will

  • stand trial.

  • But so sorry.

  • Verse 1.

  • See, this why it takes me so long to get through a chapter.

  • "Now, about that time, Herod," Agrippa the First,

  • "stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.

  • Then he killed James, the brother of John."

  • That's one of the chief apostles,

  • remember there's Peter, James, and John.

  • So this is the first martyr among the apostles,

  • and that is James.

  • "He killed James, the brother of John with a 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, and put him in prison, delivered

  • him to four squads of soldiers to keep him,

  • intending to bring him before the people after Passover."

  • Herod Agrippa the First had been educated in Rome,

  • was familiar with many of the leaders

  • in Rome, the Roman Senate, some of them.

  • He was friends of the Emperor Caligula, a really bad Caesar.

  • And, at the same time, though he was friends with him

  • and has now taken over all of the territories

  • that his grandpa, Herod the Great,

  • and his uncle, uncle Antipas, had.

  • He sort of taken over all those.

  • And that's under the rule of the Caesar

  • in Rome, the emperor in Rome.

  • At the same time, he garnished favor with the Jewish people.

  • How and why?

  • Because, he himself, had an affinity toward Judaism.

  • And it is said was circumcised and observed many

  • of the rituals and Jewish observances that

  • made the Jews like him.

  • And he wanted to curry favor with them.

  • And one of the ways he did it was

  • to persecute the early church.

  • Because the Jews in Jerusalem saw the early Christians

  • as a threat.

  • So in hassling the Christians, the Jews in Jerusalem loved it.

  • So he killed one, and they loved it.

  • So he thought I'll kill another one.

  • I mean, if they like it that much,

  • and I want to garner favor with them,

  • then I'll kill another one.

  • That's what this is all about.

  • "So he saw that it pleased the Jews.

  • He proceeded further to seize Peter also.

  • Now it was during the days of unleavened bread.

  • So he arrested him, put him in prison,

  • delivered him to four squads of soldiers."

  • 16 soldiers.

  • You might think, well, that's a bit much.

  • It's Peter it's unarmed Peter.

  • Four squads, it wasn't 16 men at a time,

  • it was four men at a time, two of them that

  • were chained to the prisoner, two of them standing guard.

  • 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,720 And then every six hours they would have a new shift.

  • Those are the 16 ones dispatched to him.

  • Still it could be looked at as a bit much.

  • But, remember, Herod probably knows

  • Peter had been in prison in Jerusalem once and escaped.

  • Right?

  • They were put in prison, then all of a sudden

  • they're out there in the temple preaching.

  • And it's, like, you know, I'm going to make sure.

  • I'm going to make sure this doesn't happen again.

  • So 16 soldiers are given to him intending

  • to bring him before the people, that is for an execution,

  • after the Passover.

  • Now that's interesting.

  • Why after the Passover?

  • Well, because Herod knows Jewish law.

  • And Jewish law mandates that you cannot kill--

  • you cannot have capital punishment.

  • First of all, the capital punishment

  • was taken away from the Jews during this time.

  • They had to go through Roman channels to execute somebody.

  • But it was against Jewish law to do that during a high festival,

  • during Passover.

  • Now you're thinking, wait a minute.

  • Jesus was killed during Passover.

  • Exactly.

  • And the trial of Jesus has been shown and proven

  • on a number of occasions by books and research

  • as being illegal on many fronts.

  • However, it was necessary that Jesus die on Passover

  • to fulfill the Passover.

  • The Passover Lamb.

  • "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away

  • the sin of the world."

  • Even though it was never done, and even though it was highly

  • illegal, it fulfilled the type.

  • It fulfilled typical prophecy.

  • Through Jesus was killed the Passover going

  • against all of the laws intact.

  • Herod wanted to make sure that doesn't happen.

  • So James is dead and Peter's in prison.

  • 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:01,735 Now let me throw something out at you.

  • 00:22:05,930 --> 00:22:08,600 Peter is going to escape out of prison.

  • If you've read the Bible, you know that's going to happen.

  • James was as dedicated as Peter.

  • I think he loved Jesus as much as Peter loved Jesus.

  • I think he was as godly as Peter was godly.

  • On some fronts maybe more.

  • 00:22:31,570 --> 00:22:37,835 Why is it that one gets killed, and the other doesn't?

  • Both dedicated men of God.

  • Now, I bring that up because sometimes we're mystified.

  • And I am too.

  • When I see good and godly men or women of God suffer and die.

  • And I see so much potential in them.

  • And I think of great years of service,

  • and ministry, and influence, they could have.

  • And then it seems like they die an untimely, foreshortened,

  • death--

  • foreshortened life and an untimely death.

  • And I go, oh, man.

  • I know you're sovereign, Lord, but.

  • And, honestly, just, I have to deal with it.

  • It's not easy to deal with.

  • 00:23:21,810 --> 00:23:26,280 At the same time, God said, my ways are not your ways.

  • They're above your finding out.

  • So I have to rest right there.

  • I have to stop right there.

  • You're sovereign, you're God, I'm not.

  • 00:23:35,940 --> 00:23:38,350 So you have one who gets killed.

  • And one who does not.

  • Do you remember though, when James and John came to Jesus.

  • They had a request.

  • And actually, they didn't have enough guts

  • to ask it themselves, they had their mom ask.

  • 00:23:57,270 --> 00:23:59,160 Right she said, you know, my two boys

  • would really love it if, in the kingdom,

  • one could sit at your right hand,

  • the other could sit at your left hand.

  • That'd be really cool.

  • 00:24:07,740 --> 00:24:14,220 So Jesus said to them, the boys, James and John,

  • "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?

  • And to be baptized with the baptism

  • that I am baptized with?"

  • Now they didn't know what they were saying.

  • They didn't exactly know what Jesus meant.

  • He meant his suffering and death.

  • And they said, "we are able."

  • And you remember what he said to them?

  • "Indeed you will drink the cup that I drink.

  • And you will be baptized with the baptism

  • that I am baptized with."

  • Now we're seeing that come to pass.

  • 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:54,520 I believe this.

  • I believe as a child of God, you are

  • invincible until God's done with you.

  • And then when God is done with you, who

  • wants to hang around anyway?

  • It's over it's over.

  • When God says, I'm done, OK.

  • Then I'm done.

  • Now the trouble is, I don't always know when that time is.

  • I'd like to think I do.

  • I wonder at God's timing sometimes.

  • But the Bible says in Revelation 11, there were two witnesses--

  • or there will be two witnesses on the Earth

  • during the tribulation period.

  • It says this, "When they had finished their testimony,

  • the beast rises out of the abbusso," the bottomless pit,

  • comes against them, overcomes them, and kills them.

  • Really?

  • When?

  • When they had finished their testimony, that's when.

  • So evidently, James has finished his testimony

  • and Peter has not.

  • That's how God saw it.

  • James is done.

  • Now you go, oh, how so?

  • That's so sad for James.

  • Are you nuts?

  • Are you kidding?

  • He beat Peter to heaven.

  • That's bragging rights right there.

  • 00:26:13,930 --> 00:26:15,950 You remember when Jesus rose from the dead

  • that Peter and John, James' brother, ran to the tomb,

  • and one outran the other, one got there first.

  • And in heaven, it is James, the brother of John,

  • that got there first.

  • Peter's there now.

  • 00:26:32,580 --> 00:26:35,129 So look at this, verse five, "Peter was, therefore,

  • kept in prison.

  • But constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church."

  • How about taking that verse and applying that

  • to your situation?

  • Here it says, Peter was kept in prison,

  • but constant prayer was made by the church.

  • Joe lost his job, but constant prayer was made by the church.

  • 00:27:04,370 --> 00:27:06,860 Glenda has cancer.

  • But constant prayer was made by the church.

  • Whatever your problem is, have the other part of it too,

  • but, constant prayer was made.

  • Because that will change the outcome.

  • Doesn't mean that it'll change God's mind,

  • but God somehow loves to partner with his people

  • to get his will done on earth.

  • And does operate mysteriously--

  • I don't quite get it all --according to our prayer.

  • So Peter's in prison, but prayer is made by the church.

  • And it will change the outcome.

  • OK, so and when Herod, verse 6, "was about to bring him out,

  • that night Peter was sleeping."

  • 00:27:55,830 --> 00:28:00,000 Bound with two chains between two soldiers,

  • and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

  • How do you sleep chained to a guard?

  • How do you sleep chained to two guards?

  • Goodness, how do you sleep chained to two guards

  • when you're going to die the next day?

  • It's interesting, you know, Peter never

  • seems to have a problem with insomnia.

  • That was never his issue.

  • That boy seems to be able to sleep just about anywhere.

  • Mount of Transfiguration, says Peter's sleeping.

  • You know, there's a transfiguration taking place

  • with Jesus, and Moses, and Elijah, and Peter,

  • it says, and it does say, Peter fell asleep.

  • And then the others did too.

  • But he was like the guy sawing logs first.

  • So it's, like, really?

  • You're sleeping now, Peter?

  • Now, he does wake up, but he's late to the party.

  • Right?

  • So that's the transfiguration.

  • Then, in the Garden of Gethsemane,

  • Jesus is there praying, and he says, watch with me one hour.

  • And there's Peter.

  • [SNORING SOUNDS] He's sleeping.

  • And so this boy does not have an insomnia issue.

  • But this is not just Peter snoozing.

  • This is a rest of peace.

  • This is a sleep of confidence, and faith,

  • and peace when it says there were the guards that

  • were watching him in prison.

  • Now when I asked the question, how

  • do you sleep the night before you're going to be executed?

  • Here's the answer to that question.

  • Peter went to sleep because he knew

  • he wasn't going to be executed.

  • You say, well, how do you know that?

  • Herod said he's going to kill him.

  • He killed James.

  • He's going to kill Peter the next day.

  • Ah, because he remembered Jesus gave him a promise.

  • Let me let me read it to you.

  • I'm reading now the last chapter of the Gospel of John.

  • Just not the whole chapter, but one little section.

  • After the Resurrection, at the Sea of Galilee,

  • John 21, Jesus says to Peter, "most assuredly I say to you,

  • Peter, when you were younger you girded yourself,

  • and you walked where you wished.

  • But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands

  • and another will gird you and carry you

  • where you do not wish.

  • This he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God.

  • And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me."

  • Now Jesus used some interesting language

  • that Peter never forgot.

  • It said, when you are old you are going to die this way.

  • Well that was just a few months before Peter is now in prison.

  • That Jesus spoke those words to him.

  • Just been a few months.

  • So Peter goes, good night.

  • If I snore, just nudge me, soldier,

  • but I'm going to sleep.

  • Because I know I'm not going to be killed in the morning.

  • Because Jesus said, I'm not going to die till I'm old.

  • That was just a few months back.

  • So Peter goes to sleep, and he can

  • rest because he believes in a promise Jesus gave him.

  • How about you?

  • How about us?

  • Can we rest in the promises that Jesus spoke to us?

  • Are we going to live lives that lack confidence and certainty

  • because we won't believe the promises of the Word?

  • When you believe them, you can go, good night.

  • It's going to be good.

  • God's in charge.

  • He's on the throne.

  • I don't know how, but I'll get out.

  • And I'll have a long life.

  • And I won't die till I'm an old codger.

  • 00:31:41,330 --> 00:31:46,399 So I love that, "when you are old they will take you."

  • One of my favorite scriptures, and it's one

  • that comes to my mind, and that I

  • throw around the walls of my head a lot.

  • In Isaiah 26, says, "You will keep him

  • in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.

  • Because he trusts in you."

  • And it was J. Oswald Sanders who said, "Peace is not

  • the absence of trouble.

  • It's the presence of God.

  • And Peter's living in the presence of God.

  • It's happy hour for Peter that night.

  • Jesus is there with him.

  • And he's going to spring him out of jail the next day.

  • He knows it.

  • He's living by faith.

  • Now the doors of that prison are shut.

  • And it would seem impossible for any other outcome

  • other than death to ensue.

  • But though the doors of the prison are shut,

  • and though the doors of justice have been closed by the King,

  • there is one door that remains open.

  • And that's the door of prayer.

  • So again, I take you back to that verse.

  • Peter was kept in prison, but constant prayer

  • was made by the church to God.

  • It's their secret weapon.

  • Now let me tell you, because some of us,

  • over time, we believers, we know prayer,

  • we hear that prayer is important,

  • but we don't engage much in it with real faith,

  • because we failed to believe it really is our secret weapon.

  • You know, when you pray, you know,

  • when you go through stuff, and you struggle, and you work,

  • and you talk to people, and you get all flustered,

  • and you try to work it out yourself, the devil loves that.

  • When you pray, it's like bringing a gun

  • to a knife fight.

  • 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:38,929 Now he is outgunned.

  • Because you are calling on the One who spoke him

  • into existence, made him.

  • And I love that old poem, might have even been a song.

  • Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Saint upon his knees.

  • So prayer is going to change the whole outcome.

  • It's unfortunate that it takes prisons to bring prayers.

  • Sometimes we don't pray till somebody is in prison.

  • We have to pray for Peter, man.

  • And, suddenly, we're in an extreme situation.

  • We're up against the wall, and there's just nowhere else

  • to go.

  • And all we have left is prayer.

  • And too often we live that way.

  • There was a sign in a principal's office that said,

  • you know-- the whole issue of prayer

  • in school --it said, in case of nuclear attack, earthquake,

  • or fire, the ban on prayer is temporarily lifted.

  • 00:34:40,350 --> 00:34:43,139 And too often people live and think that way.

  • It's only in an extreme situation like that,

  • that I'm going to really pray.

  • So I'm glad the church is praying, but my question is,

  • were they praying all along?

  • Or is it just, Peter's in prison, we'd better pray.

  • Nonetheless, they were praying to God.

  • Good thing, things will change because of that.

  • It says, verse 7, "Now behold, an angel of the Lord

  • stood by Peter."

  • Now Peter didn't know this yet because he

  • is, [SNORING SOUND] sleeping.

  • Yeah, he's like, there's an angel standing by him.

  • And a light shone in the prison.

  • And now Peter's sleeping really well,

  • because the light doesn't wake him up.

  • If a light goes on in the room, my wife will wake up.

  • She's just very sensitive to just a little bit of light.

  • And angelic light shows up in his cell,

  • Peter doesn't wake up.

  • So the angel has to resort to, well, look what it says.

  • "He struck Peter."

  • That's our boy.

  • That's Peter.

  • That's the guy we know.

  • Struck" Peter on the side, and raised him up."

  • So he's not just sleeping, he's groggy.

  • This angel has to help this boy up.

  • "Saying arise quickly.

  • And his chains fell off of his hand."

  • What a way to wake up.

  • Wake up to a miracle happening, and an angel is an alarm clock.

  • Not a bad night's sleep.

  • "Then the angel said to him, gird yourself

  • and tie on your sandals.

  • So he did."

  • Now it sounds funny, but I actually love that verse.

  • Because the angel is so practical.

  • You know God works that way.

  • God does the impossible.

  • But he expects you to do the possible.

  • He does the extraordinary, but he wants

  • you to employ the ordinary.

  • So, yeah, an angel could have miraculously just clothed him

  • but didn't.

  • It's like, come on, get dressed.

  • Do the ordinary.

  • Let's cooperate on this thing together.

  • 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:51,680 "And 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."

  • You know, it's like, man, this is an awesome dream.

  • "But when they were past the first and second guard post,

  • they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened

  • to them of its own accord."

  • Don't you love that?

  • The first automatic gate.

  • 00:37:14,662 --> 00:37:16,370 The angel didn't have to push the button.

  • It just opened up.

  • "Which opened to them of its own accord,

  • and went out and went down one street

  • and immediately the angel departed from him.

  • And when Peter had come to himself."

  • So he's now fully conscious.

  • "He said, now I know for certain that the Lord

  • has sent his angel."

  • 00:37:38,710 --> 00:37:40,220 I'm not going to comment on this.

  • I'm not going to-- it's pretty obvious.

  • He's like, oh really?

  • Now, now you've figured that out.

  • OK.

  • "Now I know the Lord sent his angel

  • and delivered me from the hand of Herod

  • and from all the expectation of the Jewish people."

  • So that prayer meeting worked.

  • As Thomas Watson, the great Puritan once wrote,

  • I think he lived in the 1600s, maybe 1700s in England.

  • He put it this way, "The angel fetched Peter out of prison.

  • But prayer fetched the angel."

  • And there is that cooperation.

  • Now you're seeing people on earth praying to God.

  • It was God's will to deliver Peter,

  • but God got them cooperating with His will.

  • And it was their prayer that fetched the angel.

  • 00:38:37,277 --> 00:38:39,360 Now, again, let's just stop and ask this question.

  • OK, so they prayed for Peter and God released him.

  • Does that mean they failed to pray for James?

  • I don't think so.

  • I think they probably prayed as fervently for James

  • as they did for Peter.

  • You'll say, well then, why didn't God answer their prayer?

  • He did.

  • He said no.

  • Last time I checked, that's an answer.

  • Dad, can I have the keys to the car?

  • No.

  • You've got your answer.

  • Now one day you may ask him for it, Dad,

  • can I have the keys to the car?

  • Sure.

  • 00:39:17,060 --> 00:39:19,570 So here's the point.

  • God is still sovereign.

  • He rules and overrules.

  • So when you pray, you can't demand,

  • and I have enough faith, and I claim it,

  • and whatever I say out of my mouth is what God has to do.

  • Because God is a slave to my faith formed words.

  • That's nonsense.

  • God has editing rights over your prayer life.

  • 00:39:48,210 --> 00:39:51,889 So it's like when you turn in your term paper to the teacher,

  • and the teacher takes it looks at it,

  • correct it, aligns it with his or her will,

  • changes it up, hands it back for you to resubmit it.

  • So the answer was no, when it came to James,

  • and it was, yes, when it came to Peter.

  • God's ways are not our ways.

  • He has editing rights.

  • OK, so, now-- now watch this.

  • 00:40:16,780 --> 00:40:20,570 The angel was able to get Peter out of prison.

  • Peter is unable to get into a prayer meeting.

  • It's easier to get Peter out of jail

  • than it is to get him into a prayer meeting.

  • And you'll see why.

  • "So when he had considered this."

  • It's like, man, I just got sprung out of jail by an angel.

  • I was touched by an angel.

  • 00:40:43,349 --> 00:40:44,890 "When he had considered this, he came

  • to the house of Mary, the mother of John,

  • whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together

  • praying."

  • Now he's going to the prayer meeting itself.

  • The house of John Mark, it is believed,

  • became the headquarters of the early church in Jerusalem.

  • And John Mark is probably the author of the gospel of Mark.

  • And it was Peter's account that John Mark

  • writes in the Gospel of Mark.

  • This John Mark, we know his mother's name Mary.

  • She was prominent in the early church.

  • She probably had a large house.

  • In fact, some believe that when you go, today,

  • to Mount Zion, that area that they call the Upper Room,

  • the Cenacle it is called.

  • That the upper room, in the Bible, was Mary's house.

  • The house of John Mark's mother.

  • Can't be certain, but many feel that way.

  • Maybe, maybe not.

  • So he goes to the prayer meeting.

  • He's out of jail.

  • They're praying.

  • It says, "as Peter knocked on the door of the gate,

  • a girl named Rhoda--" Her name means rose, "--came to answer.

  • So knock, knock, knock.

  • Rose answers.

  • "When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness,

  • she did not open the gate."

  • There's poor Peter knocking, she goes oh!

  • It's Peter.

  • OK, next step, open the door.

  • But she doesn't do that.

  • 00:42:21,110 --> 00:42:23,550 It says, "she ran in and announced that Peter

  • stood before the gate."

  • Hey, Peter's outside.

  • "But they said to her, you are beside yourself."

  • Better translation in the NIV and the New Living Translation,

  • "you are out of your mind."

  • 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:45,500 "Yet she kept insisting it was so.

  • So they said, it's his angel."

  • Now that cracks me up.

  • I'm not going to go into their belief system of angels,

  • but just to say, why would an angel need to knock?

  • If it were an angel, angels just show up.

  • Angel didn't have to knock on the prison door.

  • It's just, hello.

  • It's just they're there.

  • But they came up with this excuse, oh you're nuts.

  • It can't be Peter.

  • And when she kept insisting, no that's Peter.

  • He's out there.

  • They said, it is his angel.

  • 00:43:20,884 --> 00:43:23,050 Now let me say something about their prayer meeting.

  • I'm glad they're praying.

  • And I admire a group--

  • a kinship group, a home fellowship group,

  • connect group, church that gathers together for prayer.

  • And they prayed continually.

  • But, can I just say, it seems like though they

  • were praying continually, they were not praying expectantly.

  • 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,480 Because, if they were praying expectantly, and she said,

  • it worked.

  • Peter's outside.

  • They would have gone, oh, we were just figuring when.

  • We knew that would happen.

  • Of course God would answer our prayer.

  • But they go, you're out of your mind.

  • It can't be him.

  • What kind of faith is that?

  • Not much.

  • And so they come up with the excuse that it's his angel.

  • The reason I make a big deal out of this

  • is because there is a teaching, it

  • has been popularized for many years

  • in a group of churches that would

  • be put under the banner of the Faith-Movement Churches.

  • And the theology of the Faith-Movement Churches

  • is that the reason you aren't experiencing

  • victory in your life, or miracles in your life,

  • or the supernatural is because of you and your lack of faith.

  • If you had faith enough, and you spoke the word,

  • and prayed in faith, and claimed it in Jesus' name,

  • it would happen.

  • So if it doesn't happen, it's not God's fault.

  • It's your fault for not having enough faith.

  • OK, so did they have enough faith?

  • No.

  • Did God answer their prayer anyway?

  • Uh-huh.

  • 00:45:04,860 --> 00:45:08,480 Now, let me give you a couple examples.

  • Lazarus got sick.

  • 00:45:12,260 --> 00:45:14,370 And he died.

  • Was it because he lacked faith.

  • You might say, well, maybe.

  • OK.

  • When he got raised from the dead, was it his faith?

  • 00:45:24,660 --> 00:45:26,723 Was at Martha's faith?

  • Do you remember what Martha said to Jesus, if you're

  • to have been here, my brother wouldn't have died.

  • He said, I'm the Resurrection and life-- yeah,

  • I know he'll rise in the last day, whatever.

  • She did not expect a resurrection.

  • She had no faith for the resurrection.

  • Mary didn't.

  • Martha didn't.

  • Lazarus was dead, so he couldn't have any faith.

  • 00:45:47,070 --> 00:45:51,300 Despite all lack of faith, Jesus rose him from the dead.

  • So here's the balance.

  • Here's the balance of this whole faith thing.

  • There was a man who came to Jesus

  • who had a son who was demon possessed said, can you

  • do something with my son.

  • Jesus said, you know, if you have faith,

  • all things are possible to him who believes.

  • Now there's a statement of faith.

  • 00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:15,990 And the man said to him, Lord, I believe.

  • But help my unbelief.

  • 00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:21,200 Now that's an honest man.

  • Lord, I believe.

  • There is a part of me that is struggling with this.

  • I have faith and unbelief at the same time.

  • I believe, but help my unbelief.

  • And I would dare say, when we pray to God,

  • sometimes we have faith that God can do anything.

  • But we're just not sure that God's

  • going to do something now.

  • And that's when you say, I believe, but help my unbelief.

  • And Jesus healed him.

  • Even with a shaky faith.

  • 00:46:51,690 --> 00:46:52,890 I love that about Jesus.

  • He doesn't follow faith teachers.

  • He's God.

  • He just does what he wants.

  • So Peter, verse 16, let's finish this out.

  • "Now Peter continued knocking."

  • So they're arguing the theology of angels.

  • And Peter's pounding at the door.

  • And that's our Peter.

  • Pound, pound, pound.

  • Just keep knocking, keep knocking, and keep knocking.

  • They are talking about angels.

  • Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.

  • They're having a theological debate, keep knocking,

  • keep pounding.

  • 00:47:24,130 --> 00:47:26,870 "So when they opened the door and they saw him,

  • they were astonished--" these great people of great faith.

  • Their prayers were answered and they were astonished.

  • It worked!

  • Who would have figured?

  • "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."

  • The other James.

  • This is now the half brother of Jesus, that James,

  • and to the brethren.

  • And he departed and went to another place.

  • We don't know what place.

  • "Then as soon as it was day, there

  • was no small stir among the soldiers about

  • what happened to Peter."

  • Now I like this about Luke.

  • Luke is a doctor.

  • He's a physician.

  • He writes with medical terminology.

  • But he also uses the diminutive form in his description.

  • He says, and there was no small stir.

  • Which is another way of saying there,

  • was a big hullabaloo going on among those soldiers.

  • And they were just shaking in their boots.

  • Because the death penalty was on their plates.

  • Soldiers that did not dispatch their duties

  • were killed, in those days.

  • That's what they were looking at, death penalty.

  • So no small stir is Luke's diminutive way

  • of saying, uh-oh.

  • There's a big thing.

  • There's a lot of shouting going on in that room.

  • Now he does this again.

  • When we get to Acts chapter 15, and there's a whole debate

  • about who is saved and who's not saved

  • because the Judaizers say--

  • or, excuse me, not the Judaizers that time.

  • But the strong legalistic Jews in Jerusalem

  • said, unless a person is circumcised and keeps a law

  • of Moses, he can't be saved.

  • And so they start arguing.

  • And it says, and there was no small dissension among them.

  • Which means, it was like a knock down, drag out fight.

  • You know, knock out, drag down fight.

  • You know they were just really frothing.

  • But I love that he uses that.

  • "So there was no small stir among them--"

  • Of what happened to Peter.

  • "But when Herod searched for him and not found him,

  • he examined the guards and commanded that they

  • should be put to death.

  • And they went down from Judea to Caesarea.

  • He went down from Judea to Caesarea and he stayed there."

  • So Peter's now in Caesarea.

  • Now Herod had been very angry with the people

  • of Tyre and Sidon.

  • This is where the chapter will end.

  • This is the same Herod, Herod Agrippa the

  • First who killed James, was about to kill Peter,

  • didn't do it.

  • So now he's in Caesarea.

  • Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon,

  • that's up the coast on Lebanon.

  • 00:50:11,100 --> 00:50:13,640 "But they came to him with one accord,

  • having made Blastus, the King's personal aide their friend.

  • And they asked for peace, because their country

  • was supplied with food by the king's country."

  • There was a supply of food from the area of Galilee,

  • which Herod Agrippa also oversaw.

  • And that went up to the people of Tyre and Sidon.

  • And so they wanted to get on his good side.

  • There had been a falling out, he was angry with them.

  • So on a set day, they're just kind of setting you up,

  • because they're going to pour on all the praise

  • because they want to get on his good side.

  • "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 a man."

  • They want to get on his good side, can't you tell?

  • This dude is not a man.

  • This is a god.

  • 00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:16,550 Then, immediately, an angel of the Lord

  • struck him because he did not give glory to God.

  • 00:51:23,910 --> 00:51:28,500 In the writings of Josephus, the Jewish historian who

  • worked for the Roman government, in his reports,

  • he mentions this.

  • He writes about this.

  • In fact, what he says is that it was

  • on the second day of a feast taking

  • place in the town of Caesarea, a feast in honor of Claudius

  • in Rome.

  • That during that day, Herod Agrippa

  • the First put on robes that were a silver

  • foiled cloth, with actually silver on it.

  • And the silver gleamed in the sun.

  • So if you looked at it, it was like

  • this blazing, animated character in the silver flowing

  • bespeckled, bejeweled robe.

  • That's how Josephus describes it.

  • So picture the scene.

  • By the way, Josephus gives another little thing,

  • that you have gone to Israel or will go will find interesting.

  • Herod Agrippa the First goes into the theater in Caesarea,

  • which is the place we always take our group

  • on the first day of the tour.

  • We sit them on the seats in that Roman theater.

  • So he enters that theater in Caesarea, dressed like that.

  • The sun is gleaming on him.

  • And people say, it's the voice of a man and not a god.

  • Now it says, he was struck, "because he did not

  • give glory to God.

  • And he was eaten by worms, and he died."

  • Now Josephus does say this, his editorial comments

  • are, because he did not rebuke or reject

  • their impious flattery he was struck by worms and died.

  • So this is corroborated by Josephus' writings.

  • Josephus also said he was in terrible pain,

  • and he died, not on the same day, but five days later.

  • He suffered in agony for five days and then he died.

  • Now you say, well, this is an unusual way to go.

  • Yeah, I wouldn't want to go that way.

  • But it is not uncommon.

  • So some scholars believe that this

  • was the result of a bursting cyst

  • or cysts due to a tapeworm.

  • And one authority, Doctor Jean Sloat Morton

  • wrote this in Moody Monthly Magazine.

  • And I quote, "Herod's death was almost certainly

  • due to the rupture of a cyst formed by a tapeworm.

  • There are several kinds of tapeworms.

  • But one of the most common ones, found in sheep growing

  • countries, is the dog tape.

  • Echinococcus granulosus is its scientific name.

  • The heaviest infections come from areas

  • where sheep and cattle are raised.

  • Sheep and cattle serve as intermediate hosts

  • for the parasite.

  • The dog eats the infected meat.

  • The man gets the eggs from the dog,

  • usually by fecal contamination of hair.

  • The disease is characterized by formation of cysts,

  • generally on the right lobe of the liver.

  • These may extend down to the abdominal cavity,

  • the peritoneal cavity.

  • The rupture of such a cyst may release as many as two

  • million scolices.

  • Now a scolex is a little protrusion

  • that can hook or attach itself to the host.

  • So two million scolices.

  • When the cyst ruptures, the entrance

  • of cellular debris, along with the scolices

  • may cause sudden death."

  • So because he did not give glory to God.

  • That's the crime.

  • So you see how that chapter ends very differently

  • than it begins.

  • It begins with Herod Agrippa flexing his powerful muscles.

  • Peter's in prison.

  • John is killed.

  • But it ends with Peter freed from jail and Herod dead.

  • So the King, right?

  • The King of Judea, and the King of Galilee,

  • is upstaged by the King of Kings.

  • Again, the sovereignty of God ruling and overruling.

  • Chapter ends very differently.

  • So it's like, man, the devil is getting the upper hand

  • on this one.

  • King Herod's killing people.

  • Wait for it.

  • Wait-- today he is but wait for it, wait.

  • And God put an end to it.

  • So I'm sure reading that, that's TMI, Too Much Information.

  • You didn't want to know about bursting cysts, scolices,

  • and all that stuff.

  • 00:56:17,270 --> 00:56:19,220 As we close, I want you to consider though--

  • we're not done yet because we have a couple of verses to go.

  • But no matter who you are, or no matter who you think you are,

  • God is perfectly capable of taking you on.

  • You might have so much, and you're

  • so smart, and so advanced beyond these measly little Christians

  • who just believe in the Bible.

  • And you might shake your fist at God

  • and be hard-hearted against God.

  • But if not here, on this earth, eventually your knee

  • also will bow.

  • Every knee will bow and every tongue

  • will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

  • to the glory of God the Father.

  • 00:57:08,230 --> 00:57:13,870 And for those who reject God's solution to their dilemma,

  • as a fallen creature, a sinful creature in need of redemption.

  • For those who refused the offer.

  • 00:57:23,290 --> 00:57:25,990 It's for the same reasons as what

  • happened with Herod the Great or Herod Agrippa.

  • He died because he didn't give glory to God.

  • Romans chapter 1 talks about the judgment

  • that is coming because they did not glorify God.

  • God was evident to them in the creation.

  • He put enough clues in the world for anybody with a thinking

  • mind to go, there has to be a designer behind.

  • There has to be a God somewhere.

  • And if you reject the obvious evidence,

  • and you don't give glory to God, not good.

  • I encourage you to make a better decision.

  • Now I know, I want to close this up,

  • because I have a minute left.

  • But I just want you to compare something.

  • I want you to compare two verses.

  • The language is the same but you're

  • going to very different results.

  • Look at verse 7.

  • "Now behold an angel of the Lord stood by him, Peter,

  • and a light shone in prison and he struck Peter on the side."

  • Verse 23, "immediately an angel of the Lord

  • struck him because he didn't give glory to God.

  • And he was eaten by worms and he died."

  • Maybe the same angel.

  • Both got struck with two different results.

  • And the word in Greek, "patasso,"

  • means to strike gently or forcibly.

  • And the meaning differs according to the context.

  • So do you want God to nudge you gently?

  • Or do you want him to strike you, like the bad kind?

  • The context of your heart will determine the outcome

  • of the patasso, the striking.

  • It's amazing how the one thing can have two different results.

  • It's amazing how the cloud in the wilderness

  • could be light to the Children of Israel, darkness

  • to the Egyptians.

  • How the Ark of the Covenant could

  • be powerful to the Children of Israel,

  • and devastating to the Philistines.

  • Same thing two different results.

  • Here's an angel strike in one, it's good.

  • Strike on another, not so much.

  • He died.

  • Let's finish this up.

  • "But the Word of God grew and multiplied,

  • and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem

  • when they had fulfilled their ministry.

  • And they also took with him John whose surname was Mark."

  • The gates of hell will not prevail against what

  • Jesus said he would build.

  • Father, we take comfort in that tonight.

  • We take comfort in the fact that You rule in the kingdom of men,

  • as Nebuchadnezzar was forced to say.

  • Because he himself was struck.

  • And You give it to whomever You wish.

  • 01:00:13,660 --> 01:00:18,190 You raise up kings and you depose them.

  • You allowed Herod to have his heyday, and You eliminated him.

  • You took James to heaven, You released Peter,

  • until he could be old enough to fulfill the promise Jesus made

  • to him of his own death.

  • Lord, it just gives us the kind of cushion

  • that we need to live our lives.

  • The cushion that you are in charge.

  • That you rule.

  • And that you overrule.

  • Lord, we love the idea that you could gently strike our lives,

  • gently nudge us and push us, and the outcome would be wonderful.

  • And we are sober-minded when we read that there could be

  • a different kind of striking.

  • And there will be for those who reject, eventually, your Son.

  • So, Father, I'm just asking as we close,

  • if anybody is here in our midst tonight who doesn't know Jesus

  • personally that there would just be a simple childlike,

  • yes, in response to that call.

  • As our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed,

  • I'm asking if you've never given your life to Christ,

  • or if you need to come back to Him.

  • If you're wandering on your own, and you find no solace,

  • you find no rest, you find no peace.

  • You want to know that you are forgiven,

  • that you're receive by Him, and that you

  • want to be a child of God.

  • If that's your desire, if you've never done that.

  • Or if you've walked away and you need to come home,

  • our heads are bowed.

  • My eyes will be open as you respond.

  • If you want to receive Christ, would you just

  • raise your hand up right now?

  • Quickly raise it up.

  • And you're saying yes to Him.

  • I'd like to know who you are and pray for you

  • as we close this service.

  • Anybody at all.

  • Just raise your hand up and say, Skip, pray for me.

  • I need to come to Christ.

  • God bless you, sir.

  • And in the back, God bless you.

  • And you in the balcony.

  • And right over to my left, right over here.

  • 01:02:20,990 --> 01:02:24,140 And right over here to my right, and again to my right.

  • God bless you guys.

  • Father, thank you.

  • And I pray You'd enable all of those

  • who have raised their hands, and have said, yes,

  • and indicating it by raising their hand.

  • Would follow through with that commitment, Lord.

  • Because you are so committed to them.

  • You are so willing to take them as they are, just as they are.

  • And make them different people.

  • Bring life change.

  • We pray You'd do that in Jesus' name.

  • Amen.

  • Let's all stand, we're going to do this quickly.

  • But if you raised your hand, even if you're in the balcony,

  • we're going to give you this opportunity.

  • We'd like to do this, because Jesus oftentimes

  • called people publicly.

  • He'd just walk up to people and say, follow me,

  • in a crowd of people, and expect that person

  • to respond right there, and follow him.

  • He called many people that way.

  • So as we sing this final song, if you raised your hand,

  • if you're in the back, in the front, in the middle,

  • on the side, balcony, come down and find the nearest aisle

  • and stand right up here, where I'm going to lead you--

  • in a moment as soon as you're here, won't take long.

  • I'm going to lead you in a prayer to receive Christ.

  • Let's do this.

  • Let's do it now.

  • Let's do it together.

  • You come as we sing this song.

  • It won't take long.

  • But come now.

  • Come definitely.

  • If you raised your hand, just come stand right here.

  • I'm going to lead you in a prayer.

  • (SINGING) Him I freely give.

  • Yes.

  • But

  • Awesome.

  • God bless you.

  • Come stand right here.

  • Yeah, we're encouraging you for this.

  • God bless you guys.

  • Awesome.

  • It's a good thing.

  • Good clean break.

  • (SINGING) I surrender all.

  • 01:04:09,450 --> 01:04:20,154 And all to thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

  • 01:04:25,070 --> 01:04:26,870 Don't even think about putting it off.

  • Don't even think about hesitating,

  • and waiting for another time.

  • If your hand went up, they're attached to your feet,

  • bring your feet and your hands right up here.

  • (SINGING) Oh, to be my blessed Savior, I surrender all.

  • 01:05:00,000 --> 01:05:03,834 Real quickly, those of you who are here, who have come,

  • I'm going to lead you in a prayer.

  • And I'm going to ask you to say this prayer.

  • Say it out loud.

  • Say it after me.

  • Say these words from your heart to God

  • as you give him your life, OK.

  • Let's pray.

  • Say, Lord, I give you my life.

  • Take all of me.

  • I believe that Jesus died.

  • That He shed His blood for my sin.

  • And that He rose again from the dead.

  • I know that I'm a sinner.

  • And I ask your forgiveness.

  • I'm sorry.

  • I turn from my sin.

  • I turn to Jesus as my Savior.

  • I want to follow him as my Lord.

  • It's in his name I pray.

  • Amen.

  • Amen.

  • Awesome, you guys.

  • 01:05:53,210 --> 01:05:56,720 For more resources from Calvary Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig,

  • visit Calvaryabq.org.

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