Truth keeps marching on
Foundations for Ministry • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsGod answers the church's prayers, delivers Peter, and judges Herod.
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I- The Malice Intended ().
I- The Malice Intended ().
1 About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. 2 He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) 4 Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover.
A- Harassment will come for believers.
1- Persecution is sure ().
B- What is our response to be?
1- We must remain focused on Christ ().
19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.
21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better.
23 I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.
24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.
25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.
26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.
27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.
28 Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.
29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.
30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.
II- The Miracle Performed ().
II- The Miracle Performed ().
A- Prayer forms the prelude to the miraculous!
1- How the prayer is to be made (constant).
()
17 Never stop praying.
2- To whom the prayer is made (God).
().
5 For,
There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.
5 For,
There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.
3- Who the prayer is made by (the church).
().
4 For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
4- Who the prayer is made for (the one in need).
B- Nothing can stop God’s activity ().
1- All power belongs to him ().
III- The Miracle Proclaimed ().
III- The Miracle Proclaimed ().
A- The reality sets in ().
1- God’s only limitation is our lack of faith (; ; ).
22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
2- What are you willing to trust him for?
B- The reality shared ().
1- God’s work is to be praised and testified of.
IV- The Judgment Rendered ().
IV- The Judgment Rendered ().
A- God will judge those who persecute his children ().
(; ).
1- Herod was judged by God (vs. 22-23).
a. Confirmed by Josephus (Ant. XIX. 8, 2)
Josephus (Ant. XIX. 8, 2)
2- God vindicates his followers () ()
7 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open:
8 “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.
9 Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not—to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
B- God’s word will flourish ().