1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,680 Waffer, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, County 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,400 of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,080 God's still answering prayer, and you might say, well, why was 6 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,440 James martyred and Peter was set free? 7 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,280 I don't know. God does everything according to 8 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,240 the counsel of his own will. Why do some people get healed 9 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,840 and other people don't? God does everything after the 10 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,960 counsel of his own sovereign will, we conclude. 11 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,600 And what happens to Herod? You know you can get mad at 12 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,280 whoever it is. It's messing things up in the 13 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,319 world right now. One thing to be encouraged, the 14 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,440 Bible says vengeance belong to the Lord. 15 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,040 Amen. I will repay evil for evil. 16 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,600 Every dog has its day, right? When we look out over the 17 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:17,960 landscape of culture right now, it's challenging not to feel 18 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:21,640 completely hopeless. The division we see in our world 19 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,160 feels like it's at an all time high. 20 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,000 Not to mention the political polarization. 21 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,360 We want to see the justice of God rain down. 22 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,840 We question why God allows certain things to happen. 23 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,560 As you just heard from Pastor Clark, you need to put your 24 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,040 trust in God's perfect will as perfect. 25 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,160 You can't always see the justice of God, but you can know that 26 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,240 beyond the shadow of the doubt, it will come. 27 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,960 God will have his day of vengeance now. 28 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,760 Here's Pastor Clark in the book of Acts Chapter 11 with today's 29 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,240 edition of Living Waters of Grace. 30 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,760 Now Barnabas, he is now on the scene. 31 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,640 You remember Barnabas, He's the guy that gave the property to 32 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,400 the early church in the beginning. 33 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,600 He donated property and Anis Anias and Sapphira was sort of 34 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,080 jealous of what he did and they wanted to be recognized like 35 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,120 Barnabas. So they they lied and they said 36 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,640 they were given whatever to God that they didn't give and ended 37 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:22,040 up dying and getting dragged out of the church. 38 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:26,560 The Lord just dealt with her. They're lying and quite sobering 39 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,400 experience in those early days. Barnabas was a, a man of great 40 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,520 comfort and he was an encourager. 41 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,200 And this is just the way he always was. 42 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:41,040 A matter of fact, whenever Paul, Saul got converted on the on the 43 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,240 road there to Damascus and, and everybody's afraid because Paul 44 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,880 was a persecutor of Saul was a persecutor of Christians before 45 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:53,440 he was called Saul. Barnabas was able to meet with 46 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:58,320 Saul and see that his conversion was legitimate, that what 47 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:02,480 happened to him was a miracle, and that he really got saved. 48 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,720 And then he was able to go up with Barnabas to Jerusalem later 49 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:12,880 to meet the religious leaders at the time, the Judaizers, and 50 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,080 tell them, hey, don't be afraid of Saul. 51 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,320 He's one of us now. He's our brother. 52 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,800 And so Saul also is aware of the fact that whenever Saul was 53 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,760 called into the ministry that the Lord told him he would take 54 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:32,040 the gospel to the Gentiles. The Jewish member of the 55 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:36,800 Sanhedrin, a Pharisee now born again, becomes an apostle 56 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,000 because he's an eyewitness of Christ on that road. 57 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,680 And he goes up after his meeting in Jerusalem and they sent him 58 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,880 to Tarsus for they figure, 8 to 12 years. 59 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,280 So he's up there by himself, not with anybody else, studying, 60 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,480 learning. He didn't go into the ministry 61 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,080 the next day after he got saved. He was used the next day after 62 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,000 he got saved. He did speak in the synagogues, 63 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,400 but there was a lot for him to learn and hear from the Lord. 64 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:06,640 Eventually he wrote most of the New Testament. 65 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,120 So Barnabas in his mind, they're sending him. 66 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:13,560 We'll continue to read here. Now verse 19. 67 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,519 Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose 68 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,240 over Stephen, you remember Stephen was martyred few 69 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:24,160 chapters back, the first martyr, Christian martyr in the, in the 70 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,080 New Testament. These people then were 71 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,000 persecuted and they travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and 72 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,080 Antioch. So they're, they're spread out 73 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,280 and they're preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. 74 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:40,720 So initially these people that are in in Jerusalem are, are 75 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,520 being spread out because of the persecution, but their focus 76 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,920 again is just Jewish people. But some of them were men from 77 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,720 Cyprus and Cyrene who when they had come to Antioch spoke to the 78 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:53,840 Hellenists. You remember the Hellenists were 79 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:59,040 the Greek cultural Jewish people preaching the Lord Jesus and and 80 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,080 the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed 81 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,200 and and turned to the Lord. Now now recognize in this 82 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:08,800 section of Scripture here that these were people like you and 83 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:10,400 me. They weren't, I'm not an 84 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:11,680 apostle. You aren't either. 85 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,280 You know, we're, we're just like normal believers. 86 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,160 We all have different spiritual gifts, but we're just like 87 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,320 normal everyday people, right? These people were normal 88 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,720 everyday people that were pressed out because of the 89 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,600 persecution and they were out there telling other people about 90 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:31,280 what Jesus did for them and as a result of their communication in 91 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,400 their marketplace and their neighborhoods where they live, 92 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:36,680 that kind of stuff. A great number of people 93 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,360 believed and turned to the Lord. None of them said, well, we got 94 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,160 to wait till the apostles come up or wait till Peter comes up 95 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,920 or Barnabas or Saul or James or whatever. 96 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:49,480 No, like it was so infectious the the work of God's Spirit and 97 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,600 the lives of people like you and me, which it should be that way 98 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,760 still right? That's why we're studying Acts 99 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,920 to get revived, to learn more about how we can be used by Lord 100 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:00,480 in these kind of situations, right? 101 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,320 That they had an impact and all these people believed and turned 102 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,560 to the Lord. Then news of these things came 103 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:10,560 to the ears of the church in Jerusalem. 104 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,640 So they're hearing what's going on. 105 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,960 The Lord is bringing a harvest. People are getting saved. 106 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:21,400 So they think about who they sent out already that God has 107 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,560 used. Now Barnabas is going to go as 108 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,560 far as Antioch. They're sending Barnabas up 109 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,640 there as a leader. And when he came and had seen 110 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,080 the grace of God, the grace of God, right? 111 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,240 When you see the grace of God, it attracts you. 112 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,920 I want the grace of God to be poured on in here, that there's 113 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,560 not enough room for people to come, not because of us, but 114 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:50,480 because of the grace of God. I'll tell you an interesting 115 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,960 story. I was on a Zoom call this week 116 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:57,880 and I was with a man who is a devout Roman Catholic. 117 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:02,120 Him and his wife, they happened to live in a garden apartment up 118 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:05,360 in North Jersey, right by the Calvary Chapel, the large 119 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,080 Calvary Chapel up in North Jersey. 120 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,880 Pastor Lloyd Pulley, who's on our radio pastor's at church, 121 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,000 and they would watch every Sunday these cars come and there 122 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,360 was an overflow so people would park in the garden apartment 123 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,520 parking lot. And he said to his wife, this 124 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:27,240 guy Nix's name, he says, honey, what's what's going on here? 125 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:28,880 Is that like a cult up there or what? 126 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,280 These people, they get out of their car and they have an aura 127 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:34,240 about them. He, the Holy Spirit, was helping 128 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:39,280 them to see the glory of God on the faces of these families. 129 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,240 And it was attracting him, the grace of God on these people 130 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,480 like us just getting out of their car, walking into church. 131 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,160 He said, you know, we had to go over there sometime. 132 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:51,440 She says, yeah, why not? Why don't we go over there? 133 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,320 So they went over and the first Sunday there for the first time 134 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,680 in their lives, he told me this after the business Zoom call. 135 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,600 He said, I want to talk to you about something off the record. 136 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,400 I see you're involved. Involved with Calvary Chapel. 137 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:06,440 Yeah. And I said, yeah. 138 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:08,040 And so then he begins to open up. 139 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:09,360 Well, I want to tell you what happened. 140 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,920 He said he went in. And for the first time in their 141 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:14,760 lives, they heard the simple gospel. 142 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:17,880 They got saved. Then they began to develop all 143 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:19,400 these friends and all this stuff. 144 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:22,240 And the story goes on. And I said, well, the business 145 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,320 conversation was interesting, but this made my day. 146 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,120 This is what it's all about, isn't it? 147 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,640 As a man in the industry that I'm part of that started the 148 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,600 largest manufacturing frame company in Italy many years ago 149 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,760 in his early 20s. His name is Leonardo de Vecchio 150 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,440 and he rags to Rich's story. He was worth billions of 151 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,080 dollars. I have no idea about his 152 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,480 spiritual life, never met him, but he's dead now at 87 years 153 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:53,240 old. He died last week, left 154 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,600 everything behind. The only thing and I said to 155 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,120 Nick, it's going to matter when we leave this world is our 156 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,920 relationship with the Lord, whether we had one or not, 157 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:05,240 right? And he said Amen to that. 158 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,160 All the sudden the business conversation wasn't important. 159 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,600 What was important was our conversation about Jesus and 160 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:21,040 what he's done for us. And so Barnabas is seeing the 161 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:26,920 job that needs to be done. It says when he came and he saw 162 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:30,320 the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all that 163 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,840 with purpose of heart, they should continue with the Lord. 164 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:34,760 And that's what we do here every week, right? 165 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,880 Wednesday, Sunday, whenever meetings gather. 1 Encourage 166 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,160 each other to keep, keep on keeping on with the Lord, right? 167 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:43,400 We need that encouragement, all of us. 168 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,160 And he was a good man. The Bible says about Barnabas, 169 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,960 full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a great many people 170 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,720 were added to the Lord. I mean, the importance again, we 171 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:56,920 hear over and over and over again the importance of being 172 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,680 filled with the Holy Spirit in our lives. 173 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:04,560 And then Barnabas departed for Tarsus in verse 2025 to seek 174 00:10:04,560 --> 00:10:06,880 Saul. He's got to find Saul. 175 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,880 Because I remember this guy was specially called by God to 176 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,640 preach to the Gentiles, and when he had found them in verse 26, 177 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,520 he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year 178 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,640 they assembled with the church and taught a great many people 179 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,640 and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. 180 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:31,080 This is the first time they were identified by the unbelievers as 181 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:37,040 Christ's followers, Christians, Jesus freaks, people who belong 182 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:40,880 to the Lord didn't say this is where first, where they were 183 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:46,040 called Catholics or Orthodox or Calvary Chapel or Baptist or 184 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,800 Methodist or Luther. We're Christians, for crying out 185 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:50,160 loud. We're Christians, right? 186 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,440 We attend this church, but bottom line is we're Christians. 187 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:56,920 And Christians should be able to relate to Christians everywhere, 188 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,600 no matter what church you're in or where they're from, right? 189 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:05,520 We're one body, one church, Jesus Christ the head. 190 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,880 And so this is the beginning of this ministry of Paul. 191 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,400 And in verse 27, in those days, prophets came from Jerusalem to 192 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,640 Antioch. A lot of stuff going on in 193 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,320 Antioch. Antioch was a Pagan city. 194 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,320 It made Las Vegas and New York look calm. 195 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:29,240 Immorality, Pagan worship, prostitution, that's all kind of 196 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,320 Pagan rites. A very, very difficult place to 197 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,160 be a Christian. Nonetheless, the spirit of God, 198 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:39,240 the power of God, was saving souls in the midst of a society 199 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:43,760 and culture that was godless. They weren't depending on a 200 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,040 leader in government as Christians at that time because 201 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,120 there was no leader in government to have special favor 202 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,040 with, right? I mean, in our country, we have 203 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,080 the privilege of electing officials. 204 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,760 Hopefully that can be believers. It can make things a little bit 205 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:01,080 easier for us. But right now things aren't real 206 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,920 easy for us. But doesn't mean that God isn't 207 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,960 in control or God still can't work, or God still can't move, 208 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,720 right? We need to depend on that 209 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,680 authority, the authority of God on the throne in His Kingdom, 210 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,400 that nothing happens outside of His will. 211 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,680 And so they had no one to depend upon but the Lord, and they did 212 00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:25,560 this ministry and the power of God and salvation and the life 213 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:29,760 of the Holy Spirit was so alive in that early church in this 214 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,080 city of Antioch, about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. 215 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,960 So this prophet comes up, one of them named Agabus. 216 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,000 He stood up and showed by the Spirit there was going to be a 217 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,440 great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in 218 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,200 the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each 219 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,040 according to his ability, determined to send relief to the 220 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,880 brethren dwelling in Judea. There was no pressure on tithe 221 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:56,360 or you give this amount or give that. 222 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,640 They gave as they were able to and and that's what we do here. 223 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,360 We give as we're able for the glory of God and the furtherance 224 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,000 of his Kingdom. And they were able to provide 225 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,600 relief to these people struggling in the area of Judea. 226 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,440 This they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of 227 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,280 Barnabas and Saul. So this offering was collected, 228 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,640 and then Barnabas and Saul were then responsible to take it. 229 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,560 So this violence now begins to occur in chapter 12. 230 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,320 Now about that time, Herod the king stretched out his hand to 231 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,280 harass some from the church. Now this is the descendant of 232 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,600 Herod the Great who was responsible for having all those 233 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,200 babies killed back in the days when Christ was born. 234 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,680 This whole family of Herod is evil and wicked and all they 235 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:44,840 want to do is come against the Kingdom of God. 236 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,560 And and so he's going to harass some from the church. 237 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,440 And what happens verse 2? Then he kills James the brother 238 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,920 of John with the sword. This isn't James the brother of 239 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,440 Jesus who was head of the church in Jerusalem. 240 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:03,960 This is the James and John whose mother went to Jesus and said, 241 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:07,840 can they sit on the right and left hand side of your Kingdom? 242 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:13,440 And Jesus said in order to to have any kind of experience in 243 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:18,080 the Kingdom that is of some exciting value, you have to 244 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,000 suffer much for what it is you believe. 245 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:26,440 And sure enough, they did suffer and James was beheaded, the 246 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,920 first apostle that was martyred. And because he saw that it 247 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,800 pleased the Jews, Herod saw the Jews were clapping all excited. 248 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,320 He wants popularity. He proceeds further to seize 249 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,800 Peter also. Now it was during the Days of 250 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,200 Unleavened Bread this is. And so when he had arrested him, 251 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,680 he put him in prison and delivered him to 4 squads of 252 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,960 soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people 253 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,520 after Passover. So it's Passover, Peter's 254 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,240 probably thinking about what Christ went through again, 255 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,080 remembering this, he's in prison. 256 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:04,240 They this time remember before he got out of prison in the 4th 257 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:08,640 chapter, they're thinking this guy's, he's got some tricks, he 258 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,640 can get out of prison. We better put more people with 259 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,400 him. So, so many hours a day. 260 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:19,040 There would be 4 soldiers. One would be chained to the 261 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,080 handcuff and 1:00 on the other side to make sure he wasn't 262 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:24,880 going to get loose. There'd be two by the door to 263 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:29,960 prevent him from escaping. So four people Peter in verse 5 264 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:33,640 was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered 265 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:37,640 to God for him by the church. So we pray, we intercede. 266 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,160 We have groups that in Church of pray about every possible thing 267 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:43,680 you can imagine. It comes through the prayer 268 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:45,840 chain. We're we're praying all the 269 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,000 time. I know you're praying too for 270 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,280 the work of God and the and the movement of God's Spirit. 271 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,520 So Peter's in trouble and James, this was martyred and Peter's 272 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:58,880 probably thinking I'm going to be next tomorrow morning. 273 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,560 My life is over. And when Herod was about to 274 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,000 bring him out that night, Peter was sleeping bound with two 275 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,480 chains between two soldiers. And the guards before the door 276 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,240 were keeping the prison. So Peter, he's not like 277 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,560 obviously uptight or nervous. If it was me, I'd be like, I 278 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,160 can't sleep. But Peter was trusting God, no 279 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,240 problem sleeping. And he's between these guards, 280 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,560 it says, now behold, an Angel of the Lord in verse 7 stood by 281 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:28,600 him. Angel comes in, a light shines 282 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,080 in the prison. He struck Peter on the side and 283 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,200 raised him up. So Peter had to actually be hit 284 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:35,880 to sort of come to consciousness from his sleep. 285 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,920 And he tells him arise quickly and his chains fell off his 286 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,560 hands. And no sooner did he stand up 287 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:43,720 miraculously these chains fall off. 288 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,120 This is a result of the move of God, the prayers of God's 289 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,280 people, the will of God, the purpose of God. 290 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,480 Peter's ministry is certainly not over yet. 291 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,880 The Angel said to him, Gird yourself up and tie on your 292 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:56,280 sandals. Now the Angel could have 293 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,760 obviously made sure everything was put together miraculously, 294 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:02,040 but no, there was some work that Peter had to do. 295 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:03,800 He had to get down and tie his sandals. 296 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,040 He probably never thought of forgot about this story, right, 297 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,040 this experience. Every time he tied his shoes. 298 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,720 I remember when the Angel was telling me to tie my shoes. 299 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:14,960 And so he did. And he said to him, put on your 300 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,680 garment and follow me. So the angel's helping, helping 301 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:19,319 them get together there and get ready to go. 302 00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:22,960 So he went out and followed him and did not know that what was 303 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,160 done by the Angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 304 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,080 So I'm sure it was sort of like, is this some kind of like thing 305 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,320 I'm thinking has happened? But it really isn't happening. 306 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,720 You know, you can have a dream sometimes and you're like, wow, 307 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:35,400 that was amazing. And then you find out it was 308 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,440 only a dream. Sometimes you're thankful it was 309 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,360 only a dream. Other times you wish it was real 310 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:42,000 because it turned out to be a good, good story, right? 311 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:47,160 So when they go by the 1st and 2nd guard posts, and they come 312 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,640 to the iron gate that leads to the city, it opens to them of 313 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,440 its own accord. Miraculously this door opens and 314 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:54,920 they went out and went down the street. 315 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:56,920 And immediately Angel departed from him. 316 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,000 And when Peter had come to himself in verse 11, he said, 317 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,400 Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his Angel and has 318 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,520 delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the 319 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,280 expectation of the Jewish people. 320 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:12,000 So when he had considered this, he came to the House of Mary, 321 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,000 the mother of John. This is the mother of John Mark, 322 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,520 who's going to be a missionary to cousin of Barnabas that we'll 323 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,960 catch up later on in the weeks ahead, whose surname was Mark, 324 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,120 where many were gathered together praying. 325 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:28,280 So there's this prayer meeting going on on behalf of Peters 326 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,680 Deliverance. And as Peter knocked at the door 327 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,600 of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 328 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,840 And when she recognized Peter's voice because of her gladness, 329 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,040 she didn't open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter 330 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:43,120 stood before the gate. She's so blown away and excited. 331 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:44,760 You think she would open the door? 332 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,920 Peter can't even get into the prayer meeting for himself. 333 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,480 He's still outside and I'm sure he's looking around thinking, 334 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,880 man, one of these guards going to know that I'm out of prison, 335 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:54,520 that someone's going to come down the street. 336 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,920 Hey, that's a guy that we just arrested, you know, so he's 337 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,120 probably paranoid. He's standing at the gate and 338 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:01,880 they they said to her, you are beside yourself, basically. 339 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,600 You're crazy, lady. And she kept insisting that it 340 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,360 was so. So they said it is his Angel. 341 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,320 They think it's just a reflection of who Peter really 342 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:12,000 is, his guardian Angel, whatever. 343 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,720 Now Peter continued knocking. I'm sure he was desperate. 344 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,640 And when they opened the door and saw him, they were 345 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,920 astonished. Isn't that encouraging? 346 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,120 You ever pray and God does something and you're just like, 347 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,440 you just don't get it. You're, you're almost like, I 348 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,640 don't believe this happened. I mean, that's just the way we 349 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,160 all are. These are deep prayer warriors 350 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,160 here. They're asking God to do a 351 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,560 miracle. God does a miracle and they 352 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,120 just, they just can't grasp everything that's happening 353 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:43,840 here. They open the door. 354 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,080 They're astonished, but motioning to them with his hand, 355 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,640 he's telling him keep silent, be quiet. 356 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,560 He declares to them how the Lord had brought him out of the 357 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,160 prison and said, Go tell these things to James. 358 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,000 That's the guy that's leading the church in Jerusalem, not the 359 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,920 one that was martyred. And he departed and went to 360 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:07,000 another place. Then, as soon as it was day, 361 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,760 there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had 362 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,880 become of Peter. But when Herod had searched for 363 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:16,720 him and not found him, he examined the guards and 364 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:18,600 commanded that they should be put to death. 365 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,400 That's a serious crime that they've committed, letting Peter 366 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,000 get free. And they were all put to death, 367 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,520 all 16 of them. And when he went down from Judea 368 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:35,880 to Caesarea and stayed there. So we see all this stuff going 369 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,800 on, these wicked rollers, God's doing these miracles in spite of 370 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,920 the culture, in spite of the society, in spite of the things 371 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,720 not being fair in the world at that time. 372 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:47,800 But God's still answering prayer. 373 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,080 And you might say, well, why was James martyr and Peter was set 374 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:52,400 free? I don't know. 375 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,640 God does everything according to the counsel of his own will. 376 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,360 Why do some people get healed and other people don't? 377 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,840 God does everything after the counsel of his own sovereign 378 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,480 will, we conclude. And what happens to Herod? 379 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,680 You know you can get mad at whoever it is. 380 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,120 It's messing things up in the world right now. 381 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,520 One thing, be encouraged. The Bible says vengeance belongs 382 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:17,000 to the Lord. Amen. 383 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,680 How will we pay evil for evil? Every dog has its day right now. 384 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,840 Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre inside and in 385 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,080 verse 20. But they came to him with 1 386 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,640 accord, and having made Blastus, the King's personal aid, their 387 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,280 friend, they asked for peace because their country was 388 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,280 supplied with food by the King's country. 389 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,640 So everybody's want to kiss up to this terrible leaders just so 390 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,280 they can have their food and prosperity, whatever. 391 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,200 So on a set day, Herod arrayed in royal peril. 392 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,920 He's sitting up there like a big shot with all his robes and, and 393 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,240 regalia. He's sitting on the throne and 394 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,120 they're giving ovate oration to him how great he is and what is 395 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:55,880 this and that? I mean, it's disgusting, right? 396 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,960 And the people kept shouting the voice of a God and not a man. 397 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:05,080 So they're attributing Herod as being like a God, the voice of a 398 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,800 God and not of a man. Then immediately, and this is 399 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,760 how God deals with judgment, an Angel of the Lord struck him 400 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:15,320 because he did not give glory to God. 401 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:18,840 What's going to happen to those in our own government? 402 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,280 One day there will be a judgement. 403 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,760 If it isn't in this world, it will definitely be in the next. 404 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,280 No one's going to get away with this godless agenda and this 405 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,960 immoral in the face of God. And look what's happening in our 406 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:34,440 country. But they're not going to get 407 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,840 away with it. God's going to be faithful. 408 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,720 And this is what, you know, what would happen if this happened 409 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:41,480 right now in Washington? I don't know, man. 410 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,280 It would be pretty exciting. I think immediately an Angel 411 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,720 Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God, and he 412 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,280 was eaten by worms and died. That's so gross, isn't it? 413 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,920 Like, like worms are coming out of him, man. 414 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,880 It's like yuck. Yeah, he's ugly. 415 00:22:57,880 --> 00:22:59,400 You know, this. I don't want to think. 416 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,600 I don't want to have lunch next after reading that but what was 417 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,840 beautiful in verse 24 it says, but the word of God grew and 418 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:11,040 multiplied. Jesus said he will build his 419 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,480 church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. 420 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,040 How exciting the book of Acts is. 421 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,080 It's a living book. The Lord is still moving by his 422 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,520 spirit. A man in a prison. 423 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,760 Here's Grace FM other prisoners here in Grace M passing notes 424 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:32,160 talking about the Lord pretty much all day long listening to 425 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,320 certain teachers on there being encouraged. 426 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,280 Someone told me this morning they turned it on this and then 427 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,640 it happened to hear a thing about family and she said it was 428 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,720 really encouraging because she wants her family to be a family 429 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,120 that walks with God and be blessed by by God. 430 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:50,400 You turn that thing on any time of day and you're going to be 431 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:51,760 blessed. You're going to hear something 432 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:53,720 that's going to encourage you. The Word of God. 433 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:55,400 The word of God. Amen. 434 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:00,240 We're so glad you joined us today on this edition of Living 435 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,240 Waters of Grace. Pastor Clark is teaching through 436 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,560 the Book of Acts, which is the only book that chronicles the 437 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,360 history of the early church immediately after Jesus's 438 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,520 ascension. It gives us a front row seat to 439 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,760 how the Gospel began to move outwards, starting in Jerusalem 440 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,720 and reaching into the heart of the Roman Empire. 441 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:24,200 In just three decades, a small group of frightened ordinary 442 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,920 believers became a bold, spirit empowered movement that 443 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:32,080 transformed the known world. Acts is not just a history 444 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:34,400 lesson. It's a reminder of what God can 445 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:38,320 do when His people are surrendered, obedient and filled 446 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,920 with the Holy Spirit. Their perseverance still 447 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,040 inspires us today. May we follow their example and 448 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,600 live faithfully for Christ in our own time. 449 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:51,200 We hope today's message encouraged you. 450 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,160 Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel, 451 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,520 Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA 452 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:01,000 area, we'd love to have you join us in person. 453 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:06,720 Our Sunday service begins at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. 454 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,760 Unit 6B. Be sure to visit 455 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,680 calvarychapelonline.com to confirm times and learn more. 456 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,400 If you are in the Greensburg area, you can listen to Grace FM 457 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:22,400 on the new 91.7 frequency. Please pray about supporting 458 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,360 this outreach. Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO 459 00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:33,480 Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601. Stay connected through Facebook, 460 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,960 YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel Westmoreland app. 461 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,920 Join our e-mail list, submit prayer requests, and give online 462 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:47,120 all at calvarychapelonline.com. Thank you for tuning in and 463 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:48,680 spending this time in God's Word. 464 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,000 Be sure to join us again for Living Waters of Grace.