Why are We Here — Acts 11-12

0:00 Good morning. How's everybody this morning? So let's see if we got our technology working to get started with. Do you all notice this beautiful new tree up here? Can you can you imagine Jonah just sitting underneath there, a little shade and hopefully no worm gets to that one or or maybe you could for since it's going to be spring or spring close by, you could you could imagine those those leaves getting ripped off and thrown down for Christ as he enters the as he enters Jerusalem.

0:34 So I want you to ponder this question as we start. Why are we here? Now you could think about this in many different ways, an existential one, why are we in the universe and what's it all about and all that kind of thing. I'm not looking at it from that perspective today. Hope we want to look at it today just from this perspective of why are we here?

0:53 Why are we gathered as a local body? An assembly, if you will, a church. And let's consider that for today. So let's start. If we go here.

1:08 Alright. Okay. We're gonna go it this way today. No. We're not.

1:20 Two times in a row. Give me just a second. I have a backup. Don't worry. Samuel is ready in case we don't get going here.

1:35 There we go. So, going to read this passage to go get started with today. Acts chapter 11 beginning in verse 27. So it's it says, and in these days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the spirit there was going to be a great famine throughout the world which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.

1:59 Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Chapter 12. Now, about that time, Herod, the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then, he killed James, the brother of John with the sword and because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also.

2:29 Now, it was during the days of unleavened bread. So, when he had arrested him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after the Passover. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out that night, Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now, behold, an angel of the lord stood by him and the light shown in the prison and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying, arise quickly and his chains fell off his hands.

3:10 Then the angel said to him, gird yourself and tie on your sandals and he did so. And he said to him, put on your garment and follow me. So he went out and followed him and did not know that what was done by the angel was real or did not know that was done... What was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard post, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord.

3:39 And they went out and went down one street and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people. So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness, she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.

4:18 But they said to her, you're beside yourself. Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, it is his angel. Now Peter continued knocking. When they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

4:31 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 to the brethren, and he departed and went to another place. Then as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had happened or what had become of Peter. But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. He went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

5:05 Let's skip forward to verse 25 for the sake of time. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and they took with them John, whose surname was Mark. What a story. Let's pray. Father, we're grateful again that we can, sit before your word and and learn from it, Lord.

5:28 We we pray that you'll you'll guide our thoughts and our words, my words today as we as we consider this passage and thoughts that come from it. It's in your son's name we pray. Amen. So a little bit of an introduction here. I wanted to let you know or remind you that we're talking about Herod here.

5:58 This Herod is Agrippa the one... First, the first Agrippa, if you will. He was king of all Judea, had a very short rule, died, they're saying at about 34. Okay. And he's the grandson of Herod.

6:12 Maybe some would call him Herod the Great. Right? He was the murderer of the children. They call him murder of the innocents maybe. Murder at the males at Christ's birth.

6:22 He built a temple or at least started the temple. This Agrippa the first was a nephew of Herod Antipas, who was the Herod that's referred to when they're talking about the trial of Christ, right? And he was a contemporary of Pilate, if you will. The kingdom was separated in those in that time into three different areas. Pilate was responsible for Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

6:47 Antipas or Herod Antipas was responsible for the northern area with Galilee and that sort of thing. Okay. And then there's also another Agrippa that's present at the judgment of Paul later on in in the New Testament. So just a just a little bit of history for you to get started today. The book of Acts is a really continuation, an account written by Luke.

7:08 He started with his gospel. It continues in the book of Acts. And you really could see that it's kind of the story of Peter and then kind of Paul, right? Chapter nine is a transition, you know, Peter is a leading figure there and then Paul continues on, right? Saul became Paul.

7:26 This might be an interlude where some would say this is about Herod now, right? I don't think so, but you know, we do hear what Herod is up to at this time. It's really, I think this story is about the travel and experiences of Barnabas and Saul, their ministry if you will. Okay? I'll talk a little bit more about that.

7:43 We get an introduction to John known as Mark or John Mark, if you might say that. Okay? But what I really want to focus on today is the story, this story as it is a church in action. Okay? We got to work a little bit with the timeline to make sure we get things right as as they jump...

8:02 Luke seems to jump in and out of the actual timeline to give you in a forward or backward, that kind of thing. So without further ado, let's step into it. The first thing we're talking about is this church in Antioch. And you can see they had visitors, right? They had visitors that came from Jerusalem.

8:19 And and they said the prophets came and they spoke and this certain one named Agabus tells of a famine that's coming. So they're moved to action. The spirit's moving amongst them. We should do something about that. This is important, right?

8:33 Now this isn't surprising. You remember, the church in Jerusalem also sent Barnabas, you know, like prior to this. There's something going on in Antioch. There's a church up there. There's believers there.

8:46 Barnabas, get up there and see what's going on. Barnabas goes up, he's encouraged, he encourages them, right? He's the son of encouragement. And so this is just a continuation of that. They knew each other.

8:58 These are two churches growing, right? And then they decide, well, we ought to send a gift and we're gonna send one back to Judea, to Jerusalem, by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. So they had prepared as each one was able to give to those that may be suffering. Okay. And they sent it to the elders at the church in Jerusalem.

9:18 Now we hear, you know, first of all, this is what's happening in Antioch. And then in a sense, what what Luke is saying. And by the way, about the same time or while this was happening, this was also happening in Jerusalem. And what's happening in Jerusalem? They're under great persecution, right?

9:36 Their leadership has been attacked. Not only had, you remember, former Herod Antipas had taken John the Baptist's head off. Okay? And then Christ was crucified. James had his, probably he died by the sword.

9:51 That probably means to me that he had his head taken off by somebody with a sword or it was a violent death. Let's let's not mistake that. Okay. And then they've now arrested Peter. Now Herod Agrippa is thinking, oh boy, this is great sport.

10:10 I can use this for my political benefit. Right? So I'm gonna... I got James, that did a great thing. Now I'm gonna get Peter.

10:18 Okay? What are we going do with Peter? I'm going to hold him till just the right time. I'm going to hold him for my benefit to the time after the Passover. And then, what's going to happen to Peter?

10:28 What do you think is going to happen to Peter? He's gonna die by the sword too. Right? At least that's what the expectation is. It had made the Jews happy that he got James.

10:38 Now he's got Peter, and he's thinking, this is this is my plan. Okay? We're talking about Herod's plan and God's plan here a little bit. So it's interesting, I think, to recognize at this point that here we have in the beginning of time, if you will, the beginning of the New Testament times, right? Just after Christ, we have two, at least functioning churches here.

11:04 We talked about, you know, they're independent. You know, they sent friends from one side to the other, but Jerusalem wasn't trying to impose on them, they were trying to help and see what was going on. Okay? They had elders at Jerusalem, it said. I would imagine, probably if not then, soon after had elders at Antioch.

11:23 The spirit was leading in each one. Right? They were cooperating between each other. One, at this point, is deciding to share, Antioch, right, as the spirit moves. The other one is having to care, or caring about those leaders that are being captured and taken up.

11:43 So very interesting perspective and point that we see the church at at this time. Okay, now we get into this timeline where this is what happened at Antioch, it was happening at Antioch about the same time this is what was happening in Jerusalem. And now, I think as Barnabas and Saul either are coming to Jerusalem or into Jerusalem or been just from Jerusalem, this is the story that we take up with Peter. We talk about Peter's imprisonment, and I put that at a question mark because he was in prison, but didn't stay in prison. Right?

12:25 So here's Peter. Says he was turned over to four squads of soldiers. Now, I looked around and I didn't spend a lot of time, but I don't know how many's in a squad of soldiers. Anybody have a definitive number that that could be? Thoughts?

12:40 Don, help me out here. So I'm gonna say a squad is more than at least two. Right? So he turns them over to four squads. That's how many people?

12:51 Good job. Eight guys. Four times two. Everybody knew that one. Right?

12:54 Four times two is at least eight people. We got eight people capturing Peter. Eight to one. That's pretty good odds. Right?

13:02 He's gonna he's gonna take care of this. He's making sure. But you know what? He's here the history. He knows about Christ.

13:09 Right? He knows what's happened there. And he's thinking, we're gonna double down. I'm gonna make sure. He's not getting away from me.

13:17 Peter is suffering. Prison is not a fun place. We know that he's shackled. Right? He's held there for at least days.

13:26 It says it was time of unleavened bread. Now that festival would have been... I don't want to talk to the ladies about festivals. Y'all are studying real hard on that, but the Days of Unleavened Bread have been about a week long celebration, right? So he's probably there at least days.

13:41 Says it was gonna happen after the Passover. So let's just say Peter's there for days a week, something like that. In prison. Okay? So he's suffering.

13:54 But, why was he held there? You ever think of that? I mean, we read the story, so that I don't have to... I'm not gonna like ruin the what's happening here, right? He gets out.

14:08 Why did he have to stay? Well, we know why. Because Herod had a plan, right? Herod's plan was, I'm gonna kill him when it's best for me. In the best politically motivated time when I can make the best use of it and the Jews will see that I'm on their side.

14:26 I am going to kill Peter. God had another plan. Now, God's plan was that he stay in prison until that night. The night right before. Now, you've got to imagine this has been hyped up.

14:44 This has been... This is what's gonna happen. Herod had told people. Herod had... Maybe they had a public display.

14:50 Maybe they had, you know, something planned. But it was that night, that night that he let him out. Okay? Now, what's the status of Peter? We find him.

15:03 He's asleep. He's at sleep. And he's at perfect peace, would say. Kind of reminds you of the Lord in the back of the boat when they come back and said, aren't you worried about us dying? And he said, I'm not worried.

15:21 I think Peter's not worried. But what is he facing? Think about what Peter is facing. He had to have known what. He had to have known who had their head taken off.

15:33 Who was died by the sword right before him. One of his best friends, James, had had his... So what does Peter expect? I have to believe Peter's expecting that the same thing's happening to him tomorrow. So he went to sleep.

15:53 Does that sound like a rational response? It doesn't. But he was at peace and we can be at peace too. What are you suffering through today? How long has the Lord let you in that prison?

16:07 How long has He shackled you to this point? And can you wait? Can you be at perfect peace? Can we be at perfect peace knowing that the Lord has this under control? Now, let's talk about this this process of where Peter's at.

16:20 Okay? Peter is, as we already said, he's asleep. He's undressed or at least he's got his garments loosed. Right? He's chained.

16:39 Right? I mean... But there's a bright light that's shown there. Right? An angel is standing by.

16:46 I think he had been standing there for a while, but I don't know. But sooner or later, he becomes physically apparent. And he does what? It says he struck him. Get up.

16:59 You know? I think that's what he did. He kicked him in the side. Come on, man. Let's go.

17:03 And then he spoke. Now all this is happening while these guards are here. Right? They're right next to him and yet it's still happening. He tells him, gird yourself, put your belt on, put your sandals on, and then put another garment on I believe.

17:19 Maybe his cloak. It's gonna be cold out there, you better be ready. He goes past two guard posts through an iron gate that opens on its own, down the street. And then the angel says, you're on your own. I got you this far.

17:37 You're on your own from here. Okay? Maybe. I don't know. Maybe his physical presence went away and the angel kept walking beside him.

17:43 I don't know. But there he was. Peter standing on the street and what does he say? Now I know this wasn't a vision. Now Peter was acquainted with visions, right?

17:54 We know that he'd had a vision to go to Cornelius, right? In Joppa. And so he's thinking this is what's happening. He's having this is a good dream. Right?

18:05 This is like things to marvel over. Oops, did I say Marvel? Or did I mean DC? Whichever that is. This would make great movie.

18:15 Right? I'm surprised there's never been a movie. There probably has been. But anyway, Can we say this is anything but that? A miracle.

18:26 Right? Who would say that's not a miracle? That he got past all these and everything else? It's a miracle. Do you believe it?

18:35 Do you believe this happened? It's important that we we try and really reconcile that in our hearts. Do you believe this happened? Because if it did, it makes you question a lot of things. I believe it's a miracle.

18:49 Now now, here's the next question you have to ask yourself. Could it happen today? More importantly, do miracles happen today? Absolutely. I know miracles happen.

19:06 How does a... I'll try and get through this. How does a false positive COVID test align up with a paper in a DHL office on a day before somebody's supposed to come home? If you wanna hear that story, you can talk to those two right over there. That's a miracle that we all prayed for.

19:35 We prayed hard. And we didn't... I don't know if we expected a miracle, but we got one. Those things don't just happen. I believe the miracles happen today.

19:45 Alright, let's keep going or we'll be too far now. What's the response of the church? It says that the church was giving constant and consistent prayer. Where were they? Well, they were in many places, at least one of which we hear about.

20:00 Right? In the home of this person named Mary. Okay. She's the mother of John Mark. There's a little servant girl there named Rhoda who gets an opportunity to serve here, right?

20:14 And they're lamenting together. What is happening? What's going on? But they weren't hiding. They were praying.

20:25 They were praying to the Lord. This was part of the church. It says Peter came here and then he went to another place. So I have to believe they gathering in other places as well. Okay?

20:38 This was a known location. Peter knew where to go. You could imagine coming to himself and say, now I know that the Lord has delivered me. But I'm not sure where I'm at. Where am I at?

20:52 Oh yeah, I'm right down the road from Mary's place. There'll be folk there. I'm going down there and I'm gonna talk to them. I'm gonna make sure they know what happened. Because this had to be a place where people gathered regularly.

21:09 There had maybe a little hospitality going on. I mean, believers don't get together without eating a little something something. Right? But, it had to be a place where she... The people were known to have that happen.

21:43 And then it continues on that they're at the house of Mary, John Mark's mother. And then they take John Mark back with them. So that's why I think this is a continuous story here about the ministry of Paul John, or I'm sorry, Paul and Barnabas. Okay? And if we read in Colossians, you also read that John is the cousin, some interpreters say, the the nephew of Barnabas.

22:14 So that makes Mary a close relative, if not the sister of Barnabas. Now, if Barnabas comes to town, where do you think he's gonna stay? I like to believe. I'm not gonna create doctrine on this, but I'll just tell you what I think. I think that Barnabas and Saul, Paul, whoever he was at that time, stayed at Mary's house at this time.

22:39 That's my thinking. You could... I would certainly believe that they heard this story before they went back though. If they weren't there when Peter showed up, they certainly heard about it afterwards because they took John with them. Okay?

22:52 And that's an... Or Mark, whoever you want to call him today. But anyway, so we'll talk a little bit more about that. So eventually, they go on the first missionary journey. These three guys.

23:04 Right? We know about Barnabas and Saul. They were commended, but have to believe they took John Mark with them. Okay? Now you could read a little bit about Herod's response.

23:15 He murders the guards for for their inability to maintain their control over Peter. Paul or Luke takes the opportunity to take it aside and say, do you all remember what happened to to Herod? Right? He stood up and was given all glory to himself and everybody started chanting not a God or not a man, but a God. And God said, nope, that's enough of that.

23:42 You just need your homework to go see what happened to him. But it says that worms ate him. Not a good response. You see what God's response was and Herod's response. Herod's response resulted in death.

23:56 The church's response resulted in growth. Okay? Very important point. Now let's keep moving along here. A local church.

24:06 Alright? Defined, I think, by actions. You're gonna have to just drop these or else I'll spend all day on them. Okay? I'm just gonna move through them quickly.

24:15 Okay? A church is not a building. It said church was offered up. It wasn't like there was something emanated from some building. I'm sorry, the prayer was being offered up.

24:25 It's not like this wave was coming up from a building. It was coming up from the people. Okay? It's a people, a community, a body, an organization, organism. Okay?

24:36 You pick the right word because we'll need that as we go forward. It wasn't a book club. Okay? Now, it just strikes me as odd that here is a functioning church of New Testament times long before the New Testament was written. Now, don't get me wrong.

24:55 I find this book to be holy and definitive, appropriate, important. I'm not distant in any way. But, these people may not have been literate. They may have only known the Old Testament through tradition. And that's not a bad way to teach people.

25:18 Okay? Through oral tradition, through stories. That's who I am. I'm a storyteller. We all can tell stories and understand that.

25:24 Okay? So, you don't get to heaven by memorizing scriptures. Let's just put it that way. This way, the church is not a bubble. It's not where you go to be protected from the society.

25:36 It is a place that offers up prayer. In this case, continuous and constant. Okay? Comfort is what they sought when they came together. Service is what they were doing.

25:53 Mary and Rhoda to the rest of the group. It was a beacon. I have to believe that Mary's neighbors knew. Those folk are always going in and out of there. Who are they and what do they do?

26:05 It was a place for forgiveness. Mary probably had married a Roman. Okay? Mark is a Roman name. Her son carried that name.

26:15 So that was against Jewish tradition. I have to believe there was some reconciliation there amongst the believers or amongst the Jews with her. Okay? It wasn't a boys club. Where was Mary's husband?

26:29 How about John's father? We don't know. But we're told it's Mary's home. He's gone. We don't know.

26:35 There had to have a story, a backstory there, but it wasn't, the people weren't there just at the the behest or at the permission of the father of the house. They were at the their permission and the woman of the house. Miracles happened. We talked about that. Peter gave a testimony.

26:55 We had eyewitnesses that saw this happen. You don't walk away from this thing without having your life changed. Which is the case of John Mark. Here he is saying, wow, I'm on fire now. If that could happen, I can't believe this.

27:12 And you know what? Barnabas and Saul say, maybe this guy's got some potential. You know what? We're gonna take him with him. With us.

27:20 I think I think we can mentor him. I think he could be useful. No barriers. There were Pharisees and fishermen. Tax collectors.

27:28 Roman, Jew, Greek. Those that were cast aside. The women crazy, sick, lame. All part of the church. No barriers here.

27:39 They had one leader. They were worried about Peter. Right? But who did they pray to? Where did they go for comfort?

27:49 This church was not dead if Peter died. They were still praying to the Lord. He said, I'm with you. Okay. Not a social club.

27:57 It's gathered around the faith. This is some of what we see in this particular story about the church. Okay. Famous verse, you all know this one. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

28:18 And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Who's never heard that verse? Everybody's heard it, right? Do you feel kind of like me sometimes that this is this is this is kind of what this is all about, right? It's me leaning against this big boulder.

28:34 And if I push hard enough, I'll move that boulder just a little bit down down the road. Right? But then you may also think like me that it looks more like this. Right? Oh, I'm sorry.

28:57 Sometimes though, it looks kinda like this. Pushing a rock up a hill is a hard thing to do. And and faced with this, we have to say, are you kidding me? How am I how am I gonna do that? Okay.

29:13 Well, we might imagine ourselves halfway up the mountain. Because we could see others that have made their way. Maybe I see Don Morris halfway up the mountain there pushing his rock, right? And I think, maybe I could do it too. I'll bet this is my opportunity.

29:29 I could get up there, but we push and it's not getting there. What are we doing? Well, here's, you know, I need some help. What's that song? Help, I need somebody, right?

29:42 Who's saying? I don't want know. But anyway, it says... This is Acts two forty two. Says, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers.

29:52 Who continued? The church continued in these practices, didn't they? And we have that tradition today. Now, there's the church, right? These are some some of which were gathered at Mary's place.

30:07 Right? And we saw all the things that were consistent with the church and the practice of the church, the actions of the church there, didn't we? Well, that's a good place to go for help. I can give help. Peter gave help, didn't he?

30:22 He gave testimony. Hey, God help. We gathered together at Mary's house and we commiserated together. We lamented and we prayed one to another, with one another. Okay?

30:35 And so sometimes we give, sometimes we receive from the church. Right? That is, I'm not gonna say every, but that is a purpose of the church. Right? To continue in the Apostle's doctrine.

30:51 That makes us strong. If we know in our hearts, in our heads, in our heads, in our something like that. If we know, then we can walk forward. Fellowship encourages us because we see, here's somebody going through the same thing I went through years ago. Or here's somebody that's going through something I'm going through right now.

31:15 We get encouragement through fellowship. We break bread, which we just did. We remembered the Lord. And that motivates us. Were you not motivated today to think, He loves me so.

31:32 He loves me so much. And forget about that. I'm a sinner. But more importantly, He's faithful to forgive me. He has forgiven me.

31:43 Those things don't don't... Can't just wash over you without sticking. Okay? And we need direction. Lord, where would we go?

31:53 What would you have us do? What should I do next? What is my next step? So this is what the church provides a believer on his mission. Maybe this is a little bit about what the Lord meant when he said, I am with you.

32:11 Isn't it interesting that he said, I am with you, and then where did he go? He left. But he he left his Holy Spirit, and He left us the tradition of the church. He left the church moved and given... Gifts been given to help those believers.

32:32 He gave us the church so that we could get strength. We could be encouraged. We could be motivated. We could direct... Get our paths directed.

33:00 You you straining against it. There's Laura cooking for me again. Right? But they're right there with us. And at some point along the line, we get to thinking, this ain't so hard.

33:16 I think I got it figured out. I'm going to push that boulder right up and get it so that it's rolling downhill. Wouldn't that be easier than pushing it uphill? Right? Now if you've ever walked in the mountains, realize that what you see at the top is not always what is on the other side of the hill.

33:37 This is what happens in life, isn't it? We push and we push and we look and we get help and we get to the top thinking this is the end. And we find out it's even steeper from here. It gets harder. And you know what happened?

33:54 I didn't show it exactly right. I didn't have enough room, but a lot of times what you get to the top, you roll downhill a little bit. And you got to push it across that valley and you got to start up the other side. But thankfully, we got some folks standing right there ready to help me do it. That's the benefit.

34:17 That is the purpose. That is why we gather together. If you miss one of these things, you're missing something. If you get one but not the other three, I feel... We feel bad.

34:48 We have to ask, why am I here? Because I have a mission and I need some help. Let's pray. Father, you've given us so much, Lord. We are so so thankful when we when we think about just a fraction of it.

35:13 So, we pray as we would walk forward today that we would be about the mission that you've given us, that we would go, that we would teach, that we would baptize. Oh, Lord, we'd make disciples. But, Lord, we know that we can't do it alone. You... You've given us your Holy Spirit, but you've also given us the church.

35:40 Lord, thank you for this local body, for those standing with one another that we can encourage one another. We can help us to learn to get our paths directed. Lord, that we can grow strong. Lord, we're so grateful. Would you help motivate us, Lord, as we walk together?

36:01 We're thankful for this time. We're thankful for your word. It's in your son's precious name we pray. Amen.