Most of us, if we're Christians, believe God can. You've grown in your faith when you believe He will. Dr. Tony Evans talks about making the important transition from acknowledgement to assurance.
You're believing Him to do it, not just believing that He can do it. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Today, Dr. Evans will give us some exciting examples of divine intervention meeting earthly challenges as he continues our study in the book of Acts. From prayer to a prison break, we'll see how the Holy Spirit continues to orchestrate the unstoppable spread of Christianity and the miraculous ways God can work in our own lives when we trust Him.
Let's get started. While Christianity has been spreading like wildfire, as we've seen so far through the first 11 chapters, that will always create resistance. And resistance takes place in chapter 12. As Herod, verse 1, the king lays hands on some who belong to the church in order to mistreat them. So you have government resistance to the expansion of the faith. So much and so that in verse 2 we have the first martyr of the church, James the brother of John, is put to death with a sword.
Because of his testimony and his leadership. And so then they go and then verse 3, they arrest Peter, which leads to a very interesting story. So they arrest Peter.
They seize him and they put him in prison. And I mean they lock him down because according to verse 4, there are four squads of soldiers to guard him. So he's not getting out of here, but the church was making fervent prayer for Peter. Prayer is God's link between what's going on on earth and what you need from heaven.
That is the link. That is the specific wiring that God has placed in the spiritual realm to bring heaven into history, eternity into time. They are praying. And behold, say behold.
Behold means watch out. An angel of the Lord appears suddenly out of nowhere. A light shines in the cell and he wakes Peter up and he says, Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up quickly. His chains fall off. He said to him, Gird up yourself, get dressed. Put on your sandals.
Wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and continued to follow him. He did not know what was going on. He didn't know whether the angel was real or not because this is like otherworldly. He thought he was seeing a vision.
So he passed the first and second guard. Come to the iron gates that lead to the city which opened for them by themselves. Went out and went into the street and immediately the angel departed. And now he knows the Lord has sent forth an angel to rescue him. When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, John Mark, and we'll meet him again in a moment, where many others were gathered together praying. Okay, so now they've been praying for God to deliver Peter.
They've been praying hard too because it says they were praying fervently. He knocks on the door. A serving girl named Rhoda comes to answer it in verse 13. And when she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy, she did not open the gate. But ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
She leaving the boy standing outside in the cold because they had to put on his cloak. Said, Peter is out there and they said, you are out of your mind. Verse 16 says, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. Prayer can bring about deliverance.
That's what the story says. So Herod's ticked off, verse 19. When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the gods in order that they be led away to execution.
You wouldn't want to be in a guard. Because you get killed for something you didn't even know nothing about and could not control. Now he was very angry with the people, Tyre and Sidon, and on one accord they came and having won over Blestus, the king's chamberlain, they were asking for peace because their country was led by the king's country. On an appointed day, Herod, having put on his royal apparel, so he looking like a king, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.
So he's speaking. The people kept crying out, the voice of a god and not of a man. And immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory.
And he was eaten by worms and died. Because what he did, he took the glory for himself. And whenever a government or leaders deify themselves and become godlike in their mindset, that is a dangerous thing to do. That is because God will judge pride. Pride is not just having confidence. Pride is thinking more of yourself than you ought to think, and putting yourself in a godlike position. Everything you do is because of what God has already done. So that's why you always want to give him the glory.
Appreciate the recognition, but give him the glory. So Barnabas and Saul, they remain in Jerusalem and fulfill their ministry, and they bring along with them John Mark, who's the author of the second gospel, the Gospel of Mark, chapter 13. Now they're in Antioch, and we have a very interesting worship service taking place for a number of reasons.
Number one, who was in it? There were prophets who had a more itinerant ministry, and teachers who were kind of the instructors in the church. You've got Barnabas and Simeon, who is called Niger. So he is a black man in the church. And Lucius of Cyrene, which is a North African in the church. My point is, it was a mixture.
Jews, Gentiles, Africans. One of the best ways to hear from God is in worship, corporate worship or personal worship, personal devotions. It says, while they were ministering to God, so they were sending something up, but God was saying something down. He was speaking. How does God speak? Well, he speaks to a number of ways. He speaks to bringing thoughts to your mind. He speaks by using other people to plant thoughts in your mind.
But he does speak. It's called the illumination of the Spirit. He brings to light. And so he brings to light, set me apart, apart Barnabas and Saul for the work which I've called them to do. When they're fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them, meaning recognition that this is what God wants, and they sent them out. And so they were sent out by the Holy Spirit, but that was recognized by the leaders in the church. And so we have this recognition and this missionary journey. So they moved to Cyprus, and when they moved to Cyprus, they begin this ministry.
When they do so, they run into a problem. They run into a problem because there's this false prophet in verse 6 whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was the proconsul to Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Paul and Barnabas because he wanted to hear more about the Word of God.
And Ilimas, which is the same person as Bar-Jonas, that was the translation of his name, was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. He didn't want his boss to become a Christian. But Saul—because he didn't want to lose his influence— but Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit— okay, so God is in control of this man— fixed his gaze on him, locked in with him, and said, you are full of all deceit and fraud.
You son of the devil. Paul didn't play. You ever notice that Paul don't play?
Paul don't play, you know? He got that from Jesus, because Jesus told Peter, you know, get behind me, Satan, you know? So he says, you son of the devil, because he's in sync with the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight way of the Lord? There are those times in the life of the church where God's people and the gospel have to be protected.
It is so easy now, in light of the current climate in our culture, to dumb down standing for the truth, to be politically correct, to want to be liked. Now, we shouldn't go out and intensely make enemies, but neither should we deny who we are and be able to distinguish truth from error. Paul locked in on him and said, no, this is error. Now behold, verse 11, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the Son for a time. And immediately a mist and a darkness fell on him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.
Because Paul is full with the Spirit, so the supernatural is working, and he has authority. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened and amazed at the teaching of the Lord. Dr. Evans will return in a moment to tell us about another amazing teaching that we're quite a bit freer than we think we are. First, though, today's lesson is part of Tony's 14-part sermon series on the book of Acts, where we explore the early church's growth and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in spreading the gospel.
This comprehensive study of the apostles' journeys and challenges will inspire you to live out your faith with boldness. For a limited time, you can get this complete audio collection as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to help keep these messages coming to this station. And it includes a special bonus, Dr. Evans' insightful book, Kingdom Purpose, a guide to discovering your unique role in God's plan and living it out successfully. Just visit us today at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222, make a contribution, and let us send you the Acts audio series and the Kingdom Purpose book as a way of showing our appreciation. Once again, you can find all the details on this special offer online at tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. We'll hear more from Dr. Evans right after this.
I urge you to take this course. Dr. Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible. That covers very important ground, what they are and what they're not. One of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove of historical and spiritual significance. They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and the shed light on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to the New Testament. The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus. You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins better than you ever have before.
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Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. So Paul now comes in verse 16 through 41. He's defending who Jesus is. He reviews the history to show Jesus, who Jesus was through David, through the ministry of John the Baptist. He uses scripture to prove the resurrection.
All driving to verse 38. Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through him, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. And through him, everyone who believes is freed from all things, while, from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses. So in verse 44, the next week, because they wanted him to come the next Saturday, the next Sabbath, he comes, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. And when the Jews saw the crowd, when they saw this guy's getting a little audience here, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming. So he's now getting this resistance from the Jews because now all these people, the whole town is showing up. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first since you repudiated it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life.
In other words, your rejection makes you unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles because the Jews have rejected us. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of God, verse 48, and as many as been appointed to eternal life believed, and the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. But the Jews, not wanting to give up, verse 50, incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of the district. But they shook off the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
Because of your rejection, I'm going to leave you with God now. They entered the synagogue of the Jews together and spoke a large number of people, both Jews and Greeks are listening to what they have to say, but the people were divided. Verse 4, some sided with the Jews and some sided with the apostles. So some were against them, some were for them.
And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers to mistreat and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to other cities. And they continued to preach the gospel. But they preached it with power, such as verse 8, unless a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked.
This man was listening to Paul as he spoke and when he had fixed his gaze on them, Paul liked to fix his gaze on people. When he fixed his gaze on him, he had seen that he had faith to be made well. That's an interesting phrase, faith to be made well. Believing God to do something.
Okay, let me give you a difference. Not believing merely that He can. Please make that distinction in your belief, your faith. Many of us, most of us, if we're Christians, believe God can. But you've grown in your faith when you believe He will. You're believing Him to do it, not just believing that He can do it. That's a different level of confidence in the Lord.
And so this man had faith to be made well. When Mary, the mother of Jesus, she gets this angel saying, you're going to get pregnant and Joseph won't have anything to do with it. And she says, well, no, how can this be?
I'm a virgin. He says, with God, nothing is impossible. That means He can do what I just said He can do. But then she said, so be it. She believed Him to do it. Based on what he said, she believed Him to do it, not just that He could do it. And when she expresses that, believes Him to do it, it gets done. So don't only believe that it can.
If it's something that's in His will, believe Him to. And when that happened, the supernatural took place in this man's life. He leaped, verse 10, and began to walk. And when the crowd saw this, they raised their voice and began to say, the gods have become like men and have come down to us. And they began, verse 12, calling Barnabas Zeus and calling Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The gods are among us.
These boys aren't dumb. They know what happened to Herod. Verse 14, but when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard it, they tore their robes, oh no, you didn't, and rushed out into the crowd, crying and saying, men, why are you doing these things?
We are also men of the same nature as you. Don't bring that God stuff up in here, up in here. We are men just like you and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from the vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and you see how He deflecting all that stuff to God? He didn't just say believe in God. He made the heaven, He made the sea, He made the land, He made the earth, He made me, He made you.
What else can I come up with? I'm not Him. We're not Him.
And the generations gone by were permitted all nations to go their own way. Okay, so He gives people freedom to depart from Him. He gives people freedom to go away from Him. And yet He did not leave Himself without a witness in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons. In other words, God validates His existence through nature.
The heavens and earth declare the glory of God. You got to be out of your mind to be an atheist. You got to be crazy to be an atheist. To think that the universe, the huge universe, and then just earth just happened.
An amoeba started it, a big bang started it. All these foolish... So you can't have a watch without a watchmaker. Too many parts, too many parts. So you have to be educated in the atheism, okay?
Because that's not normal. And so He talks from nature the existence of God. So God gives a witness. But the Jews came from Antioch.
These boys are being tracked down there. They won't let Him go. And having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing he was dead. He looked like he was dead. And while the disciples stood around him, he stood up and entered the city. He was revived. The next day, he went away to Barnabas and Derby. And after that, he preached the gospel to the city. Paul been knocked unconscious. They think he's dead. He gets up, gets back to his senses, and he back out preaching again. That's a bad boy. That's all I can say.
It's a bad boy. But you have to understand where He came from, where God brought Him from. He was a murderer, and God had brought Him out. So that wasn't anything He wasn't willing to do in light of where He came from.
And so we'll come to the conclusion of this. And He strengthened the souls of the disciples, verse 22, encouraging them to continue in the faith. Through many tribulations, He must enter the kingdom of God. So this thing about it's all blessing all the time, it's all fun all the time, it's all no suffering all the time is not true.
Now, that's going to be different for everybody. For most of us, being a Christian in America, even with all the problems, it's fairly easy. Being a Christian in Syria is not.
Being a Christian in Iraq is not. Every day you wake up, you're wondering, is this your last day? So you got folks standing for Christ wondering, is this my last day? And we often don't stand for Christ without any concern about any day. He says, you enter the kingdom of God with this. Now, the good stuff He talked about, God gives the good stuff, but He says that this, all those who live God in Christ Jesus was of persecution.
When they appointed elders for them in every church, notice plural elders, every individual church, so body of leaders, have prayed with fasting. They commended them to the Lord whom they had believed. And so they continue their ministry and they're going from city to city commending, verse 26, the grace of God and the work that God was accomplishing through them. And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all the things that God had done with them and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
And they spent a long time there with the disciples. Well, there are many exciting events still to come in the story of the early church as Dr. Tony Evans continues our journey through the book of Acts. Remember, today's lesson is just one of 14 in this powerful, engaging series. And we'd like to send you the entire two-volume collection on CD or as a digital download as our thank-you gift when you make a generous donation to support the mission of sharing biblical insights and fostering spiritual renewal. As I mentioned, it comes bundled with Tony's thought-provoking book, Kingdom Purpose, which will help you uncover and fulfill your divine calling. This special double offer is only available for a limited time, so be sure to contact us today to make the arrangements. You can reach us day or night at 1-800-800-3222, where someone in our resource center is always available to help you, or make your request online at tonyevans.org. You'll find the details you need right there on the home page. Once again, that's tonyevans.org. Dr. Evans will touch on a number of powerful stories as he continues his look at the book of Acts tomorrow, highlighting the power of grace over law, the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding believers, and the miraculous events that unfold when faith is put into action, both in biblical times and today. Yeah, there's a lot to digest, so be sure to join us!
