Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: The message that I have to share with you comes
Speaker 1: from Acts chapter twelve. And why I want to share
Speaker 1: this passage today is because God told me to. How's
Speaker 1: that no other logic, no other reason, but just I
Speaker 1: found myself coming to this passage for our time together today,
Speaker 1: and I want you to give it your attention. This
Speaker 1: story in the Bible may relate to the situation in
Speaker 1: your life. Acts chapter twelve, Verse one. It was about
Speaker 1: this time the King Herod arrested some who belonged to
Speaker 1: the church, intending to persecute them. He intended to persecute them.
Speaker 1: And yet God's purpose will always overrule human intention. And
Speaker 1: no matter what people do to you, and no matter
Speaker 1: what people conspire against you, all of it is working
Speaker 1: for the purpose of the God, who is greater than
Speaker 1: any person. That's what it means to say. If God
Speaker 1: is for me, who can be against me. You can
Speaker 1: try to stand against me, but in the end it
Speaker 1: will be God's purpose for me that will prevail. How
Speaker 1: many believe that? How many believe that? Now y'all got
Speaker 1: to calm down, because that was one verse and it's
Speaker 1: a long chapter. I'm just so glad to be back.
Speaker 1: I love the Bible. It says that Herod intended to
Speaker 1: persecute them, and it says in verse two he had James,
Speaker 1: the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
Speaker 1: When he saw that this pleased the Jews and gained
Speaker 1: him political clout, he proceeded to seize Peter. Also. This
Speaker 1: happened during the feasts of Unloved Bread, and after arresting him,
Speaker 1: he put him in prison, handing him over to be
Speaker 1: guarded by four squads of four soldiers. Herod intended to
Speaker 1: bring him to public trial after the passover. So verse five,
Speaker 1: Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly
Speaker 1: praying to God for him. And so now we've got
Speaker 1: a showdown. It's Herod's prison versus the church's prayers. It's
Speaker 1: a cage match between Herod's intention and God's purpose. And
Speaker 1: it says that they were earnestly praying to God. It
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that they were saying one of those nice,
Speaker 1: quiet whisper prayers. It means that they wouldn't stop. It
Speaker 1: means that even though it hurt, they prayed. Even though
Speaker 1: they were disappointed, they prayed. Even though they had no
Speaker 1: clue if it was working, they prayed. It's the same
Speaker 1: word that describes prayer when Jesus knelt in the garden
Speaker 1: of gethsemone and said, not what I will, but what
Speaker 1: you will be done. They prayed like that. It's the
Speaker 1: kind of prayer that Jesus described in Matthew chapter seven,
Speaker 1: verse seven. He said, Ask and it will be given
Speaker 1: to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the
Speaker 1: door will be open to you. That's my topic for today.
Speaker 1: The title of this message is Knock knocked. Look at
Speaker 1: your neighbors, say who's there. You may be seated. You
Speaker 1: may be seated. One of the weird things about living
Speaker 1: with other human beings in the same house is the
Speaker 1: idiosyncrasies that you notice about them, whether you want to
Speaker 1: or not. Oh that sounded tender processor over here. Watch out, yeah,
Speaker 1: because like my kids, I can tell which one of
Speaker 1: them is knocking on the door. Just by the way
Speaker 1: they knock, just by how they use their knuckles. I
Speaker 1: know my kids by their knock. In that weird as apparent,
Speaker 1: you you learn to identify which kid because Abby has
Speaker 1: a very polite knock, very gentle knock. It's very it's
Speaker 1: a very delicate knock. It's a beautiful knock. It's a
Speaker 1: knock that says, if you have the time to open
Speaker 1: the door, and this is the opportune time, would be
Speaker 1: possible that you do. So it's just a very gentle knock.
Speaker 1: It's a tender knock. And then Elijah was totally different.
Speaker 1: Now he's very chill, but when he was smaller, his
Speaker 1: knock was undeniable, meaning he's not stopping until you open
Speaker 1: the door. And even back then, he's actually really good
Speaker 1: at making beat and he's making a lot of beats
Speaker 1: these days. Do the dash on YouTube, by the way,
Speaker 1: you owe me for that. That's a big plug man.
Speaker 1: This is international. But when you used to knock on
Speaker 1: the door, you used to make beats on the door.
Speaker 1: That's when you started making your beats just on the door,
Speaker 1: and they were relentless. I mean, he's not stopping. It's
Speaker 1: like a trap beat on the door just to get
Speaker 1: him to let you in. But then Graham, Graham is
Speaker 1: the one who doesn't knock, and you don't even know
Speaker 1: he was at the door until three weeks later when
Speaker 1: he says something that he overheard in the conversation that
Speaker 1: he wasn't supposed to hear. And you know, like, because
Speaker 1: you get to know somebody when you're living with them,
Speaker 1: so you can tell who's at the door just by
Speaker 1: how the knock sounds. Living in relationship with God, you
Speaker 1: learn to discern when it's him knocking. And if you don't,
Speaker 1: you'll open the door to people who don't have the
Speaker 1: best intentions in mind, and you'll open the door to
Speaker 1: the enemy who may bring you what you want in
Speaker 1: your feelings that is destructive to your faith. And if
Speaker 1: God lives in your heart, over time, you'll learn to
Speaker 1: discern his knock. At first, you think that God knocks
Speaker 1: with a sledgehammer, because that's what church teaches you about
Speaker 1: God pretty early on, at least in the Southeastern United States,
Speaker 1: if it's a fired up church, they teach about God
Speaker 1: coming through the door. You know, with a have you
Speaker 1: ever seen this kind of God? That God? He is
Speaker 1: a battering ram and people say things like, oh, I
Speaker 1: love that sermon today, pastor God was just kicking my
Speaker 1: butt all over the place. And yet you learn that
Speaker 1: when you really live with God, his knock doesn't take
Speaker 1: much because you know his knock, knock, knock. And you
Speaker 1: also learn that a lot of times what you will
Speaker 1: initially think is the devil knocking on your door to
Speaker 1: attack you is actually God knocking on your door to
Speaker 1: develop you. And what knocks on the door looking like
Speaker 1: trouble sometimes is training to teach you to trust in God.
Speaker 1: And this takes time walking with God to learn that
Speaker 1: sometimes even if you don't like what's standing at the
Speaker 1: door when you hear the knock, that by the time
Speaker 1: God gets done working in your situation, that even what
Speaker 1: the enemy meant for evil, God will turn it for good.
Speaker 1: And it enables you to live with a kind of
Speaker 1: faith that is very peculiar to people who think that
Speaker 1: everything that God brings into your life looks nice, because
Speaker 1: sometimes when you pray for an opportunity, you'll be surprised
Speaker 1: to open the door and find opposition instead. Have you
Speaker 1: ever prayed for patience? That's a dumb idea. I never
Speaker 1: pray for patience because I know exactly what God is
Speaker 1: gonna send to the door if I do trouble. God
Speaker 1: is going to send something to get on my nerves
Speaker 1: so bad. God is gonna send a bad driver in
Speaker 1: front of me on Providence Road with an elevation sticker. Y'all.
Speaker 1: The other day, I was coming to church and I
Speaker 1: was singing in the car, and I was singing, this
Speaker 1: is I M see a victory or something like that,
Speaker 1: one of these good songs that we sing around here.
Speaker 1: And the person in front of me was such a
Speaker 1: bad driver. I lost all of the Holy Spirit. I
Speaker 1: lost twelve percent of my anointing per minute that I
Speaker 1: was behind this person, And I was so mad. I
Speaker 1: came right up on them and then I passed them,
Speaker 1: and I slowed down just to teach them a lesson.
Speaker 1: And then they turned into the parking lot with me,
Speaker 1: and they were coming to church and they were volunteered.
Speaker 1: So I'm having to learn that you might not like
Speaker 1: the package that your prayer request shows up in when
Speaker 1: it comes to your door, knock knock, But no matter
Speaker 1: the delivery system, you can trust that God is the
Speaker 1: one who is superintending. Now, the early Church had to
Speaker 1: believe this in a way that very few of us
Speaker 1: will ever have to lay hold of it, because they
Speaker 1: were experiencing such a time of persecution and a time
Speaker 1: where they had to trust God for their very provision.
Speaker 1: Especially in Jerusalem. There's a famine. In chapter eleven, they're
Speaker 1: taking up offerings just so the church can make it,
Speaker 1: and around about that time they're getting the famine sorted out.
Speaker 1: The writer here, Luke of Acts, says about that same time,
Speaker 1: he connects the events. He said, while they're dealing with
Speaker 1: the famine on one hand, they have to deal with
Speaker 1: the fight on the other hand. And now Herod starts
Speaker 1: throwing their leaders in jail. Some of the disciples, if
Speaker 1: they were thrown in jail, you probably wouldn't miss them,
Speaker 1: because Bartholome, you really, you know, I'm sure he's a
Speaker 1: good guy. But James is one of the three. When
Speaker 1: Jesus got ready to go up on the mountain and
Speaker 1: transfigure in front of them to reveal his glory, James,
Speaker 1: John and Peter got to go up and see it.
Speaker 1: One of the sons of Zebedee, the sons of Thunder.
Speaker 1: James was one of the guys, and he's dead. And
Speaker 1: now they got Peter too, and remember Peter is their preacher,
Speaker 1: and so it's one thing to lose James, it's painful,
Speaker 1: but to lose Peter threatens the very purpose of God.
Speaker 1: And there's so much opportunity because the Kingdom of God
Speaker 1: is spreading and advancing, and there's so much opposition, and
Speaker 1: there's so much opportunity, and there's so much opposition. Don't
Speaker 1: you know that when opportunity comes to the door, opposition
Speaker 1: comes with it. Don't you know that sometimes they are
Speaker 1: one and the same. This is what I'm learning. I'm
Speaker 1: learning that a lot of times, when I open the
Speaker 1: door and see something that I would love to send
Speaker 1: away in my life, a challenge that I wish didn't come,
Speaker 1: it is actually the opportunity for God to teach me
Speaker 1: to trust him. Kind Of hard to say amen to that,
Speaker 1: because usually you want God to knock and come in
Speaker 1: with a flower bouquet. It's kind of hard to know
Speaker 1: that it's God knocking unless he walked with him a while,
Speaker 1: and then you hear the knock the next time, and
Speaker 1: you know, whatever is at the door, even if God
Speaker 1: didn't send it, He's going to use it. And the
Speaker 1: church is praying for Peter, but they're still broken hearted
Speaker 1: about James. Did you notice that part in the passage
Speaker 1: where it said that he had just killed James with
Speaker 1: the sword. That means he cut his head off. That
Speaker 1: means that he was coming after the head. He was
Speaker 1: trying to stop the movement of Christianity because he knew
Speaker 1: it would appease the Jews, and he knew that in
Speaker 1: this great time of opportunity for the Church, it was
Speaker 1: a time of opportunity for him to advance his human agenda.
Speaker 1: And so the church is praying. That the church is
Speaker 1: knocking on the door of Heaven asking God to do
Speaker 1: something in the situation, and Peter is in prison while
Speaker 1: the church is praying. Now, one interesting thing about this text,
Speaker 1: is it right if I teach the Bible for a minute? Okay,
Speaker 1: Because it's interesting to note that Peter has no idea
Speaker 1: at this moment what the people are doing, and the
Speaker 1: people have no idea how Peter is doing. Sometimes you've
Speaker 1: got to pray by faith, not even knowing if it's
Speaker 1: doing any good in your life. And sometimes the proof
Speaker 1: that your prayers and faith are working is that the
Speaker 1: opposition increases. Good. God, help me get this message to
Speaker 1: the back row, because somebody has been wondering, is God
Speaker 1: even still with me? Is God using me? Is this
Speaker 1: even worth it? But there's something about that that should
Speaker 1: let you know that if the devil showed up in
Speaker 1: the first place, there must be something important and he
Speaker 1: must be defending his territory or else he wouldn't bother
Speaker 1: with you. So Peter was in prison, but the church
Speaker 1: was praying, and now would be a good time for
Speaker 1: us to check on Peter, right because we got to
Speaker 1: see we know what the church was doing. They gathered
Speaker 1: together for prayer meeting, and they got in there and
Speaker 1: they started joining their faith together. And Peter is in
Speaker 1: prison and he's just hours away from his trial, and
Speaker 1: if it turns out the same way that James has
Speaker 1: turned out, this will be his last night on the planet.
Speaker 1: So it's that kind of pressure. Let's see what he's doing.
Speaker 1: Let's check in on a nannycam on Peter the Rock.
Speaker 1: Let's check on Peter on the eve of his potential
Speaker 1: probable execution. Verse six, The night before Herod was to
Speaker 1: bring him to trial, Peter was I need somebody to
Speaker 1: fix that in the back. That can't be what the verses,
Speaker 1: how are you going to sleep when your life is
Speaker 1: on the line. Y'all need to fix that verse, because
Speaker 1: that's not That's not possible, is it. The night before
Speaker 1: Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was what pacing, praising,
Speaker 1: praying how can you sleep at a time like this?
Speaker 1: That really got me because I did not expect Peter
Speaker 1: to be sleeping at this moment. I there is Let
Speaker 1: me tell you this right now, and this is just
Speaker 1: a confession. There is not enough lunesta in the pharmacy.
Speaker 1: There is not enough ambient on earth that I could
Speaker 1: sleep when I have to, especially after what happened to James,
Speaker 1: especially knowing this might not turn out well. We prayed
Speaker 1: for James, and look what happened to him, And now
Speaker 1: they got me too. And Peter put it back up.
Speaker 1: There is sleeping between two soldiers. How about that? Have
Speaker 1: you ever had to sleep in between? Come on, y'all,
Speaker 1: I came back to preach. I didn't come back to
Speaker 1: have coffee. Have you ever had to sleep between. I
Speaker 1: don't know how this is gonna turn out, but I
Speaker 1: got to sleep in between. I gotta sleep. I don't
Speaker 1: really know if this situation is gonna get better or
Speaker 1: what the doctor's gonna say next time I go back.
Speaker 1: But I got to sleep in between. I'm in a
Speaker 1: tight space and I don't know if I'm gonna make
Speaker 1: it out, but I got to sleep in between. Peter
Speaker 1: was sleeping in between. No, he's come a long way,
Speaker 1: hasn't he. Remember when Jesus was telling Peter, you gotta
Speaker 1: go to the cross, and Peter's arguing with Jesus and
Speaker 1: he's trying to tell Jesus, you'll never go to the cross.
Speaker 1: He's trying to give Jesus his plan for Jesus. He's
Speaker 1: trying to create the itinerary for the son of God
Speaker 1: who created time and space. And now he's sleeping. What
Speaker 1: did Peter know enabled him to sleep between two soldiers?
Speaker 1: He was sleeping. Put it back up. I'm not done
Speaker 1: with that verse. He was sleeping in the greatest trial
Speaker 1: of his life. He was sleeping between two soldiers bound
Speaker 1: with two chains. Some scholars think that Lil Wayne could
Speaker 1: have been in the next cell. A lot of people
Speaker 1: were there, and Sentry stood guard at the entrance, and
Speaker 1: so he was sleeping. What did he know that enabled
Speaker 1: him to sleep in between? What did he maybe suggestion
Speaker 1: he wasn't sleeping because of something he knew with his senses.
Speaker 1: Maybe he was sleeping because of something that he saw
Speaker 1: in his spirit. And maybe what he saw in his
Speaker 1: spirit was a direct reflection of an experience that he
Speaker 1: had with Jesus. Because remember in the boat one night
Speaker 1: when they were going to the other side, but then
Speaker 1: in between where they were and where they were going,
Speaker 1: they hit a storm. Sometimes you set out for the destination,
Speaker 1: but it's in between that your faith has to kick
Speaker 1: in to believe God. And when all the disciples were straining,
Speaker 1: the Bible says they were straining at the ore. They
Speaker 1: were straining against the wind, they were straining against the waves.
Speaker 1: And while they were straining, they went down to check
Speaker 1: out Jesus, and they were surprised to find out that
Speaker 1: while they were straining, Jesus was sleeping. So maybe when
Speaker 1: Peter found out, they might kill me. He decided, there's
Speaker 1: only so much I can do about this, and when
Speaker 1: I get to the other side, I'm gonna need all
Speaker 1: my strength, So I'm gonna sleep in between. This is
Speaker 1: God's word for somebody. God said, I can do more
Speaker 1: while you're sleeping than you can while you're strained. And
Speaker 1: if you will get out of the way and out
Speaker 1: of your flesh and out of your anxiety. The disciples said, Jesus,
Speaker 1: don't you care we're in this storm. Jesus said, this
Speaker 1: is how I fight mine, my friend, Joseph, Princess rip
Speaker 1: rest is power. And so it's a beautiful picture that
Speaker 1: he would sleep and trust God. When Herod comes knocking,
Speaker 1: Peter's faith answers the door knock coming to get you, Peter,
Speaker 1: but he's learned something. He's learned that obedience always comes
Speaker 1: before freedom. Now. I mentioned this because I see a
Speaker 1: lot of people on Instagram. I haven't been on Instagram
Speaker 1: in two months, y'all. And let me tell you, it's amazing.
Speaker 1: The birds are chirping, the sun is beautiful. You'd be
Speaker 1: shocked how nice the world looks when there's not a
Speaker 1: screen in front of your face, a pretend universe, just
Speaker 1: a thought. I've had a great summer. I got ten
Speaker 1: I detoxed from everybody's pretend life, and I'm just happy
Speaker 1: about it. And then, and then, and then Peter has
Speaker 1: to do something that's very difficult to do because you know,
Speaker 1: we all, we all want opportunities to come our way
Speaker 1: and opportunities are weird because they don't show up looking
Speaker 1: like opportunities. When they knock, they just look like obedience.
Speaker 1: Everybody will say like I want to kill my goliath.
Speaker 1: I want to take down my giant. You know, in
Speaker 1: church we say stuff like that. I probably don't say
Speaker 1: that if they don't go to church. But you know, well,
Speaker 1: Goliath didn't come knocking on David's door. Hey David, I'm Deliath.
Speaker 1: If you come me today, you can become a king
Speaker 1: of Israel and have great status. And well that's it.
Speaker 1: David's dad came to his door, say get this bread
Speaker 1: down to your brothers. Because when opportunity knocks, it just
Speaker 1: looks like obedience. That's all. It looks like. It doesn't
Speaker 1: look like something big, It doesn't look like something extraordinary. Now,
Speaker 1: Peter's about to get a big miracle, but I want
Speaker 1: you to notice how he gets it, and most of
Speaker 1: us would not have gotten it because spoiler alert, Peter's
Speaker 1: about to get out of jail. He's not going to die.
Speaker 1: He's still got work to do. Peter's not going to
Speaker 1: die in this moment because God still has a purpose,
Speaker 1: because Peter is invincible until God's purpose for him is completed.
Speaker 1: And so Peter's not going to die in this but
Speaker 1: he doesn't know that yet. As far as he knows,
Speaker 1: it's over. But he's sleeping. And so while he's asleep,
Speaker 1: look at verse six and how God interrupts his what
Speaker 1: do you call it? Rim cycle? Because Peter's in a
Speaker 1: deep sleep. I'll show you in a minutes in the text.
Speaker 1: Bible is so fun to read. I want you to
Speaker 1: read it between Sundays. It's real good. It's real good
Speaker 1: without me here talking about it. It's real good. So
Speaker 1: it says suddenly verse seven, just like in a deep sleep.
Speaker 1: Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared. And he didn't
Speaker 1: not he just came in and a light shone in
Speaker 1: the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke
Speaker 1: him up. And and I guess Peter wasn't all the
Speaker 1: way awake because the angel said, quick get up, and
Speaker 1: the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Now, please leave that
Speaker 1: verse on the screen because I want to show you something.
Speaker 1: It said, quick get up, and the chains fell off
Speaker 1: Peter's wrist. Now the natural sequence would be the chains
Speaker 1: fell off Peter's wrist, and so he got up, but
Speaker 1: it doesn't say that. It says that the angel told
Speaker 1: him get up, and when he got up, the chains
Speaker 1: fell off his wrist. You see it. So we think
Speaker 1: the chains are gonna fall off and it's gonna get
Speaker 1: easier and we're gonna feel free, and then we can
Speaker 1: obey God. No, you get up and then chains fall off,
Speaker 1: because obedience comes before freedom to answer the door and knock,
Speaker 1: even if you're not sure it's God. You gotta be
Speaker 1: kind to people, even if you don't know if they're
Speaker 1: gonna do anything for you in return. So obedience that
Speaker 1: creates freedom, freedom from what, freedom from needing to know
Speaker 1: the outcome before you take the step. So if he
Speaker 1: doesn't get up, the change stay on. And if you
Speaker 1: don't do what God has told you to do right now,
Speaker 1: God can't do what he's going to do that you
Speaker 1: don't know he's going to do. God already intended to
Speaker 1: take his chains off. But if he waits till the
Speaker 1: chains fall off to get up, he's never gonna get
Speaker 1: up because the chains aren't gonna fall off. When I
Speaker 1: get my financial situation in order, I'll tell you I'm
Speaker 1: gonna put God first, because I've heard about that and
Speaker 1: praising the Lord and putting him first with the first
Speaker 1: fruits of my womb, and all the and all the
Speaker 1: things that the Bible says, I'm gonna do it. No,
Speaker 1: you're not, not if you won't do it with the
Speaker 1: little because he who is faithful in a little. So
Speaker 1: it's that first step. It's getting up, Get up, and
Speaker 1: the change will fall off. Get up and you say, God,
Speaker 1: take the chains off, and I'll get up. No, get
Speaker 1: up and the change will fall up. And I love
Speaker 1: this part because there is no indication in this text
Speaker 1: that Peter had faith to be free from prison. All
Speaker 1: he's doing is going through the motions. And sometimes that's
Speaker 1: all you can do. Sometimes all you can do is
Speaker 1: come to church and fake, I mean faith it until
Speaker 1: you feel it. Now, most of us wouldn't have gotten
Speaker 1: a miracle if we were in Act chapter twelve, if
Speaker 1: we were in here at a grip of the first prison,
Speaker 1: we'd stay right there because we wouldn't. We wouldn't follow
Speaker 1: instructions until we knew details. We'll be like, get up,
Speaker 1: why who are you? You see some identification? No? No, no,
Speaker 1: is this God? Is this? No? No? You just get up,
Speaker 1: get up, and when you're in a place of rest,
Speaker 1: you're able to respond without overthinking it. Just just get up.
Speaker 1: Some of y'all think too hard when we're worshiping in here.
Speaker 1: You know you're thinking too hard. You're thinking too hard.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna see you a victim. I can't sing that.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I really am. You need to
Speaker 1: start singing it so you can start seeing it. Because
Speaker 1: faith is the substance of things hoped for and the
Speaker 1: evidence of things not seeing. So help me showing God.
Speaker 1: The old Peter, remember the old Peter who argued all
Speaker 1: the time. The old Peter would have been like, get
Speaker 1: up for what? Go up for what? I don't understand.
Speaker 1: I was getting some sleep while I interrupt my sleep.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get in a good, nice sleep. I
Speaker 1: got a big day tomorrow. It's a really important day.
Speaker 1: I need to be sharp so I can offend myself.
Speaker 1: But he just did it in this place. In fact,
Speaker 1: that's exactly what the Bible says. It's a quick get up.
Speaker 1: And the chains fell off vers eve, and then the
Speaker 1: Angel said to him, put on your clothes and sandals.
Speaker 1: He has still not told him his destination. But faith
Speaker 1: is getting dressed. Even when you don't know where you're going,
Speaker 1: And Peter did so. He got dressed with no destination.
Speaker 1: Is this God, I hope? So no details, just obedience,
Speaker 1: not a Peter, get up, get dressed. You know how
Speaker 1: God knocks just little things, and you know as him,
Speaker 1: you know as him, just little things, a little this
Speaker 1: thing can happen. Get up, good dress, put on your
Speaker 1: cloak and sandals. To me, this all, this whole, this
Speaker 1: whole thing seems like very small, Like I don't mind
Speaker 1: getting out of here in my underwear. If we're getting
Speaker 1: out of prison, why am I getting dressed for it?
Speaker 1: But but that's that's us trying to make sense of things.
Speaker 1: This is a different kind of freedom. This is not
Speaker 1: a freedom that can be achieved in your mind. The
Speaker 1: Angel said to him, put on your clothes and sandals,
Speaker 1: and Peter did so, just that simple, wrap your cloak
Speaker 1: around you, and follow me, the angel told him. And
Speaker 1: notice what Peter didn't ask, where are we going? Just
Speaker 1: follow I'm just following Grace, I'm just following Mercy. I'm
Speaker 1: just I'm just following cooperating with God. I'm getting my
Speaker 1: heart in harmony with what he's doing in this season.
Speaker 1: I'm coming into agreement and acceptance of the situation that
Speaker 1: he's placed me in step by step. You know the
Speaker 1: thing on your GPS where you know if you put
Speaker 1: it on at least on mind I use Google Maps
Speaker 1: looking for a sponsorship, where it just tells you the
Speaker 1: next turn, But then if you click on and you
Speaker 1: can see details, and that'll tell you every turn. And
Speaker 1: for somebody like me that has no sense of direction,
Speaker 1: I never put on the details because it'll get me lost.
Speaker 1: I can't think seven turns ahead. I just need to
Speaker 1: know the next one. We all, like sheep, have gone astray.
Speaker 1: And so all Peter has to do is the next thing.
Speaker 1: That's all you have to do, the next thing. Anything
Speaker 1: else is too much right now, you don't have to
Speaker 1: be Peter to be in prison. You don't have to
Speaker 1: be some important apostle to be in prison. Addiction is
Speaker 1: a prison. Depression is a prison. You don't have to
Speaker 1: be Peter to be in prison. Mindsets are a prison,
Speaker 1: Rumination is a prison. Trauma can be a prison. Prison.
Speaker 1: Isolation can be a prison. Never really engaging in real
Speaker 1: relationships can be a prison. Hiding and concealing it can
Speaker 1: be a prison. But if you've been in prison lately.
Speaker 1: All you need to do is the next thing. You
Speaker 1: can't predict the path of your freedom. You can only
Speaker 1: respond to the light that you have that's shown in yourself.
Speaker 1: And so when Peter got up, this is a very
Speaker 1: profound moment in Peter's life, and he doesn't know it yet.
Speaker 1: For all he knows, he's just dreaming. He doesn't even
Speaker 1: know yet. Read it in the passage with me. Peter
Speaker 1: followed him out of the prison, but he had no
Speaker 1: idea that what the angel was doing was really happening.
Speaker 1: He thought he was seeing a vision. You know, most
Speaker 1: of the time you don't even know that it was
Speaker 1: God until after the fact. While you're in it, it
Speaker 1: feels so confusing and so uncertain, and you're like, I
Speaker 1: don't even know, I don't know what this is right now.
Speaker 1: It is only after you have been through it that
Speaker 1: Romans eight twenty eight makes sense, and then you can
Speaker 1: say all things work together for the good. But it's
Speaker 1: hard to say that in the process of it. And
Speaker 1: Peter's just going through the motions, he's just worshiping, he's
Speaker 1: just moving, he's just obeying, he's just doing the next
Speaker 1: practical thing. And then He kind of has this moment
Speaker 1: when he passes verse ten. The first and second guards
Speaker 1: and came to the iron gate leading to the city.
Speaker 1: And watch what happened to the gate. It opened for
Speaker 1: them by itself. You know, God will do for you
Speaker 1: what you can't do for you. Now, y'all uncle clap
Speaker 1: for this one. But he won't do for you what
Speaker 1: you can do for you. So God opened the gate
Speaker 1: for Peter. But watch what Peter did when they had
Speaker 1: walked through it. They walked through it. Angel did. Can't
Speaker 1: carry Peter through the gate piggyback style. Peter's too big
Speaker 1: to be carried through the gate. Now you got to
Speaker 1: go through it. Do me a real truth favor. Look
Speaker 1: at your neighbor with eye contact, say you got to
Speaker 1: go through it. You know how many people that are
Speaker 1: listening to me preach right now are standing and knocking
Speaker 1: at a door that's already opened. The gate was open.
Speaker 1: You can stand there and knock all you want, but
Speaker 1: you got to go through it. And every second we
Speaker 1: spend not going through it, every second that we've been
Speaker 1: wishing that it wasn't there, every second we've been waiting
Speaker 1: for something miraculous to happen it already happened. It already happened.
Speaker 1: The worst thing that could happen already happened on the cross.
Speaker 1: It was already transformed into resurrection power in your spirit.
Speaker 1: So it already happened, is already open. But you've got
Speaker 1: to go through it. And when you go through it,
Speaker 1: that is the proof that you trust God even while
Speaker 1: you're in it, that you stay in the fire, that
Speaker 1: you stay in the furnace, and you still survive. And
Speaker 1: he walked through the gate. Now the power of God
Speaker 1: did not prevent the attack, but it protected Peter within
Speaker 1: it and it enabled him to go through it. God
Speaker 1: is going to get me through this. I don't know how,
Speaker 1: I don't know when, but God is going to get
Speaker 1: me through this. The gate is open, the way is made.
Speaker 1: Faith has already provided for me the grace that I need.
Speaker 1: And when they had walked the length tenby of one street,
Speaker 1: suddenly the angel left him and now he's got to
Speaker 1: figure out where to go. And suddenly wakes up and
Speaker 1: he comes to this moment that I believe we come
Speaker 1: to sometimes when when God knocks on our situation, or
Speaker 1: when the when the enemy knocks to come get us.
Speaker 1: But God won't let him. He comes to this realization,
Speaker 1: He's like, I gotta go, and I wonder what door
Speaker 1: he's gonna knock on. See, it's really important that you
Speaker 1: know where to knock when you're in trouble. That's how
Speaker 1: some of us got our hearts broken and our minds
Speaker 1: messed up because we knocked on the wrong door. And
Speaker 1: you know what was really weird about it. Sometimes we
Speaker 1: run back to the same door that disappointed us last time,
Speaker 1: knocking on it as if there's anything inside that's crazy.
Speaker 1: And Christians will do this, They'll pray the devil away
Speaker 1: and knock when and he knocks on the door, leave
Speaker 1: it wide open for him to come in, and put
Speaker 1: out a fruit basket and welcome him as a guest
Speaker 1: with the monogram towel, just leaving yourself wide open to everything.
Speaker 1: But when you run around knocking on the wrong doors
Speaker 1: and the wrong people and the wrong patterns, and you
Speaker 1: keep going back to that place, it's very important that
Speaker 1: you know where to knock. And thank God that Peter
Speaker 1: knew where to knock. See, he knew about John Mark's
Speaker 1: mother's house. Apparently this was the same place that they
Speaker 1: had been praying for James, and he knew that if
Speaker 1: he would knock on that door there would be some
Speaker 1: praying people. I want to say something to everybody who
Speaker 1: came to church today. Okay, I don't know what your
Speaker 1: life is like right now, and I don't know what
Speaker 1: you need God to do, but you knocked on the
Speaker 1: right door today, because everything you need is in the
Speaker 1: presence of God. Come on, look at somebody say, you
Speaker 1: knocked on the right door today. God has got what
Speaker 1: you need. The fridge is full, the bet is me,
Speaker 1: there's a prayer meeting going on. There's a fire in
Speaker 1: the kitchen. So watch this. I gotta show you something.
Speaker 1: Somebody say, knock knock. Peter said, Now I know without
Speaker 1: a doubt it was the Lord coming into my prison cell.
Speaker 1: It wasn't Herod's intention that brought me here. It was
Speaker 1: God's purpose. The Lord sent his angel and rescued me
Speaker 1: from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.
Speaker 1: You know what he was saying, Herod came knocking. He
Speaker 1: came to get me. It came to kill me, but
Speaker 1: it couldn't have me. That's how I know God was
Speaker 1: with me, because it came for me, but it couldn't
Speaker 1: kill me. It came for me, but it couldn't take
Speaker 1: me out. It came for me, but it couldn't have me.
Speaker 1: And now I know that God was with me. And
Speaker 1: when this had dawned on in verse twelve, he went
Speaker 1: to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also
Speaker 1: called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
Speaker 1: Ended amazing that they were still praying, still asking, still seeking,
Speaker 1: still knocking, because like, really, I don't know if I
Speaker 1: would have if I prayed for James and they cut
Speaker 1: his head off. I don't know if I would have
Speaker 1: faith to pray for Peter. I think a lot of
Speaker 1: us pray for things, or hope for things, or secretly
Speaker 1: wish for things that we really don't believe could even happen.
Speaker 1: We sing things that we no longer believe really happened.
Speaker 1: We sing a freedom, but we learned a long time
Speaker 1: ago to stop dreaming about it. And Peter is out
Speaker 1: of prison, but they don't know it yet, but they're
Speaker 1: still praying. Ah. That takes faith, man, It takes faith
Speaker 1: to pray for Peter when you just lost James. It
Speaker 1: takes faith to believe in this situation because you know,
Speaker 1: when you've seen him move the mountain and you believe
Speaker 1: he can do it again, It's one thing. But when
Speaker 1: that mountain's still there and you got to pray about
Speaker 1: that one, this is a difficult moment. And yet it
Speaker 1: didn't stop their prayer, It didn't stop their persistence. It
Speaker 1: didn't stop. So Peter shows up and they're still praying.
Speaker 1: And when he got there verse thirteen, the Bible says, Peter,
Speaker 1: my knuckle is so sore, I'm gonna have to ice
Speaker 1: it before the eleven thirty. Peter, Well, come on, this
Speaker 1: is Peter. You know. Peter's loud. Peter. Peter's not knocking
Speaker 1: like Abby. Peter's banging on the door because they're still
Speaker 1: looking for him. He just broke out of prison. You're
Speaker 1: knock different when you're desperate. You pray different when you
Speaker 1: know you need God. Peter knocked at the outer entrance
Speaker 1: and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the
Speaker 1: door while they were praying for Peter, and he's at
Speaker 1: the door. Their prayer request is standing in the form
Speaker 1: of an answer on the other side of the door,
Speaker 1: and when looking forwarteen, when she recognized Peter's voice, I
Speaker 1: think she recognized as not and nobody knocking as loud
Speaker 1: as Peter. Nobody knocks like Peter. Nobody is persistent like Peter.
Speaker 1: Nobody makes it through denying him three times and comes
Speaker 1: back to preach on Pentecost. My failures taught me persistence.
Speaker 1: Nobody knocks like Peter. Nobody knocks like the one who
Speaker 1: knows that even through my mistakes, God it's working the
Speaker 1: miracles in this moment, nobody knocks like Peter. And when
Speaker 1: she recognized his voice, Hey, she was so overjoyed that
Speaker 1: she ran back without opening it and told the people,
Speaker 1: Peter is at the door. It's Peter. Y'all, Hey guys,
Speaker 1: it's Peter. Hey guys, Peter wrote as a fourteen year
Speaker 1: old white girl in my mind, Hey guys, it's Peter.
Speaker 1: And watch what they say. You're out of your mind.
Speaker 1: Well that's a compliment because my mind has been my
Speaker 1: prison all along. That's what I've been trying to get
Speaker 1: is out of my mind. That's what's making me miserable,
Speaker 1: being in my mind and my thoughts, for his thoughts
Speaker 1: are higher than my thoughts, and his ways are higher
Speaker 1: than my ways. I'm out of my mind. I Rohota
Speaker 1: said no, no, She kept insisting that it was so,
Speaker 1: and they said, watch how much faith they had. It
Speaker 1: must be his angel. It was easier for them to
Speaker 1: believe that Peter died and his angel came to the
Speaker 1: door than it was actually him. Sometimes it is easier
Speaker 1: for you to believe that you are worthless. It is
Speaker 1: easier for you to believe that it's than it is
Speaker 1: for you to believe that dry bones can live again
Speaker 1: at the word of the Lord. But Peter kept on knocking,
Speaker 1: and I hear God saying to somebody today, don't stop knocking.
Speaker 1: You're at the right door. Don't stop knocking just because
Speaker 1: Rhoda ran back and the people didn't believe. God can
Speaker 1: use even the imperfect faith of a hurting church to
Speaker 1: break Peter out of prison. And if you keep knocking,
Speaker 1: if you keep knocking, keep asking. Yeah, I know you
Speaker 1: don't have the answers yet, but now you're learning the questions.
Speaker 1: If you keep seeking, if you keep knocking, I declare
Speaker 1: in the name of Jesus, Peter is at the door.
Speaker 1: Peter is at the door, and the only way for
Speaker 1: you to find out is to open it. But when
Speaker 1: James died, you stop believing in this season of your life.
Speaker 1: I believe Revelation three twenty that Jesus stands at the
Speaker 1: door and knocks. Now, I would have to think that today,
Speaker 1: somewhere in this building online, at one of our locations
Speaker 1: that meet all across this nation, I have to believe
Speaker 1: that God is knocking on the door of someone's faith
Speaker 1: to believe again in an area of your life where
Speaker 1: it has been easier for you to just lock the door,
Speaker 1: and you've just been going through motions, just kind of
Speaker 1: holding to the facade of your faith. But I sense
Speaker 1: the spirit of the Lord. Knock, knock, who's there? And
Speaker 1: Peter said, boo. Rota said Boo. Peter said, don't cry,
Speaker 1: I'm alive. Open the door in this moment. Yes, it's
Speaker 1: hard to trust people again when people have let you down.
Speaker 1: But what are you gonna do Stay in there and
Speaker 1: die and just pretend like you're living and really on
Speaker 1: the inside. No, I stand at the door and knock,
Speaker 1: And if you will open the door to me, Jesus said,
Speaker 1: I will sit down and I will eat with you.
Speaker 1: And I have prepared a table for you in the
Speaker 1: presence of your enemies, and I am your Shepherd, and
Speaker 1: I am your Angel, and I am your Light, and
Speaker 1: I am your defender, and I am your Hope, and
Speaker 1: I am your promise. And upon this rock I will
Speaker 1: build my church, and the case of hell will not
Speaker 1: prevail against it. For I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning,
Speaker 1: in the end, the first and the last. I died
Speaker 1: and I live. Peter is at the door because guess
Speaker 1: what church. At the end of Acts chapter twelve, Peter
Speaker 1: wasn't dead. Herod was because let me tell you why.
Speaker 1: The only reason that God allowed the trial was to
Speaker 1: free you from what was holding you captive. God is
Speaker 1: a mighty warrior. When God knocks, he keeps knocking. He
Speaker 1: doesn't give up on people. God doesn't knock one time,
Speaker 1: two times you failed, That's all right, He's still knocking.
Speaker 1: If your heart is still beating, God is still knocking.
Speaker 1: He is not going to let you go until He
Speaker 1: accomplishes his purpose for your life. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 1: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 1: You can click the link in the description to give now,
Speaker 1: or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more
Speaker 1: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends. You can click
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Speaker 1: your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks
Speaker 1: again for listening. God bless you.