Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of the Weekend Sermon. It is good to be with you again this week, and I hope that every one is doing well. Thank you for reading this blog.
This last week has had its ups and downs. Yesterday, we had the mid-year review at work. I received a very good review. However, I just do not like having to deal with all of the negative people I have to deal with. So many of the people who call in are extremely rude and nasty. I am getting pretty tired of being cussed at and yelled at on a daily basis. Please pray that I can keep going. The job pays well, and as I have mentioned, I am trying to save up to start a larger ministry.
One thing that I have noticed is that the manners in my country have become more and more atrocious. I just can't believe the way that people talk to other people today. As Christians, we are called to be kind to one another. Hopefully, if we spread kindness, it will rub off on some of the rude and nasty people in this world.
I would ask that you please pray for me this week. As many of you know, I have many health problems, and I am in a lot of pain today.
In prayer this week, please pray for an end to the Ebola situation in Africa. There are still cases of the virus in Sierra Leone, and a few new cases have been reported again in Liberia. There is a health development that we need to thank the Lord for. I heard a report today that there is a new malaria vaccine for children that has a 25 to 30 percent effectiveness rate. The report said that this new vaccine would help to save thousands of children.
Let us continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us also pray for all those in need. There are many people in Haiti who are yet to recover from the earthquake a few years back. Many people in this world are struggling. Let us pray that the needs of people will be met by caring people in this world.
In last week's message, we focused on a story from the life of the early church as found in the book of Acts. Today, we will have another message from Acts. Starting next week, we will turn our attention to a study of the divinity of Jesus as presented in the Gospel of John.
Today, our focus will be on Acts chapter 12 and the persecution of the apostles of the Lord. We will see what we can learn today from these events from 2,000 years ago.
Acts 12 begins by stating that Herod began to persecute the church and its leaders. Herod began by having James the brother of John killed with a sword. This occurred about 14 years after the resurrection of Jesus. When Herod saw that James' death pleased the religious leaders, he had Peter arrested, and Herod planned to kill him as well.
Peter was in chains between two guards when an angel from the Lord appeared to him. Peter's chains fell off, and the angel led Peter out of the prison without a single guard noticing.
All the time, the members of the Christian community were in prayer for Peter's release. After his miraculous release, Peter came to the house where the believers were gathered and knocked on the door. A woman named Rhoda answered the door and saw Peter. She went and reported that Peter was at the door, but those praying did not believe her until Peter kept knocking and was eventually let into the house.
When the people saw Peter they were astonished. Although the persecution would continue, the word of God continued to flourish.
What can we learn from this account? First of all, I would like to focus on James. James was the first apostle to die for the faith. James, Peter and John formed the inner three of Jesus followers while Jesus was on earth. Several passages state that Jesus would leave the others behind, and He would take Peter, James and John with Him to certain places or when He performed certain miracles. Two of these occasions were when Jesus was transfigured and when Jesus went deep into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
It seems strange to me that James who was so close to Jesus would be the first to suffer death. It doesn't seem like he got to minister very long. However, church history tells us that James had quite an extensive ministry. It is reported that James went and preached as far as Spain before he returned to Jerusalem. Pilgrims in Spain to this day follow a path across northern Spain to reach the church of St. James. There is an interesting movie about this called "The Way" starring Martin Sheen.
Some people believe that James may have written the epistle of James. I don't think that this is the case as most scholars believe that Jesus' brother named James wrote that book. Who knows? What I learn from James is that during his time of ministry, he was faithful to the Lord Jesus and served Him with all of His might. He was willing to face persecution and death for the sake of the one He called His Lord. James is an encouragement to me.
In the account about Peter, two things strike me. First of all, the church was praying, but they really weren't believing. They were praying for Peter to be released, but they were shocked that he was actually released. The whole story is somewhat amusing.
Sometimes, I think our prayers are that way. We pray, but do we really believe that anything will happen? Part of prayer is believing. We need to believe in the power of the Lord to answer us when we call upon His name. As Jesus taught in the parable of the persistent widow, even if we don't see a result right away, we need to keep trusting in the Lord, and we need to keep praying.
Often, I think we just go through the religious motions and rituals. We don't have any trust or faith behind it. It is just something we do.
Often, I wonder if anyone has any real belief in the Lord Jesus. Jesus Himself wondered if anyone would really believe in Him when He returned.
In spite of what we may see, we must have faith and believe the promises of God. I know in my life that I have prayed about many things that have not come to pass. But, I am still praying for them. I try to have faith and continue to believe in the Lord because I know that He has performed great things on my behalf in the past.
I know of five things that I prayed for that I know without a doubt the Lord miraculously provided. Two of them involve my friend Toby. When Toby was first diagnosed with cancer, the oncologist only gave him six weeks to live even with high doses of chemotherapy. I asked the Lord.to give us more time together. The Lord answered that prayer, and Toby lived for 13 months and not six weeks. Toby also had a terrible autoimmune skin problem. Nothing the veterinarians did worked. I prayed and asked the Lord to heal him, and Toby's skin was healed.
I also had a terrible skin problem. I had vitiligo all over my body in the late 1990's. I even went to Mayo Clinic to see if they could help me. Nothing the doctor's tried was working. I finally stopped all the treatment and just kept praying. The Lord healed me. Praise be to his name.
In the ministry I used to have, we prayed for peace to come to two different nations for many years. We kept praying, and these two nations are at peace today.
Often, what we pray for does not come to pass in this life. I know that I prayed that my Mom would get better. But over the course of the five years she lived post stroke, she just got worse and worse.
We have to continue to have faith in Jesus. He knows what is best. Even if things don't work out the way we think they ought to, Jesus is ultimately shaping things according to His will and way.
Finally, this passage teaches me that in spite of opposition and persecution, the message of the Lord Jesus will prosper. All of the forces of hell were unleashed against the early Christians, but they kept on going for Jesus, and the gospel message now reaches all around the world.
Today in many parts of the world, Christians are facing persecution. These faithful men and women continue to live for Jesus and spread His message of love and reconciliation. In spite of persecution, the message of Jesus will continue on this earth.
Next week, we will begin our new series. On Monday I will post the verses. There will be a book review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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