Breakthrough Prayer

Prayer Series By Jeff Lyle Bible Text: Preached on: Acts 12:1-17 Sunday, March 18, 2012

Transforming Truth & Meadow Baptist 1446 Calvin Davis Circle Lawrenceville, GA 30043 Website: Online Sermons: www.transformingtruth.org www.sermonaudio.com/jefflyle

Acts 12:1 says: About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, Get up quickly. And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, Dress yourself and put on your sandals. And he did so. And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peters voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, You are out of your mind. But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, It is his angel!
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But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Tell these things to James and to the brothers. Then he departed and went to another place.1 When we are thinking of breakthrough prayer, we are thinking about life situations, circumstances sometimes on the outside of us, sometimes within us that we have run up against a brick wall concerning. They are times of life where we have come to the end of ourselves and not found deliverance, not found satisfaction, not found any glory for God. It could be an addiction. It could be a habit. It could be a frustrating marital partner. It could be a sickness. It could be a circumstance of unemployment. It could be a thousand things, but when you come to these places in life you have a decision to make and it revolves around how you say the following. There is nothing I can do. Notice that is a good thing to say, but it can be said the right way and it can be said the wrong way. The right way to say it is there is nothing I can do, so, God, what a great opportunity for you to give a breakthrough. Or it can be said there is nothing I can do therefore there is nothing God can do. I want to point you in the direction of the former phrasing and I want you to abandon the latter phrasing in this message called Breakthrough Prayer. The enemy was hard at work in verses one through four. We are going back 2000 years to the early days of the church in Jerusalem. Many things had been happening and one of them was the operative of the enemy who never ceases to wrestle against God by persecuting the church. And so in verse number one we read of an atmosphere of intimidation that the early church was dealing with. It is described this way. Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.2 Now, brothers and sisters, we are sitting here in a cushioned, air conditioned, very nice setting today and we are expressing our great, wonderful songs, our prayers, our offerings, our ministry, our Bible understanding, the teaching and the learning and it is a very conducive atmosphere. Picture yourself in a scene where it was a criminal activity with the threat of death hanging over your head, where you had visible, tangible reminders by absent places in the gathering place where Christians once were who were now incarcerated or martyred or they had been driven away or forfeited all of their land, all of their property, all of their family because they refused to disavow the lordship of Jesus Christ in their lives. That was the climate that the early church was meeting in and Herod, that propped up ruler there in the first century had found an opportunity to please his constituency by going hard and hot and heavy after the church, killing some. Literally
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people dying, orphans made in a day. Widows made in an instant. Families torn apart. Land seized. Careers forfeited. Families disavowing one another, some loyal to Jesus, others because they were not loyal to Jesus saying, You will not be a part of our family anymore. It was an intimidating atmosphere. There was always in these days a possibility of devastation, too. The Word of God says in verse number two that Herod had: ...killed James the brother of John with the sword.3 James and John were two brothers that had followed Jesus. They had left the family fishing business. They had walked with Jesus for his earthly years of ministry. And James now at this point had gone on to be with the Lord, but not through some wonderful, lovely situation. He was killed. We dont know the details and the circumstance. History alludes to it a little bit, but what the Bible says here is that Herod the political leader saw an opportunity to kill James who was one of the 12 chief spokesman for the Lord and so he killed him. He martyred him. And now hanging out there over the Church was this air of potential fear. Who would be next? Who would give their lives? It is very possible that they were sitting there in that season and saying, I might very well give my life because of my loyalty to Jesus Christ. And that was, again, the enemy hard at work, the enemy orchestrating a culture that was hostile to Christianity and causing within weaker Christians an opportunity to fear, to walk away from the faith if it were possible, to be able to shrink back and no longer boldly live for Christ because of the potential devastation one might face in living publicly for Christ. All of this arose because of the climate of persecution, intimidation, devastation, persecution, verses three and four. ...and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him.4 Put yourself there. Peter... James was a leader in the Church and James had been martyred. He had been killed. That would have sent a big ripple effect through the early Church, but Peter was the leader. There would be a time of transition where Paul would emerge as the chief spokesman for the early church, but at this time Peter was the visible leader, especially there at Jerusalem. And on a day where Herod in an election year, so to speak, wanted to please the people, he decided, you know what? If that got me what it got by taking care of James, what will the Jews do for me if I can get Peter, the leader of these Christians. Herod didnt have a dog in the fight either way. He didnt care. He was... racially he was a Jew, but politically and theologically he was just a guy who was out living for himself. So he said, Yeah, we will take care of Peter.
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The only thing that stopped Herod from executing Peter immediately was the festival season. It was during the time of Passover. As a matter of fact, it was the same time during which Jesus Christ was incarcerated, so to speak, and ultimately crucified. And so they were waiting and Peter would be placed in the prison there. Now why am I going to great lengths? I am setting up the atmosphere of an impossible situation. There was nothing that the Church could do. There was nothing Peter could do. There was nothing any of the other disciples could do. Literally, their backs were up against a proverbial wall. There was going to be no answer by human means by which this situation could be turned in their favor. It was impossible. It is important that you recognize that impossible situations are not always in conflict with the fact that you re a believer in Jesus Christ. There are things that are always going to be beyond your control. And sometimes the sovereign God of heaven allows things that are beyond our control, but fully in his, to be worked in such a way that it brings us to the end of ourselves. And I want to add this morning, that is a great place for you to arrive. As a matter of fact, we have to arrive there over and over again. You never finish coming to the end of yourself until yourself ends. And we see here that the enemy is hard at work to fight this infant church. However, verse number five is great. You might want to circle a very crucial word in verse number five. It says: So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.5 It could not get any worse. The Church had lost one leader. Now it was under the threat of losing another leader. The Church had no audience with Herod. The Church was impoverished in Jerusalem. They had no money. If they were seeking any kind of human means to get Peter set free through a bribe or an offering of some sort, they had no finances to be able to do it. Herod had no desire to set Peter free. Their backs were against the wall. They had no influence. They were people who were persecuted and in a state of loss, so they did what they could do. They called a corporate prayer meeting. They gathered together, not in individual places, but in a local place. It wasnt a matter of this one praying in his home and this one praying in his home, this family praying over there. They found a place, as we are going to see, there in the early part of this chapter where they could come together and bring many voices into a solidarity of one voice with one purpose. I want to stay here for a moment. There are times in the life of the Church where what has always been done will be insufficient for what now needs to be done. There are many things in your life and mine that have brought us to a place where we are in our journey with Christ, both individually and corporately and those things were wonderful and those things served their purpose and those things brought us a great, deep
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satisfaction as it brought God great glory. But there are times where God is maturing you and developing you and working in and through you to the level where now things must be changing in order for God to continue that process. What am I saying? Individually, I am not able to live as I did almost 18 years ago when I dedicated my life to Jesus Christ. There were things in those early days that proved so fruitful and so good. But I am going to tell you. I was an adolescent in the faith at best, a babe in Christ. And so God took very patient and timely care with me and brought great fruit from very minimal investment on my behalf. And there were things that at that time were sufficient in order for what God was calling me to do. But as time progressed and opportunities multiplied and responsibilities multiplied, to whom much was given, as God was showing me the kingdom, much was being required and I had to adapt. I had to change. It didnt get easier. It got more demanding. It got harder. And the more we mature in the faith, the more intensity is required of us that we might retain the mind of Christ. The Church had been through much in its early stage, but it hadn't been through this. And so somebody said, Get everybody you know, as many as we can fit in the house of John Marks mother and lets call out to God on behalf of Peter. And that is exactly what they did. Let me ask you a couple of questions here to let you digest what I am talking about. What are you doing with your impossibility today? Because chances are you have something like that in you life. We have gotten good at talking to others about it, especially the sisters in Christ. You all are blessed with open communication. You all talk and you listen better, more freely. But I have found this to be true of the brothers in Christ, that we are quick to discuss what is going on and the impossibilities with each other, but we are not always as hasty to run to the Lord with it. And often times you need to be wise concerning with whom you talk about your impossibility, because if you take your impossibility first to others, guess what happens to your impossibility? It becomes more impossible, because you are getting feedback from people who are also seeing the impossibility and not seeing the God over the impossibility. Brothers and sisters, when the Church got together on Peters behalf they did so with purpose. They knew they were powerless. They knew they could not overcome. They knew that apart from God in his power working through them, that Peter would go the same way as James and they were moved. They were moved within. They saw the urgency. They felt the pressure. They sensed their powerlessness and they werent distracted by the trivial things in life. There was a koinonia, a fellowship, a partnership, a oneness in the gospel that said, What is happening to Peter, is happening to me. I will put me aside and I will come before the throne of grace with my brothers and my sisters.

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That is exactly that they began to do. Let me give you three quick things about verse number five. They are not spelled out here, but they are reasonable. When it says that Peter was in prison, but the Church was making earnest prayer to God for him, let me tell you why. Peters imprisonment would have brought fear. Who would be next? I mean, first James and if they are going to the top of the food chain in the early Church by going through Peter, nobody was safe. Nobody is immune. One of the things that was said to me and I think Amy also at various times during our familys trial last year which began in June which changed our lives forever. And I know what they meant and I am just going to utilize it this morning. What was said to me on more than one occasion is, Jeff, if that can happen to the Lyles, that can happen to anybody. Well, let me just take out the first part. That can happen to anybody, not because it happened to the Lyles, but because we are all the same. We are sinners saved by grace, living in a world that is cursed, living in a world that in some capacity is influenced and controlled in permissible levels by the prince of the power of the air whose name is Satan. This is his territory. It is his domain and he is allowed to work. And so he comes against us and so we should not be alarmed and surprised when trouble finds any of us. But when it hits Peter who, by the way, was doing everything right. This is post Pentecost. He is a brand new man. He is serving the Lord. He is filled with the Spirit. He is working miracles for the glory of God. He is raising the dead for the glory of God. He is preaching the gospel with boldness for the glory of God and all of the sudden life undercuts him and he is in prison and he is awaiting execution. That kind of unties the knot of the prosperity gospel that if you are living for the Lord everything is going to go your way. Friend, I want to tell you. All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It is going to happen. Does it cause you to fear? And if it does, what do you do with your fear? Do you panic or do you petition? A lot of us panic. We run talking to each other and we breed panic and soon before you know it you have got a bunch of panicky people who have forgotten that they have a God. And I know that churches do that. We are facing some battles here. Look, if you are visiting I am not going to lie to you. Meadow has got some incredibly wonderful things going on, but when we sold our piece of property down in Duluth and it sold for 50 percent of its market value, it hamstrung portions of our ministry. And it is a brick wall that we need breakthrough prayer in order to experience what God has on the other side of that wall. And, quite frankly, your pastor is sick and tired of that being a factor in what we are doing in the kingdom and I am over it. But what are we going to do? What are we going to do? Are we going to sit back and wait? Are we going to sit back and wish? Or are we going to get together and pray and seek the face of God about that and many other things?

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Well, the answer is we are going to pray together. Why? Because we are the church. And when the church under the great God almighty who is not up there worrying about it. He is the only entity in existence that has never worried. Peters imprisonment brought fear and it brought confusion. How could this happen? They were all doing the right thing. How can this happen when Jesus promised the power? How could this happen when Christ said he was preparing a place and he would come back and get them? And they were anticipating that to happen like last Tuesday. I mean, they didnt see this long drawn out church age. And so their minds, some of them, would have been saying, How is this consistent with being a disciple of Jesus when we are struggling and we are frayed and we are suffering? And so when it... Peters imprisonment brought fear and it brought about confusion. Peters imprisonment called for prayer. Brothers and sisters, that is what we do when we come to a place of impossibility. Not only then, by the way, but most importantly then. Some of you have breakthroughs that are being delayed and denied you because you are still trying to figure it out on your own and you dont pray. You wish... By the way, that is the new prayer for 21st century Christians. We wish in the name of Jesus. We ponder in the name of Jesus. We suggest in the name of Jesus. We dont pray. The Church saw the dilemma, saw the impossibility of it and they did something so unsophisticated, so pride shrinking, so ego deflating, so humbling. Do you know what they did? When they couldnt act they wept and they called out to God. And, listen. They didnt have, you know, the big screen. They didnt have a PR team. Hey, prayer meeting, Marys house, this week. It wasnt ramped up. It was born out of desperation. I want to tell you. When I pray for our church family, I pray almost every time, God, make us desperate. And I want to suggest to you that he has given us ample opportunity to be desperate if we only will. Lets look at verse number six because we shift from the dilemma and the impossibility and the potential fear and confusion and worry of those on the outside looking in and lets just see what Peter is doing because, after all, Peter has got the most to lose in this thing. And he is the one scheduled to be executed. But we notice that the Christian was completely at peace. And I am going to tell you. I am just not Peter in this area yet. Flickers of it, but not the sustained flame of this restful, confidence in God. Time was running out, verse number six. The Bible says: Now when Herod was about to bring him out...6 You find out right there in that passage that it was the execution eve. It was the evening before the execution was scheduled. The festival week was winding down. Herod was now able to bring him out without violating the cultural nuances of having an execution
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during the celebration week. So the celebration was over and, interesting enough, after the celebrating of God, the first thing they want to do is kill his chief spokesman on earth. So Herod was about to bring him out and the clock was ticking. Some of you all know about that clock. You are clock watchers. And you start worrying, but it is ok. You have got a little time. Yeah, things out there. We dont know what we are going to do. We have got a little time. I am sure I will figure it out in time. And then a week goes by and we dont have as much. Well, now I am sure I can figure it out. I am working an angle here. I am figuring out over here. I am sure I can get this done over here. It is all... it is going to be good and, God, when I take care of my problem, I will give you the credit, but I will take care of it. Thanks. And then another week goes by or a month or maybe it is a year. Who knows? But tick, tick, tick and you dont have the time you used to have and that is when it dawns on you. Maybe I need to get God involved. Maybe I am not capable enough. Maybe I am not smart enough. Maybe I am not strong enough. Maybe I am not experienced enough. Maybe everything I have ever done before that brought results is not going to work this time. Anybody been there? So time was running out. Peter was down to his last hours. Now, you know, if that is me I am probably not going to be able to do what Peter is going to do. Notice this. Escape was impossible. We find that in the description of how Peter was chained up here. I wont go into all the details, but you basically had at least 16 Roman guards that were assigned to keep Peter over night in the prison. That was their job. He was chained to two of them. His hands were chained on either side to two Roman soldiers and that is all their job was. Their job is dont let this guy out. And so outside of the two that were chained there were two right outside of the cell. So you have got four there. I dont know where the other 12 were placed, but you have four quarternions, that King James word. So you had 16 soldiers and their job was to keep Peter in jail. Let me just tell you. He wasnt getting out. He was not going to be able to reason his way out of this one. He is a miracle working, dead raising, eye opening, leg restoring, miracle working apostle and he is not getting out of this one. He is exactly where God wants him to be and Peter didnt have Acts chapter 12. He didnt know what was going to happen. If it followed suit, if he is thinking of any precedent, it is James just a short time before who went the way of death. So what does Peter do? He does not do what me and what I and what some of you might do. He is not wrestling the night away. He is not biting his nails. Look at what he was doing. Peter was at peace. Do you see what the Scriptures say? Peter was sleeping. Peter just went to sleep, chained to two of the men that would lead him out to his execution tomorrow, completely at rest in the sovereignty of God that had brought him to an impossible situation.
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We don't read a thing of any angst in his soul, any doubt in his heart. We dont read any pleading or reasoning or bargaining with God. God, if you will just get me out this time, I will do this. It just says that Peter went to sleep. Let me throw something out there. The more capable you are, the more responsible you are, the more type A you are, the more on top of things you are, the harder you are going to wrestle with the legitimacy of Peters response. You say, Well, bless God if there is a time for him to be doing anything it is right there. Well, what is he going to do? Brothers and sisters, listen. This is the point I am trying to tell you. God is gracious to put things in your life that you dont have the answers to. That is so good of him. And let me tell you why, because if he didnt, you would be your god. You would be your savior. You would be your provider. You would be your healer. You would be your shepherd. You would be your redeemer. You would be your king and or queen. You would be the one you trust. Do you know what that Bible calls that? Idolatry. Sin. God says, I love you too much to ever trust you more than you trust me. So here. And Peter received that at the pinnacle of his life. Things had never been better for Peter. And God says, Now, Peter. When you have learned everything I have wanted you to learn at this point, when you are doing exactly what I want you to do, when the fruit has never been more bountiful, where the glory has never upwardly cascaded in greater ways, now, Peter, I give you this. And Peter seemingly said, I receive it, my Lord. I trust you. And I will see you in the morning. And he goes to sleep. You are growing in your faith when you can face the battle with the same confidence wherein you testify when you are in victory. Because we are big Christians when we are victorious, men. I mean, when we are slamming the devils head up against the wall, we are walking on water, we are cursing fig trees and we are doing all the stuff that, you know, super Christians do, but we talk about confidence in God. We will stand up and take on hell with a squirt gun. I mean, we are ready to go. But we find that when the context shifts, sometimes our boldness and our confidence, even our faith shifts out with us. And there we find ourselves standing before God, naked with no power, at times weeping, wondering what he will do. And if you have not faced that battle yet, you need to. You need that in you life. And let me show you why. Because the Lord with Peter was right on time. Remember the clock was running out. God sent help. Look at verse seven. Keep your Bible open. Follow with me. Peter was asleep in a prison and the Bible says:

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And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell.7 Now let me just... I am going to walk you through this, because you have read this before, more than likely. Most of you have heard this and we are so familiar with it we are like, yeah, duh. We have read. No, listen to me. He is in jail. He is in prison. He is chained to soldiers. He has got more soldiers on the outside of the door. It is a horrible situation and all of the sudden as he is asleep there is an angel standing next to him. Now, brothers and sisters, can I do this? Some of you wont like this, but you just have to forgive me, because the Bible tells you you have to, but this is what I want to tell you. God was right on time. There is a group of Christians over here praying. They are at John Marks mommas house. They are calling out to God. Lord, we dont know what to do. God, our backs are against the wall. Our beloved brother, our leader Peter is going to die. The wicked man Herod, Lord, you know he is wicked. He has killed James who is with you. Please dont take Peter from us. God, please leave him. Please, Lord, let him lead us. Let him invest in us. We need to know what you have shown Peter. Please set him free. Be glorified, God. It is impossible with us. Lord, we are going to perish unless you do something here. Jesus, please help us. Allow me to... God the Father looks at an innumerable host of angels at his side in his paradise and says, You, go to Jerusalem and get Peter out of jail. That angel, with perfect obedience to the summons of God leaves the ranks, travels in an instant to planet earth in that little stretch of dusty land known as Israel, goes to the core of the city, right into the dankest, darkest dungeon and says, Peter, wake up. Why do I highlight that, because you dont believe that God would do that for you. You dont believe that God would intervene in such a dramatic, last moment opportunity. And so I highlight it and let you know it is not just black print on white paper. It is the heart of God willing to do in your life and mine, what will bring him glory if we will trust him. And so the angel shows up. Now look. God sent help, but through the angel he sent instruction to verse seven in the middle of it down into verse eight. I like this. I mean, there is a borderline, almost an ironic hint of humor here. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, Get up quickly. And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, Dress yourself and put on your sandals. And he did so. And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.8 Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember something. Listen. Dont divorce this occasion from the context. There is two guards in that cell. They are not way over there.
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They are right here. And this angelic being who has illuminated the entire cell with either his own whatever you call it, angel glory, or he has got a light of some sort is waking up Peter without waking up the guards or stirring the guards. You say, Please explain that to me, preacher. I cant. God. You need more than that, you are in dangerous ground, because I have got nothing more to offer. God did that. Do you know why sometimes we miss out on breakthrough answers to desperate prayers? Because we are spending more time trying to figure out how than bowing before who. Well, how might God do this? Listen. Leave that up to God. He is not limited, because none of this makes sense. It doesnt make sense. It is not reasonable. The only answer is that God did what only God could do. I think it is important, though, that God did want Peter to play a very small part. Peter had to get up quickly. Why? Because that is what the angel told him to do. Peter had to dress himself. Peter had to put on his sandals. Peter had to wrap his cloak around him and Peter had to follow me. By the way, if Peter wasnt willing to do any of that, he would probably have died. The reason why I bring that up is because as we are giving God the glory for being the God of impossible situations, please never let that lend itself to the lie that you dont have responsibility. There are some things you just cannot do. Peter could not get out of jail, but Peter could put his sandals on. Sometimes we exchange our faith for presumption. There is a very fine line between being presumptuous and being a person of faith. Let me tell you. Presumption is when you get your paycheck and your power bill is due, but you want to go to the movies. And so you go to the movies and you dont pay you power bill and when you get there the cut off notice you say, Oh, God, help me. God, help me in the name of Jesus keep my power on. God said, I tried. You spent it at the movie theater. That is presumption. Faith is, Lord, thank you for providing for me today. I will fulfill my obligations and not ask you to do miraculously what you have empowered me to do reasonably. Peter had some part to play in this. It was minimal. It was on the role of following and obeying. And I want to tell you sometimes breakthrough prayer is denied you, because you still wont follow or obey. Yeah, I kind of threw a little cold water on the flame. A few minutes you all were like... Then all of the sudden I bring in this obedience issue and you are like... Come on. Stop

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asking God to bless your disobedience. Stop that. That makes God a nave grandfather, not a holy Father. And so when we see this... By the way, God sent freedom. I like the middle of verse seven or towards the end of it. It says his chains fell off his hands. Did you get that? Why is that important? Well, because in order for Peter to obey he had to be unchained. In order for him to get up quickly, in order for him to dress himself and put on his sandals and wrap his cloak around him and follow, God had to take care of the chains, the bondage, the things that held him back. Let me just testify here for a minute. I have got some old friends back in the day. I have got Richie here with me. I wont point him out, but he was just my sidekick or I was his. He is older than me. And he has seen the worst of Jeff Lyle. I have seen the worst of Richie. And we used to get into a lot of trouble together. I will just leave it at that and those were the days where I was in chains to alcohol and drugs, in chains. From age 14 to age 24 that is all I did. Miserable. I went to rehab, just found a new set of chains there. I went to counseling, just found a new set of chains. Then I was found by Jesus and the chains fell off. He did that. Now listen to me. I knew that the Lord wanted me to follow him. I knew that the Lord wanted me to live a different life. I knew that the Lord did not want me to be enslaved to anybody other than him. I knew all of those things, but in order for me to obey that, I tried for so many years with the chains still on. But it wasnt until the chains fell off that I had the freedom to stat living and start moving and start walking and start being the man that God wanted me to be. Some of you all want to dance a holy dance when you are in shackles. You cant. Some of you need to face the fact that there are some chains in your life and that in the name of Jesus, by the blood of Jesus through the transforming power of the Holy Ghost you are not who you used to be. You just got so used to living in chains that you can still feel them even though they are gone. So in the name of Jesus for his glory, recognize that what he has called you to do he has set you free to do. Dont go around telling people what you are based on what you used to be. Take your identity in who Christ says you are. Teach yourself that. Stop doubting that. Stop listening to your own voice that tells you, No, you are still who you were. That is a lie from the pit. And, by the way, you dont have to listen to other people that want to tell you who you are based on who you used to be. That jacks me up, man. I get so sick of that hearing that from peoples lives. Well, she is always reminding me of what I used to be. Well, A) she shouldnt be doing that, but number two if she is going to, you quit listening to her. I know. That is good stuff. It is just good stuff, not because it is mine. Look, the beautiful thing about preaching is you dont have to come up with anything original. You have just got to let the lion out of the cage, amen? God sent freedom. God sent a miracle. Just look in verse number nine. Man, I feel like I could run on good night.
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Verse number nine. Speaking of Peter it says he went out. By the way, that was the whole issue. He was in. He needed out. He went out. He went out and followed the angel. He did not know what was being done by the angel or that what was being done was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. Can I pause there? You dont have to understand it to experience it. You dont have to have it all plotted out and diagrammed in order for it to be valid. Why dont you just let God do something great in your life and quit trying to figure out how, quit trying to predict it, quit trying to own it. I mean, sometimes he is pouring a blessing in our life and the first thing we want to do is take control over it. Let it go. That is why you needed the blessing in the first place, because you had your hands on every cotton picking thing. Let it go. Verse number 10. When they had passed the first and the second guard...9 Just walked on by them. Jeff, who did that happen? Remember? God. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city.10 Now just stop there, because that is... sometimes you are... you feel God set you free and things are changing and it is getting better and then all of the sudden it is the biggest obstacle, because he had already gone through some little doors, but an iron gate? And he has got this angel and it is not a whole lot of conversation going on. There is the iron gate. And if Peter is anything like me, I am walking and I am seeing the iron gate and I am thinking, what are we going to do about that? And before he zever had time to answer it, it opens of its own accord. It just opens. You say, Jeff, how did that happen? God. How do things like that happen? They happen because God ordains them to happen on occasion. And let me tell you where the thrust of this message is. And I am talking to a bunch of Baptists for the most part. And, guys, I want to tell you something. I want to tell you a lot of stuff and I am just going to narrow it this morning. When did we as a people, as a denomination start being afraid of God doing the miraculously impossible? When did we start getting embarrassed about talking about that? When did we decide that it was better to talk about our Greek word studies and our prophecy conferences and
9 10

Acts 12:10. Ibid. Page 13 of 17

debating the finer points of Calvinism and Arminianism and what kind of music was better and what is the best outreach? When did we start focusing on those so we wouldnt have go to though the awkwardness of saying, Boy, I wish God would be God in our midst. Do you know what? Do you remember what Jesus said on occasion? Be it unto you according to your faith. Do you remember when he went into the village and the Bible says something astounding, one of the most incredible things that Scripture says. He went into a village where they didnt believe him and the Bible says, And there he could do no mighty works, save to heal a few sick folk. He could not do what he would do because they didnt believe he could. I dont want that on my life. I would rather believe him for something great and be disappointed later than to not believe him for something great and be able to say, I told you. And that is the new high ground. To be able to believe so little about God that when the little comes to pass we can all applaud ourselves and say, See, we knew it. In the name of Jesus, stop that. You mean to tell me he is not big enough to fix your heart, to break your addiction, to save your kids, to rescue your marriage, to heal your body? You mean, he cant pay off a building debt that hands like an albatross over a churchs head? He cant set you free? Is that your God? I dont want him. I dont want that God. I want the God of the Bible who splits seas and saves sinners and delivers the impoverished. I want that. He just took him out of the prison and the door swung open. Now lets go to the prayer meeting in verse 12. You forgot about that, right? Hey, the prayer meeting was not a detached incident to what we just read about. They were praying for what God was doing while God was doing it as they were praying. Look at verse 12. The believers were full of wonder. And this is so encouraging to me. They had been asking God to intervene. Look at verse number 12. Listen. Just let your Bible speak to you this morning. Many were gathered together and we re praying. Folks, I am just going to say it. This is not a commercial. This is to help us and instruct us and reacquaint us with something that we in this assembly have lost. I thank God for the ones who come on our once a month Tuesday night prayer meeting. I thank God. But I am sometimes astounded. I am like, where is everybody at, because there are usually about 12 of us, ah, maybe 20.

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The mens prayer time we had a great time of prayer, a tremendous... it is always encouraging. It is never bad. It is just not as good as it could be. Many were gathered. Corporate prayer is an venue through which God does things that he does not normally do through individual prayer. It is not that we earn it or that we force God to do something by many voices. It is that through the conduit of corporate humblingwhen I am talking about corporate, I am talking about all of usthrough that there seems to manifest an opportunity for God to work in a dynamic that he doesn't do when you are praying at your house and I am praying at my house and I pray at this hour and you pray at that hour. All those things are good. You should have individual prayer. What I am trying to do this is a long winded preachers way of saying, Lets get together and see what God does. And do you know what? Some of you say, Jeff, I have got a busy schedule. You are living in doubt. You are missing the whole point, because you are calling out to God or you are doing the Baptist wishing in the name of Jesus. I wish in the name of Jesus. Whatever you are doing, you are wanting God to do some things in your life and then when he affords you an opportunity to do something different than you have been doing in hope that you might experience a result that you have not yet to experience, you say No, because I have got my normal life. And so you just go but right back and you just spend another six months wishing in the name of Jesus. We have set aside a week together to do what they were doing here. It is not new. It is not a gimmick. It is Gods people coming together, hungry, thirsty, desperate, wanting to see God. I want to know his countenance before I know his hand. I want his presence before I want his results. And so we are going to gather together and we are going to do what they were doing, asking God to intervene. By the way, verses 13, 14 and 15, very encouraging. They obviously had not been expecting an immediate answer. How do we know that? Somebody is knocking at the door. Somebody is ringing the bell. Do me a favor, open the door, let Peter in. Peter is out there, a fugitive from justice. He is an escaped convict. He just got left on the street right outside the prison. The angel said, I have done my duty, goes back home and Peter comes to his senses. And somehow instinctually Peter knows I am going to John Marks mommas house. Maybe that was a normal place for them to gather in prayer and he just knew, you know, based on the dilemma, I know what Gods people are doing when trouble hits. Gods people pray. I bet they are at John Marks mommas house.

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And so he goes up there and this is borderline funny. He knocks on the door. And nobody answers. So he is knocking. Let me in. And so they send a member of the youth group out there. Rhoda, go out there and see who is knocking on the door. We are trying to have prayer meeting in here. So Rhoda goes out there and in someway she, Who is it? It is me, Peter. Open the door, girl. Peter is in jail. It is not... It is me, Peter. The angel got me out. Just let me in. And Rhoda starts saying, That is Peter. I recognize his voice. And she doesnt open the door. She runs back in. Put yourself in Peters sandals. I mean, he is wanting in that door. And so she goes back in. Poor youth group kids. And God shows them something and the adults are to busy in ministry. Rhoda, be quiet. You are out of your mind, is what the ESV says. You are out of your mind, little girl. By the way, real quick, dont immediately discount the message that comes through a young person. Sometimes God wants to speak to you through something that you have forgotten that they see. That was no extra charge. So I am winding it up. I know what the clock says, but just give me a minute. So they say they give is strange statement. It is not him. It is his angel. The best we can tell they thought maybe Peter had been martyred and that was his spirit and we are not real sure. But eventually Peter is in the house. And I want you to see something here and then I am done. God was not limited by their less than amazing faith. Verse 16. But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.11

11

Acts 12:16. Page 16 of 17

And here is my question. When was the last time you were amazed with God? And you have got to answer that. And I am going o tell you. I am going to answer some of it for you. For some of you it has been a really long time. It doesnt mean you haven't been pleased with God. You are just not amazed anymore, because he is ... I mean, he is always there. He is good. He is faithful. He is at church. Life is ok. I love God. But he is not amazing. Who changed? Chris, when we got saved, brother, I mean, it was just like... everything was new, fresh, amazing, dynamic. You are telling people about Jesus. You dont even notice they are getting upset with you. You just talk to people. You... every song was the best song you ever heard. I mean, every single Christian song... this is the best song I have ever heard. The Spirit of God is moving. You are seeing something in the Word every day. Every sermon the preacher gives is just the balm... they dont say that anymore. But it is the best sermon ever. But now you have grown up a little. You have matured a little bit. You have walked down the road. You have got a little experience under your belt. And you are dry. And it is not amazing anymore. Here is the real deal. He is still amazing. He always has been. He always will be. And he wants you to be reacquainted with that. And it will not come about apart from a breakthrough in your life. And so I leave you with this. How badly do you want the breakthrough? If God said, I want you to walk to [?] and I am going to give you the breakthrough in your life, you would start walking today and you wouldnt stop. But he is not asking you to do that. If you had 1000 dollars and God said, Give me 1000 dollars and you will have the breakthrough you have been dying for, you would write the check. But he is not asking you to do that. Do you know what he is saying? Call unto me. I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you have never known.

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Acts 12:1-17 I. The Enemy Was Hard At Work (1-4)

Breakthrough Prayer

Sunday AM 3/18/12 at MBC

A. An atmosphere of intimidation (1) - ...Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. B. A possibility of devastation (2) - He killed James the brother of John with the sword. C. A climate of persecution(3-4) - And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. ...And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him...

II. The Church Was Deep In Prayer (5)

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. A. Peters imprisonment brought fear - who would be next? B. Peters imprisonment brought confusion - how could this happen when they were doing the right thing? C. Peters imprisonment called for continuous prayer - all dilemmas demand prayer

III. The Christian Was Completely At Peace (6)

A. Time was running out - ...Now when Herod was about to bring him out... B. Escape was impossible - Peter was surrounded by two soldiers and chained with 2 chains, with extra guards posted outside the cell C. Peter was at peace - ...Peter was sleeping... He had surrendered his life to God. He chose not to worry.

IV. The Lord Was Right On Time (7-11)

A. God sent help (7a) - And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. B. God sent instruction (7b, 8) - He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly...Dress yourself and put on your sandals...Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." D. God sent freedom (7c) - ...his chains fell off his hands... E. God sent a miracle (9-11) - Clear Impossibility bowed to Heavenly Reality

V. The Believers Were Full Of Wonder (12-17)

A. They had been asking God to intervene (12) - ...where many were gathered together and were praying... B. They obviously had not been expecting an immediate answer (13-15) - You are out of your mind...it is his angel! C. God was not limited by their less than amazing faith (16-17) - But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.