"A Simple Presentation into The Book of ACTS" - Chapter 12, Part 2 - Bro. John "Ernie" Perez

Bro. Ernie continues this journey with us into The Book of ACTS.  Grab your Bibles, your highlighters and your notebook and let's go!!!

Peter is free, the church is praying, and somehow the hardest part is believing the answer standing outside the gate. We keep our study in Acts 12:13–25 simple and honest, because the details are where conviction lives. Rhoda hears Peter’s voice at Mary’s house, runs back in from pure joy, and the very people interceding for deliverance tell her she must be out of her mind. That mix of faith and hesitation feels uncomfortably familiar, and it opens a real conversation about expectation, doubt, and what it means to pray like God can actually do what He promised.

From there, the story turns toward Herod Agrippa I and the danger of pride. We talk through the political tension with Tyre and Sidon, the public oration, and the moment the crowd calls Herod a god. Scripture doesn’t soften what happens next: he gives God no glory, and judgment comes immediately. Acts 12 draws a straight line between God’s mercy and God’s holiness, and we also connect that line to wisdom passages in Proverbs, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes on the fear of the Lord, not panic, but reverent awe and a sober awareness that nothing is hidden from God.

We close by bringing it home: testimonies about healing, a missed moment to witness, and the difference between “praying” and “believing.” If you’re hungry for a grounded Bible study on Acts, Christian faith, miracles, repentance, and the fear of the Lord, this one will challenge you and strengthen you. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the Word and grow with us. (*Recorded on 6/23/2026)

Ways to Give at https://m3mi.org...Thank you for your seed!  :)

Transcript

Welcome And Personal Updates

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Summer filter. Thank you so much for joining me. So good to have you joining us on this beautiful Tuesday. Awesome. I'm crumbling in the kid and blaming a Monday, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

It's early.

SPEAKER_04 0:59

It's lunchtime. It's not even early. So so good to have everybody around the table. We're we're continuing our study into the Book of Bags with Brother John Ernie Perez. And we're so happy to have uh Sister Audia. Good morning. Mama. Good morning. Brother Ernie. Morning. Sister Anne. Good morning. In the back, we've got Sister Sandy, Sister Joyce, and Sister Helen.

unknown 1:25

Hi.

SPEAKER_04 1:26

And we're missing Sister Tammy. She's at work today. So so good to have everybody in the class today as we continue this study. Brother Ernie, what's going on in your world before we push the button?

SPEAKER_07 1:37

Oh, a lot of good things. God is blessing.

SPEAKER_04 1:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:41

We we have on our home front, we have some good news. Our son is moving to the Dallas area to be to be nearest, our oldest son.

SPEAKER_04 1:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:50

So all of our children now will be within two hours of home. So we're excited about that. We're excited about the goodness of God. About to change my rotation for the summer. We're going to take at least six weeks just to do what we feel like doing.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_07 2:08

And we'll send you all another schedule sometime in August. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 2:13

But a lot of people don't understand your oldest son, it's not like he just moved away from home. He's been like internationally away from you all over the world.

SPEAKER_07 2:23

He worked in Europe for at least 20, 20, 22 years. Yeah. And so having him home now.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

He's also in Korea.

SPEAKER_07 2:34

And he was in Korea. Oh, yeah. He was there too. And then he lived in California for a while. And now to have him close to home, it is good. I you know, it it's hard to slap him in the head if he's not here.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Yeah. Well, that's another subject for another day, right?

SPEAKER_07 2:53

But it'll it'll be good, you know. I'm sure that he and I and his brother will take in a couple of Ranger games and stuff like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:02

Gotta do it. Gotta do it. All right. Well, so good to have y'all today. And uh thank you, Sister Audia, for once again opening your home to this uh studio and and we got some good lunch waiting for us, but we've got some feast in the word right now. I'm ready to to dig on in. We're doing continuing this a simple presentation of the book of Acts. We're in chapter 12, part two. If you haven't heard any of the previous podcasts, I urge you to go back and and start with this series. It's an amazing journey that we've been on, and and I'm just happy that we get to continue it.

SPEAKER_07 3:39

I remind you, it's a simple presentation on purpose, so that perhaps we'll stir up your hearts to dive in and get more for yourself, you know. And that's the point.

SPEAKER_04 3:49

I mean, because you could do it as a devotional and be done with it, but the purpose isn't to be done with it if you're not learning anything from it. So I love that you take the time every week to come and have this presentation for us. Great fun the paperwork for and yeah, so we're excited. So here we go. We're gonna start the video into our

Acts 12 Reading And Context

SPEAKER_04 4:10

Acts chapter 12, part two.

SPEAKER_07 4:14

Okay, so this morning we'll be reading from Acts chapter 12. Uh, we'll read verses 13 through 25, and uh, we'll try to close out this chapter today. And you should anticipate how great chapter 13 will be. It'll be exciting. All right, so uh reading from the King James Translation. So if you have the King James, it'll be the same verbatim, word for word. If you have another translation, we know God is not stuck in any one language, okay? All right, beginning with verse 13. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then they said, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning with the hand to them to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison, and he said, Go, show these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed and went into another place. Now, as soon as it was day there was no small stir among the s soldiers, what was become of Peter? And when Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined the keepers and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and there abode. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon. But they came with one accord to him, and having made Blastius, the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace, because their country was nourished by the king's country. And upon a set day Herod, in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a God and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord spoke to him, because he gave not God the glory. And he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. But the word of God grew and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. Okay, now it is our habit to go back and reread the scripture in portions and then go ahead and give you a little running commentary on it. So verses 13 through 17. And as Peter knocked at the door, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they did, and they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then they said, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and said, Go, show these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed and went into another place. So, going back to verse 13, Peter has just been delivered from being put to death by King Herod Agrippa I. He was incarcerated and he was looking forward to execution. He had been chained between two soldiers in the maximum security of the prison. While this is going on, an angel had appeared in the prison and awakened Peter. His chains fell off. And the guards slept through it all. You know the chains were noisy hitting the ground. Even the sounds of the prison doors and the noise of the iron gate opening did not wake them. He has understood now. We're moving to the place he's out of the prison. He has understood his release and escape from prison was a miracle of God facilitated by angelic invitation. It was not a dream, but a physical reality. So the picture of him. He's in prison, right? A squad of sixteen soldiers has taken him, they put him in prison. He's in the innermost part of the prison, shackled in his hands, between two guards. Possibly he could have been shackled to them as well as to the wall. The angel gets him out. He doesn't know until he passes through the last gate. He doesn't realize that his escape is real. He thought it was a dream. First

Rhoda And The Prayer Meeting

SPEAKER_07 10:35

thing he does is he heads to a house of a disciple named Mary. This disciple is the mother of John, who was also called Mark. Now, we know that some scholars also think that John Mark is the nephew of Peter, as well as the cousin of Barnabas. I don't know how they figured the nephew part, but you as you read through the book of Acts, you look for clues that tell you John Mark is either the nephew of Peter or the cousin of Barnabas. He is also the writer of the Gospel of Mark, which we believe was narrated to him by the Apostle Peter. Now Peter ends up outside the gate of this disciple Mary. The gate seems to be uh have an entrance, and it's an entrance with a door into a patio or a courtyard, but not directly into the house. Now he's there banging on the gate, and this young lady Rhoda, she hears. She hears Peter knocking on the door of the gate. The scripture says she even recognizes Peter's voice. Now, this indicates to me some sort of strong familiarity in their relationship. She knew him well enough that she said, that's old Pete's voice. She and everyone in the house are actively engaged in praying for Peter's deliverance. This was evidently a very powerful prayer meeting. I've been blessed to not just read about these prayer meetings in the book of Acts, but to have been in some very powerful prayer meetings. Just not in your lesson, I'm just testifying. Our pastor, just just before the wife and I were married, our pastor called for 5.30 prayer in the morning during the week before we went to work. But you know, that little church, we just didn't have any sense. We said, okay. And we showed up every morning at 5.30, and we prayed usually until about 7 o'clock, and then everybody took off and started going to work. One morning we're in there praying. We hadn't been there very long. Spirit of the Lord is moving. This guy comes in the back of the church house door and just announces what are you people doing here? You people are crazy. Why are you here this time of morning? So the pastor gets to talking to him and he says, I don't know what's going on. I'm laying in my bed asleep. I wake up, I can't sleep, I get in my car, I start driving around, and I see people here at this church. 5:30 in the morning. God brought him there so we could pray for him. Do not underestimate the power of your prayers. Where two or three are gathered together, Jesus said, In my name, I will be in the midst of them. You should look that up in the Gospel of Matthew. I probably should have put that in here as a footnote, but now it gives you something to look for and to cross-reference with the study. So she hears Peter's voice. She recognizes it. In the middle of this very powerful prayer meeting, she goes to the door because she's excited at the sound of Peter's voice. She's so excited she forgets to open the door. I think I have Bible study with her. Maybe a couple of hers. So she left Peter, ran back into the house. She left Peter, who had, for all practical purposes, just escaped from the maximum security section of the local prison. She left him standing outside the gate in plain view of anyone passing by. Now that's just what every escapee from prison wants. To go to the house where he thinks he's safe and have the people inside say, hang on there, buddy. You know, for all we know, there's the sound of sirens, right? We know that everybody was asleep, but you can imagine Peter didn't want to be standing out in the street, knowing that he just escaped to prison. Now she gets in there and she did manage to tell the folks in the prayer meeting all about Peter being outside the gate. But evidently, her communication was so excitable. I'm sorry. According to my imagination now, they were selling to her, saying to her, girl, you crazy out of your mind. But Rhoda was not about to be dismissed. Do you ever get so excited? You get tongue-tied? I'm sorry. I broke out laughing, mama, because I was remembering when the boys were probably 10 and 11, and we were in Hayward, California, and we decided to take him to a famous restaurant, but you couldn't say the name of it. And you got it all backwards. I'll just leave it at that. Would that be okay? We won't spill the beans. So she so moved her listeners that they decided it must be Peter's guardian angel. I guess this is where they get guardian angels from, or when Jesus said there are angels that watch over these children all the time, you know. So be careful how you treat them. She was so moved. She so moved the listeners, they decided it must be Peter's guardian angel. They were in this prayer meeting. They were praying intensely. They're so sure that Peter is still locked up in prison, they say it must be his angel. They were praying for his release. They are told he's at the door. And they say, No, it's not him, it's his angel. Lord, bring us to the place where we can believe the miracles that we see. Verse 16, but Peter continued knocking. And when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Meanwhile, outside the gate, Peter is still knocking. I wonder how frantic he was. So they finally go. They leave the house, go out to the patio or the courtyard, whatever it is. They get to the door of the gate and they stand there with their jaws probably dropped open to the

Why We Doubt Answered Prayer

SPEAKER_07 18:25

ground, and they're staring right at the apostle. They're shocked that he's there. Why are we shocked when God answers prayer? You see, those people in the book of Acts are just like us. They carry the same weaknesses and the same flaws, yet they saw miracles that shook the world, and it was said of them they turned the world upside down. Please believe for your life. All this is possible. I can't imagine Peter standing there waving his hand to try to get them all to be quiet before the wrong person hears them. Finally, Peter gets them to quiet down long enough to listen to his testimony of deliverance. He instructs them. Go tell James. This James is the brother of the Lord Jesus. Remember, he was in prison after the apostle James was beheaded. The brother of the Lord Jesus who pastors the church in Jerusalem, and he's gathered together from time to time with the apostles and the elders because that's the headquarters of the church. He instructs them, you go tell them this. You go tell them all about my deliverance. And then Peter goes to a different location. I don't blame him. I would have left too. You leave me hanging out in the street after all of that. We don't know how long he banged on the door, but I know he wanted to get in. Now, I'm going to read verse 18. Now, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers. What was become of Peter? Morning comes, things are popping at the prison, the soldiers are all trying to figure out where's Waldo. Well, actually, no, where's Peter, right? Where is this most valued prisoner, Simon Peter? So that's what the mourning brings, and they're really frightened. Under Roman law, if a soldier failed in his duty, the punishment wasn't always you get extra detail. Oh, you get to eat your own sword or somebody else's. In verse 19, and when Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined the keepers and commanded what that they should be put to death. And he went round from from Caesarea, from Judea to Caesarea and their abode. So Herod is in a rage. He has all the soldiers who were involved questioned. And what did I say in the previous verse? And then executed. How frustrated were the people in that prison. How frustrated was Herod. It reminds me. The kings of Syria looking for Elijah, and everywhere they went, he was gone. Herod's in a rage, has all the soldiers questioned and killed all those who were involved. Then he leaves and departs for Caesarea. Now, Caesarea was the main center of Roman trade and governance and military power in Judea, like a headquarters. It was built by Herod the Great and named after Caesar Augustus. Remember, we talked about how the Herod dynasty came into existence. They had to agree to live by the law of Moses or leave their lands, and they curried favor with the Roman Empire and kept their position as kings and as exercises of Roman authority over Judea. So there was something going on there. Herod was either a brilliant statesman or knew exactly how much it would take to bribe the Roman Empire into letting him maintain his position. Verse 20. And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon. But they came with one accord to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace because their country was nourished by the king's country. So here you see how far his influence spreads over the area adjacent to Judea because Tyre and Sidon are nourished by his kingdom, his benevolence, his mercantile industry. Herod at this time is highly displeased with these regions of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent their representatives to try to appease Herod, because Tyre and Sidon depended on the good will of Herod for mercantile trade and sustenance also, you know, wheat, barley, grain. Therefore, they worked to successfully make a friend of and gain the favor of Blastius, who was a very high-ranking personal assistant of King Harry. A little bribery going on? Probably not much different than government today, right? Other than instead of having a

Herod’s Investigation And Brutality

SPEAKER_07 24:40

kingship here in Imperial Government, we have a constitutional republic, but since it's made up of people, how often do people make errors? What'd you say?

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Every day.

SPEAKER_07 24:54

Every day. You included?

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Exactly.

SPEAKER_07 24:58

Well, Mama don't make no errors. At least none that I will comment on. So this is going on in the political realm. Verse 21. And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them. So I guess he established this as going to be a holiday. I want to bring everybody perhaps into an amphitheater, amphitheater where he had a throne. If you've seen some of the ruins, biblical ruins, if you've never been there, YouTube has a lot of good stuff like that. And you can see these amphitheaters that were built under Roman influence. So he's there giving a speech. He designated a special day, and he was dressed up in his magnificent robe, and he sat on his throne, and then he gave a most magnificent and impressive speech. Remember, there's a lot of pagans here. The listening crowd is full of paganism. And they even went wild over the speech. In their pagan culture, they began to shout, this is not the voice of a king, but the voice of a god. This reminds me of how people in our own country can hear a famous athlete make a speech, and it doesn't matter what the person says. He's famous, he's loved, and it's great. But for Herod, evidently he was a great speaker. And the people, being pagans, they began to say, you know, maybe to curry favor with Herod. This is not the voice of a king. This is the voice of a God. Verse 22. The people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a God and not of man. The crowd was so excited. Verse 23. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him. Because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. Wow. Remember Ananias sets a fire? I know you may think, does God still doing this? Just because you haven't heard the personal testimony, doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I'm thinking of one right now that a brother told me about and how that God fulfilled it. And you gotta remember, as great and powerful as God's mercy is, his judgment is just as great. I think I'm wanting Proverbs 11 right now. It's not in your notes. But as we talk about this, let's look at Proverbs 11. I'm pulling from my memory. I got it. It's right. Proverbs 11. Does one of one of you want to read that? Read real loud? Usually I do all the talking. Let me get one of you to read.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

11 and 1.

SPEAKER_07 28:44

11 and 1. Read it loud.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

False balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.

SPEAKER_07 28:55

What does that make you think of? A false balance is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. Scales of justice, but the scales in biblical days weren't used for justice. They were used for trading. And what the crooked traders did is even though the plates on both sides of the scale looked the same, many times one was hollow. They had to rig their scales to weigh things: gold, silver, bronze, wheat, barley, whatever it was, to weigh things so that the scales would come out in their favor. So here will here we see something. This is what I wanted you to see. As great as God's mercy and grace and love is, his salvation is equally great. Why do I know that? Because the writer of the Proverbs, the wisest man who ever

Herod’s Speech And Sudden Judgment

SPEAKER_07 30:05

lived, other than Jesus, said, A false balance is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. That means God does things equally. So if his salvation is so great, it produced the whipping post and the cross, what will his judgment produce? We need to understand, as much as God loves us and as much as we love him, God is also to be feared and reverenced. So we're gonna talk about a few of those scriptures right now. We're gonna go back to Proverbs. Proverbs chapter nine. And let me get a different individual to read from Proverbs chapter nine, verse 10.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Okay. This is from the NIV.

SPEAKER_07 31:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

SPEAKER_07 31:28

The fear of the Lord, echoing you, just in the King James, is the beginning of wit. The fear of the Lord. We don't mean that you should walk around being terrified, but you should never think you would be okay without God.

unknown 31:48

Right.

SPEAKER_07 31:50

Lord, whatever happens, don't forget about me. If God were to lift his hand of protection off of us, where would we be? This is the fear of the Lord, and it is the beginning of wisdom. And it is the knowledge of the holy is understanding for us. I made my children memorize Proverbs chapter 4 when they were growing up. I would suggest that at a later date you read Proverbs chapter 4 when we're not here in this study. But it's a good thing. It's a good thing to read it and to know it. Psalms 33. Now we're going to go to Psalms 33. And Audia, let's get you to read this time. Psalms 33. And read for us verse 8. Psalms 33 and 8.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

SPEAKER_07 33:05

So notice this fear is attached to the word. If you are in awe of something, how do you express that emotion? If you were in awe of something, use another word. Because to be in awe is to experience something. Enamored? Okay. Audia?

SPEAKER_02 33:32

The awe of God?

SPEAKER_07 33:34

Yeah. What does it mean to be in awe of something?

SPEAKER_02 33:37

I I agree with enamored, but I also agree that there is a reverence.

SPEAKER_07 33:45

A reverence.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

And I can't compete with that. No, you don't have to compete with awe. You just have to but to be in his presence and to I can see the wheels are turning. They are. Being in his presence just brings joy.

SPEAKER_07 34:18

Joy.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

Joy.

SPEAKER_07 34:19

You know what I what I think of everything y'all said, I think that was all great.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

What do you think? But for me, but for me.

SPEAKER_07 34:31

Overwhelming. Overwhelming. My emotions are overwhelmed. My mind is overwhelmed. I'm looking for words that I don't have.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Speechless. Speechless.

SPEAKER_07 34:47

Let all the earth fear the Lord and let all the inhabitants of the world stand speechless and overwhelmed and amored with him, unable to put it into words. But this fear then is not I'm terrified that something's about to go wrong, but I can never be without God. Don't ever let me be without you, Lord.

SPEAKER_01 35:16

The fear of being without him is greater than any fear.

SPEAKER_07 35:21

You know, in the book of Hebrews, here's a scripture for you to look up. Paul says, Our God is a consuming fire. When it comes time for judgment, he will be like a consuming fire. This God whose mercy is unending and endures to all generations, that same God is a consuming fire. We must always reverence God. We must always have respect for Him. Let's turn to Proverbs 14. Mama, you want to read Proverbs 14, verse 27? We're going to get there with you. The other ones are so far away, I'm not sure the microphones will pick them up.

SPEAKER_02 36:17

No.

SPEAKER_07 36:18

Proverbs 14 and verse 27.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

The fear of the Lord is the fountain of life to depart from the snares of death.

SPEAKER_07 36:32

Listen, if you understand our God is a consuming fire, if you understand what his judgment is. You remember when you read about Israel at Mount Sinai when God called them all there, and and there was thunder and lightning and fire on the mountain and dark clouds. And the scripture says God's voice boomed from the mountain. And it was so powerful, all Israel heard it. And when Moses came down, they said, Look here, next time God wants to speak to us, tell him to talk to you. And you can come down and talk to us. What are you saying? There is a manifestation of God that is so powerful, it is soul shaking. It is earth shattering. How about Ecclesiastes? The book of Ecclesiastes. Back to you, Audia. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. And verse 13. The end of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon's wisdom coming to an end. Let's let me get you just to read verse 13 and audio, you read verse 14.

unknown 38:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 38:03

I mean, Anne. Audio, you read 13, and Anne, you read 14.

SPEAKER_02 38:09

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all.

SPEAKER_07 38:20

Hold on to that right now. What's that mean for you, Mom?

unknown 38:29

Take this a minute.

SPEAKER_00 38:33

No. Mine says the home duty of man.

SPEAKER_07 38:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 38:37

So to fear God and to keep his commandments, that is my job.

SPEAKER_07 38:44

That is my responsibility.

unknown 38:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 38:47

According to God.

unknown 38:48

According to God.

SPEAKER_07 38:50

According to the word of God, that is my responsibility. Now, look, though God has plenty of mercy, we just found out in judgment, he's a consuming fire.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 39:03

Go ahead, Anne.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

SPEAKER_07 39:17

Every hidden thing.

SPEAKER_01 39:18

Every hidden thing.

SPEAKER_07 39:19

We don't do anything that God doesn't see.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

No.

SPEAKER_07 39:24

We don't say anything that God doesn't hear. We don't think anything that He doesn't know.

SPEAKER_06 39:32

Right.

SPEAKER_07 39:33

This should be an inspiration to us to fulfill casting down evil imaginations.

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Right.

SPEAKER_07 39:42

In the name of Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

You cannot hide from God. What what you can't come is y'all consuming fire.

SPEAKER_07 39:53

There's no getting around him. No. You know, it's important for us to understand it and to get a grip on it. It's so strong when we were coming in church, we still had a few uh older evangelists who, when they preached,

Fear Of The Lord And Repentance

SPEAKER_07 40:10

understood that repentance was a type of death. And they preached it, dying out to sin. So if one of them stood up in a church service today and sinners came to the altar, and he started walking back and forth over the altar, waving his arms and praying over them. Kill them, Lord, kill them all right now. Those people that get up and leave church. But what but what they were praying was, kill the carnal nature. And if you were there to hear the message, you understood it. But if you walked in on that from the street, no, no. There's a story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5, verses 1 through 11. We don't have to read that. We've been through that.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 41:00

But but I want you to understand that was a part of apostolic ministry. Peter did not pronounce death. What he did is say, you know, you can't hide your sin from God. What made you think you could hide your sin from God? Boom, Ananias fell over dead. Why did you conceive this thing in your heart to lie to God? And when he asked Sapphira, and she she, oh yeah, she went with the story. He said, that's an error. The same feat that carried out your husband will be here for you. You know why some people will never repent? Because they can't be honest with themselves, let alone be honest with God. When Jesus said, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, that's the truth about self as well as the truth about Him. And if we cannot come to grips with the fact that we have a sinful nature that works against the Spirit of God, and we want to justify everything we do. I've heard people stand up in church and say, but God knows my heart. Yes, doesn't that make you want to repent? Because God does know my heart. He knows when I was angry enough to pop somebody, he knows when I was angry enough to cuss and choke down that word, but I wished it on him. He knows it. This is why we got to walk in repentance. In order to do that, we must be honest with ourselves. All right, just like in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, a true reverence and awe of the power of God judgment brings a great ingathering of souls. It happened when Herod was struck down by God and eaten of worms, and it happened when Ananias and Sapphira were struck down by their judgment. Because everybody there realized I don't have to do that. I could just line up with God right now. And I believe there was great motivation, especially for those who stood there and saw this happen. Finally, verse 25, our last verse today. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. So about this time, Barnabas and Saul of Tarsus. Notice the wording, Barnabas and Saul. Watch that word order as you read through the book of Acts. Barnabas and Saul of Tarsus, excuse me. Returned from fulfilling the pledge they had made in Acts chapter 11. If you want to turn there quickly, Acts 11. Verses 27 through 30. They were in Antioch, and in these days, prophets from Jerusalem came to Antioch, and there stood up one of them named Agabas, and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great dearth or drought throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea, every man according to his ability, not according to some guilt that somebody tried to put on them. According to his own ability, determined to send relief to the brethren which dwelt in Judea, which also they did, and said to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. So you see, all this is around the same time. Now they have John Mark traveling with them. He's going to continue to be a part of Luke's narrative in the book of Acts. This has been another simple presentation. I hope it inspires you to read the Word of God for yourself, to go deeper. Get yourself a good reference Bible, like the encyclopedia reference, the Thompson Chain reference. There are many good reference Bibles out there. And run the references on these scriptures and meditate on them and talk about them and let them birth something in your soul in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_04 45:53

All right. Great word today. Great word. Um I I my favorite part of that lesson is uh when you start in the beginning and and you're talking about the the whole church is gathered into the house and they're just really crying out to the Lord for you know Peter's deliverance. And and then when he actually comes to the door, they're like, Oh, that's not Peter. And I'm like, but that's what you were praying for. But they but they didn't they were praying, but did they believe it? Yeah, right? Amen. That's the difference. I think that's where we find ourselves. Oftentimes we're we're believing and trusting God for something, but we don't really believe it. We're we're saying it, we're going through the motions of praying it and we're and we're and we're trying to receive it.

SPEAKER_07 46:42

Doubt is an enemy we have to constantly fight. Yeah. A buddy of mine that in the Air Force was telling me how his dad was a pastor, and his grandmother had been deaf, got gone deaf for many years. Many years. And they prayed for her all the time. Nothing ever happened. And one Sunday night they prayed for her and she said, Oh, I'm healed. And so to make her prove it, her son, who was the pastor, had her walk to the back of the building and face the wall and had people whisper things.

SPEAKER_04 47:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 47:18

And she would repeat what they whispered.

SPEAKER_04 47:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 47:21

And of course, the church was ecstatic. Yeah. And she turned around and she said, I just can't hardly believe it.

SPEAKER_04 47:28

And it was gone. Oh. Lost it, huh?

SPEAKER_07 47:33

And it wasn't that God is cruel, it's that she lost her faith. When she surrendered her faith, she surrendered her miracle. Yeah, the good thing is she didn't walk away from God. But you can imagine the lesson she learned. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:49

They all learned.

SPEAKER_07 47:50

They all learned. That night. It wasn't just for her sake. Believe God. Yeah. When God speaks to you, believe God. You know, we're we're especially. I I was we're especially self-centered. Listen, I was walking down the street in Alma Gordo, it was not long after we were married, and I was running some errands, probably paying bills. I was walking down the street, and God spoke to me to witness to this guy. And I saw him coming. He was across the street, so I needed to cross the street and go talk to him. And then I said to myself, that was just my imagination. I took five, six, ten steps, whatever it was, and my heart was smitten. And so I turned around. He was nowhere to be found.

SPEAKER_04 48:39

Oh you missed a moment.

SPEAKER_07 48:42

I missed a moment that was God ordained.

SPEAKER_04 48:45

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_07 48:46

We don't know how many times we've missed a moment that was God ordained because we were worried about being embarrassed.

SPEAKER_04 48:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 48:56

You know, we're thinking, what if God don't show up? What kind of thought is that?

SPEAKER_04 49:00

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 49:01

That's a thought we got to kill. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 49:03

That's the thing, is because when people say, well, I don't want to pray for somebody because what if they don't get healed? Well, you're not praying because you're going to heal them. You're praying for them because their faith connected with your faith is what God works in it. You know, it's not you doing it anyway.

SPEAKER_07 49:18

And it frustrates us when the miracle is in the process.

SPEAKER_04 49:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 49:22

Because we want the miracle to always be in the moment.

SPEAKER_04 49:25

Miraculous.

SPEAKER_07 49:26

And sometimes it is, sometimes it's in the moment. Last night and we ended our prayer, our day, one of the things we prayed about was, Lord, we want to see more miracles in the moment. We've seen plenty of miracles in the process. We're grateful. Now, you know, we weren't telling God what to do because He don't take instruction well. But your desire is. But our desire is. Yeah. Lord too. More miracles in the moment, because I've been blessed to see the blind eyes healed. Yeah. Broken back, broken leg, broken foot, eights.

SPEAKER_04 50:03

Me too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 50:04

We've seen the dead raised.

SPEAKER_04 50:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 50:06

We haven't seen millions of those things or thousands of those things. But as as we were reading scripture yesterday, uh, we've been reading through the book of Matthew for our daily devotion, and we we came across that scripture where it says, and Jesus healed them all. Healed them all. And that just burned something in my heart.

SPEAKER_04 50:26

Yeah. It wasn't a pick and cheese.

SPEAKER_07 50:29

And you'll find in the book of Acts that at one point healing was so prevalent, miracles were so prevalent that when Peter walked down the street, if they knew he was coming, they put the sick folk out there on blankets or pallets or whatever, hoping his shadow would pass over them thinking they'd be healed. Now my mind says at least some of them had to be. Otherwise, they wouldn't have wasted time laying out in the street. Yeah. You know, it's like the man at the pool of Bethesda. Yeah. They saw somebody get healed because they kept coming back. There was some sort of miracles that were happening there because the people were doing this. They were drawn to do it. And if they hadn't seen a miracle, you couldn't have convinced them. That fella's shadow's going to heal you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:21

Right.

SPEAKER_07 51:21

I don't know that fella.

SPEAKER_04 51:23

Right. Right. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 51:26

No, I think it's good. I'm excited. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_04 51:28

I think it's good. Don't be sorry. I think that's I think that that is a great way to pray. Is that God, we're so grateful for all that you've done already, but we want to see miracles in the moment. And I and I don't and I don't think it's wrong for that, because the whole purpose of that happening in the first place was so that people could be converted. So they could people could see that Jesus is still doing this.

SPEAKER_07 51:53

I heard a preacher say God heals the body so that he can advertise what he can do for the soul.

SPEAKER_04 52:02

That's right.

SPEAKER_07 52:03

Because the body ain't going. Yeah. It's the soul that's headed for eternity. Right. Right.

SPEAKER_04 52:10

Right. So, but when people can see it, you know, then they can relate to it. I think it's a huge help. It's huge, it's huge. I mean, we've seen it too. You know, we've done we've seen it too. I've experienced it. So I don't, I know uh firsthand, but but I'm just saying, I we need we need that right now. We need that to happen now. But the point is, then we can get into this whole topic about who's gonna be the one that carries that type of

Believing For Miracles Right Now

SPEAKER_04 52:35

anointing. And stewards.

SPEAKER_07 52:37

We're supposed to be all the saints.

SPEAKER_04 52:38

Yeah, but stewards it well, you know.

SPEAKER_07 52:41

Yeah, yeah. We we're all called to do it. Well, what wasn't who was the man that was a plumber and God anointed Smith Wigglesworth. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 52:51

Yeah, Wigglesworth.

SPEAKER_07 52:52

A plumber.

SPEAKER_04 52:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 52:54

But he humbled himself under the hand of God. Yeah. And there's a there's another fellow, William Branham.

unknown 53:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 53:02

Humble themselves under the hand of God. But actually, Jesus said, These signs shall follow them that believe. It shouldn't be that we have to depend upon, you know. But they even did that, you know, in Peter's day, right? They found out he was in a nearby town. Get him over here so that he can come and and pray for Dorcas. Why didn't you pray for Dorcas? Yeah. You know? It doesn't mean those ministries aren't important, but it means, Lord Jesus, stir up the gifts within us.

SPEAKER_04 53:34

Yeah, within us, and the thing is, is once you see it happen when you pray, that stirs up you. That stirs up your faith as much as the faith of the person that receives it, right? And the person that sees it.

SPEAKER_07 53:47

We need to remember that the testimony that we're seeking is the testimony that gives God glory.

SPEAKER_06 53:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 53:55

And that when these things happen, those people that are doing the prayer, and whoever they are, God didn't do that so that they could be celebrities and we could worship them and elevate them and make them supremely wealthy. And it doesn't hurt if they are wealthy, but the point is that's not done so that they can make money for that purpose. Right. Yeah.

unknown 54:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 54:18

You know, and so humble yourselves before God. We don't know what he'll do.

SPEAKER_04 54:24

Do you know? And he said, you know, they they whispered to that lady in the back of the room. So see, see if she could hear. It reminded me of when we used to go see Ernest Angely. And he would say, baby, baby. Every time you just say baby, baby, and they would always go, you know, that was his word, that was his catchphrase. If you never saw Ernest Angley, that was his whole ministry, was you know, healing and stuff like that. But when he would pray for somebody to open their ears, he would say, Say baby, baby. You know, so thank you, Jesus. It's just amazing. Thank you, Jesus. So it doesn't take an Ernest Angle, it takes somebody with some faith to step out and do it, right?

SPEAKER_07 55:03

Right.

SPEAKER_04 55:03

Knowing it's not you doing it.

SPEAKER_07 55:05

Who cares if they remember our name?

SPEAKER_04 55:07

Who cares? Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 55:08

So they gotta remember the name of Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 55:10

Yes, yes. All right, y'all. We're so good. Great lesson today. Thank you so much, Brother Ernie. Let's end with our slogan. Ready? Go show some love, show some compassion, give mercy, and go be Jesus today. Hey STU family. If you have enjoyed this podcast today, would you please like, follow, and share our podcast link? And we would love to hear your feedback and your podcast topic suggestions. To do that, simply go to our website at www.m3mi.org,

Final Blessing And Next Steps

SPEAKER_04 55:50

scroll to the more tab, and select contact us. Also, if STU has been a blessing to you, you can also go to our website and select sew a seed. There are several ways that you can give, whether it's Zelph, Vinmo, Cash App, or if there's an address to send a check or money order. All your gifts are tax deductible, and we thank you so much for sewing your seed with us. I want you to remember this. A last person once said that a person has given you their time, they've given you their most precious gift because they can never ever get it back. Thank you for sharing this day with me. We love you, we'll see you soon.