God's Unsearchable Ways

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for your warm welcome. Good to be with you this morning.

A long time ago, I used to live just two streets up from here. Well, roughly two streets, Montpelier Park.

And I don't think I appreciate what a great church there was just down the road.

But lovely to be with you today and to be able to open God's Word.

So if you've got a Bible, it'd be great if you'd open it at Acts chapter 12 that we just had read for us.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

That's what we're going to be thinking this morning.

So as you get to the end of chapter 11 in Acts, we're told there's a famine coming.

And when you get to chapter 12, the problems for the church there are not that there's going to be no food,

but rather that there's no protection.

They find themselves in this war zone here.

And if you've been working your way through Acts, you know that Acts is full of this kind of opposition and persecution.

Largely coming from the Jews, the Sanhedrin, the kind of leaders who put Jesus to death.

But then now Herod, the kind of politician, is getting involved in the act.

Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.

He killed James.

He proceeded to seize Peter also.

This is the decapitation of the church that you're witnessing here.

Now the obvious question to ask is, why is God allowing these things to happen?

You might have the same question when you watch the news.

Afghanistan, Myanmar, Yemen, Syria, the Ukraine.

Why is God allowing this to happen?

And Acts chapter 12 does give you a moment's pause, doesn't it?

Acts 12 · chapter mention

David Attenborough, who's the great naturalist, was asked if he believed in God.

He answered tentatively.

He said, sometimes I stand beside a termite mound,

and I wonder what knowledge they could have of me.

Now it's not a ringing endorsement of the reality of God,

but you can see what he's edging towards.

The Bible opens with this statement.

In the beginning, God created.

And in that statement, you get a gulf that is far vaster than termite to human being.

An infinite, eternal, omnipotent God.

And my tiny, little, microscopic life,

what knowledge would the termite have of God, of a human being?

What of my knowledge of this infinite, eternal being?

I've called this first part of the sermon today,

The Uncertain Will of God.

Now, if you want the kind of more classier description,

it is the unsearchable will of God.

But let's just talk about uncertainty for a moment or two.

It doesn't mean that God's unpredictable, or that he's fickle,

but it does mean we are not able to second-guess him

when the Bible hasn't told us what to expect.

Will he heal?

Will he not heal?

Will he intervene?

Will he not intervene?

James was killed with a sword.

Peter was seized.

Now, notice, will you, that we've given the time of year.

Luke's a kind of precise historian, isn't he?

And he just kind of puts in this date for us.

He tells us that it happened, end of verse 3,

during the festival of unleavened bread.

And then he goes on to tell us that Peter's trial

is slated for after the Passover.

This is Easter.

That's where we are.

We're 12 years previously.

This is AD 44.

Maybe 14 years previously.

Jesus was on trial.

And prior to his trial, this is how he prayed.

And going a little further, Jesus fell to the ground and prayed

that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.

And he said,

Abba Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me.

Yet not what I will, but what you will.

Now, you can hear the tension in those words, can't you?

If it were possible.

All things are possible for you.

If the Son of God in his humanity struggled,

how much more us?

How much more people like us?

And this passage poses two questions we're going to think about this morning.

And the first question is this.

How does it look, what does it look like to trust an unsearchable God?

Or maybe put it slightly differently.

What does faithful Christianity look like in a world where evil is real

and you are uncertain of what God is planning?

That's our world.

That's where we live.

Okay, look at verse 6.

Verse 6 states, doesn't it?

The night before Herod was to bring him, Peter, to trial,

Peter was pacing the floor,

trembling with anxiety,

filled with fury at what happened to him.

Not any of the above.

Peter was.

It's one of these great anti-climaxes in the Bible, isn't it?

Sleeping.

And I think you could almost insert the word soundly into that sentence

in the light of the effort that has to be made to wake him up.

It has to be slapped in the side to bring him to consciousness.

Now, here's the thing.

How can you sleep soundly when you know you're going to die?

I think a lot of us would really like to know the answer to that question.

How can you sleep soundly when you know you're going to die?

Now, very helpfully, Peter, when he talked to the children this morning,

took us back into that incident that took place in the Gospels on the boat.

And we've had it unpacked for us.

The storm.

The disciples think they're going to die.

Jesus is asleep.

He gets up.

He tells the wind to be quiet.

Now, if you're reading Matthew's Gospel, just before that incident,

Matthew tells us that a man came to Jesus and said,

I will follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus said to the guy,

foxes of a hole, birds of the air of a nest,

but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

My home,

my family,

my money

are the reassuring

facts,

factors about my life

that gives me a sense that I'm in control.

I've got a place to live.

I've got some people that quite like me.

I've got some cash we can manage.

Right?

I'm in control.

Jesus takes his disciples

onto the boat

and into the storm

to the place

where it doesn't really matter

if you've got a great house

and loads of money in the bank.

You are not in control.

But hey,

Jesus is in control.

He can control the storm.

He can keep us safe

in the storm.

That's a great bit of news.

Jesus leads his people

into the storm.

Make no mistake,

he will lead his people

into the storm.

Undoubtedly so.

It's part of God's

unsearchable ways.

Illness

or redundancy

or bereavement

or discrimination

or whatever else

you might like to think of.

But Peter,

Peter can sleep

in the storm

because he knows

as Jesus

has led him

into this place.

He will lead him

through this place.

You see,

the thing about death is

death is that

terrible,

terrible

dead end.

That horrible,

horrible cul-de-sac

that nobody knows

what it's going to be like

except Jesus

who says to us

even though

we walk

through the valley

of the shadow of death,

we should fear no evil

for he will be with us

and his rod and staff

will come for us.

Peter knew that.

Now there's a second

little aspect

to this.

Living in

these unsearchable

ways of God

and it's the church

that prays.

Don't say Peter here

as a solitary hero.

Peter struggles with fear

all the days

of his life.

It dogs his life

verse 4.

Herod sees Peter

and put him in prison

verse 5.

Ernest prayer

was made for him

in the church

and those two things

are,

they are closely linked.

Peter slept

because the church

didn't sleep.

Now this is not

a perfect church.

This is not a church

that's kind of

oh,

we know what's going

to happen here.

That's why we're praying.

You can see

there's this

lovely irony

in the passage

isn't there?

Where this

iron gate

in the prison

just kind of

opens by itself

but Peter

can't get into

the pyramid.

Can't get the door

to open

because the people

inside are not

you know,

they're not tuned in

to everything

that's going on.

But make no mistake,

their praying

makes a difference

and above all

it makes a difference

to Peter.

Peter,

or Jesus

urged his disciples

to pray with him

and sadly

they left him

to sweat

and agonise

and wrestle

alone.

And I suspect

there's

a lot of that

going on these days.

These are not

good days

for commitment.

People choose

churches on the

basis of the music

or the preaching

or the kids' work

and feel liberty

to opt out

or in

as these things

are or aren't

being delivered.

Now that is

a bad plan.

Sooner or later

you and I

will find

ourselves

in the storm

and we will

need people

to pray for us.

Now this may not

be the best reason

for church membership

but this much

is true

that the more

deeply woven

into the fabric

of the church

family we are

the more we will

benefit from the

prayers of God's

people.

Not the best

reason for being

a church member

but it's certainly

an important reason.

So here's how you

trust in an

unsearchable God.

You trust him

to lead you

through the storm

and you join

the imperfect

prayers of his

people.

Now let me

switch your

attention from

the uncertainty

to the certainty

in this passage.

So Acts 12

is about

powerful people

pursuing

their agendas.

Herod,

the Jews,

increased their

grip on power

by raising

their approval

ratings.

And that's

what we see

around our

world,

isn't it?

Leaders and

regimes

squashing

dissent,

locking up

those who

don't agree

with them.

And it could

be all those

places we

mentioned at

the beginning.

It could even

be Scotland

with its

woke agenda.

You don't

want to upset

these people.

And these

kind of

pictures all

too easily

fill our

minds with

fear.

You don't

want to

follow Herod

or any

of his

many

successors.

But notice

in this

passage that

there are

two agendas,

not just

one.

So it's not

just Herod

playing out

his plans.

We read

of an

angel.

Well,

maybe two

angels,

but there's

certainly two

incidents that

concern angels.

One who

facilitates

Peter's release

and the other

that brings

Herod to the

end of

his life.

And this

section of

Acts that

was not

written in

chapters but

in chunks

runs through

from 932 to

chapter 1224.

And there's a

woman who's

raised from

the dead and

there's a man

who has a

vision and

there's a

prophet who

predicts that

there's going

to be a

famine.

And here's

Luke's

summary of

what is

really going

on.

So you

look at

verse 24

and this

is his

little,

let me tell

you what's

really happening

here.

But the

word of

God continued

to spread

and flourish.

Here's the

certain plan

of God.

Okay.

So,

which of

these agendas

has got

your attention?

Who's,

which of

these agendas

are you

investing in?

there's one

that's visible

and you can

see it around

us here in

this country

and you can

see it as

you switch on

the news,

the agendas

of the

world or

there's an

agenda set out

here in the

scriptures.

Now,

let me draw

your attention

to a few

aspects of

what is true

of God's

agenda.

Let's start

with the

grace of

God.

Now,

one of the

strange things

about this

chapter is

why does

Herod last

until verse

23?

Or,

let me put it

to you another

way,

is enjoying

people's

flattery worse

than murdering

somebody?

Oh,

why do you

get struck

down when

he just

kind of gets

a bit carried

away with

the audience?

Now,

I made

the point

at the

start that

God's

ways are

not our

ways,

and that

passage we

read,

we heard

from Isaiah,

Isaiah 55,

is probably

the clearest

passage in

the Bible

that makes

that point.

For my

thoughts are

not your

thoughts,

neither are

your ways my

ways,

declares the

Lord,

for as the

heavens are

high above

the heavens,

high above

the earth,

so are my

ways above

your ways.

Now,

what you need

to know is

the for,

for my

ways are

not your

ways.

So,

what has he

just said

that shows

that his

ways are

not our

ways?

Listen to

what it

says,

seek the

Lord while

he may be

found,

let the

wicked forsake

his way,

and the

unrighteous

man his

thoughts,

let them

return to

the Lord

that he

may have

compassion

on him,

and to

our God

for he

will

abundantly

pardon.

What's

God been

doing in

Acts chapter

Acts 12 · chapter mention

12?

He's been

saying to

this wicked,

unrighteous

king,

seek the

Lord.

He's been

saying it

through his

involvement with

people like

James and

Peter and

seeing the

way they

are,

but above

all,

he's been

doing it

as he

researches,

as he

scrutinizes

this escape,

as he

thinks.

It's got

God's

fingerprints

all over

the thing.

The door

just opened,

the chains

fell off.

Do you

hear?

God is

speaking into

his life.

Oh my

goodness.

God has

been holding

out his

hands to

this evil

seek the

Lord,

turn,

repent.

so what

is it

that

distinguishes

God

from

me?

The

measure of

his

grace.

If you

listen to

this and

you're not

a Christian,

understand

that your

past,

whatever

your past

has

involved,

does not

disqualify

you from

knowing God

as your

father.

let

Herod

encourage

you to

see that

if God

pursued

this evil

king,

he is

inviting you

to seek

him.

But let

Herod also

be a

warning.

The window

of opportunity

does not

remain open

forever.

Seek the

Lord while

he may be

found.

When you

go to

24,

you can't

find him

anymore.

It's too

late.

There is a

too late.

And if

you're a

Christian,

remember,

it's not

for us

to decide

who God

is going

to hold

his hands

out to.

In Luke's

first volume,

Luke 23,

Jesus shows

mercy to a

criminal who's

dying beside

him.

In Luke's

second volume

in Acts

Acts 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9,

he shows

mercy to the

chief of

sinners.

It kind

of blows

away the

whole idea

of worthiness,

doesn't it?

God's

ways really

aren't our

ways.

The gospel

is God's

unstoppable

mission to

deliver compassion

and pardon to

the wicked and

the unrighteous.

Are you in

step with

that?

Really?

Or are

there some

people that

you go,

nah,

not him.

Second

thing,

the

pastor of

Jesus.

verse 17

ends by

telling us

that Peter

departed and

went to

another place.

Now,

as you know,

up to this

point,

Peter has

been the

leader of

the church.

He's the

rock that

Jesus spoke

of.

He's

preached

those great

sermons

in Acts.

He's

operated the

keys that

let the

Gentiles

into the

church.

But now

that's it.

You almost

hear nothing

else of

Peter in

the rest

of Acts.

get a

glimpse of

him in

15.

But he's

getting off

the stage.

He's

vacating the

platform.

He's

stepping down.

Another guy

called

Saul,

Paul,

is going

to become

the main

person

from here

on.

And

Peter's

okay with

that.

He

leaves

for another

place,

a less

significant

place,

a less

prominent

place.

here's

how life

normally

works.

Okay?

You would

describe it

the normal

direction of

travel is

to be

upwardly

mobile.

You get a

slightly better

house.

You might

get a

better car.

You get a

little bit

of a step

up at

work.

You have

a little

bit more

dough.

You go

on slightly

better

holidays.

That's

the usual

direction

of travel.

Though

he was

in the

form of

God,

he did

not count

equality a

thing to

be grasped,

but emptied

himself,

taking the

form of a

servant.

Do you

see where

Jesus is

going?

Downward

mobility.

So he

associates

with the

marginalized,

the lepers

and the

beggars.

He mixes

with the

despised

tax collectors

and prostitutes.

And these

things trash

his reputation.

They

ultimately,

they give him

a place

among the

criminals to

die.

But of

course,

you see,

this is the

thing,

isn't it?

Jesus is

not pursuing

his own

agenda.

He isn't

asking what

he would

enjoy doing.

What would

I like to

do?

He's

serving his

father's

plan.

He's

looking for

his father's

approval.

And Peter

is heading in

the same

direction.

Out of the

limelight,

off the

platform,

down into

some less

prominent but

no less

significant

ministry.

the

progress of

the

gospel or

the

progress of

me,

my agenda

or his

agenda.

Those are the

kind of

choices that

we have.

Now,

it's about

our thinking.

It's about an

attitude in

our minds.

So we're

all used to

seeing the

images of

the Ukrainian

president,

Zelensky,

with his

kind of

five o'clock

shadow and

his battle

fatigues as

if he's just

come off

patrol.

And there's

something entirely

appropriate about

that, of course,

isn't there?

There's a war

on.

You don't

expect to see

him walking

down a red

carpet to get

into a big

stretch limo where

somebody opens

the door for

him.

You think,

no, no, no,

that's all

wrong.

Peter had

that wartime

mentality.

As he heads

off to play

a different

part that

his commanding

officer has

just assigned

him to,

and

consequently,

the word of

God increases

and multiplies.

I'm going to

say one other

thing.

This is the

certain plan of

God.

This is how

it happens

as we start

to get in

step with

the grace

of God

that reaches

down to

the wicked

and the

unrighteous.

As we

start to be

ready to

step down,

down,

down,

down.

And then

clearly,

as we

cooperate and

participate in

the prayers of

the church.

So twice in

this chapter,

we're reminded

of the prayer

meeting.

Verse 4,

verse 12.

And we

are most

certainly meant

to make that

connection

between the

prayer of the

church and

the progress

of the

gospel.

Listen to

what Jesus

said on

those two

subjects.

truly I say

to you,

whoever says

to this

mountain,

be taken

up and

thrown into

the sea and

does not

doubt in

their heart,

but believes

that what

they say

will come

to pass,

it will be

done for

him.

Therefore,

whatever you

ask in

prayer,

believe that

you have

received it

and it

will be

yours.

Now,

Jesus spoke

those words

just after

he had

driven the

traders out

of the

temple and

he had

pronounced

judgment on

Jerusalem's

religion by

means of

the fig tree.

Curse the

fig tree,

died,

withered,

boom.

Jesus is

referring here

in this

section to

Jerusalem when

he says,

whoever says,

he didn't

say,

whoever says

to a

mountain,

he said,

whoever

says to

this

mountain,

the mountain

is Jerusalem.

Okay.

Now,

the book of

Acts shows

you that

Jerusalem is

a massive

obstacle to

the progress

of the

church.

They're

trying to

dampen

the

enthusiasm,

they're

trying to

kill their

leaders,

they're

trying to

crush the

whole thing

at the

outset.

Now,

if you've

been around

in Jerusalem

in those

days,

and you'd

seen the

Sanhedrin

and the

Pharisees

who control

the police

and who run

the courts

and who've

got the

ear of the

Roman

governor,

and you've

got Jesus

and his

little band

of followers,

and you've

been asked,

which one of

these two do

you think

will survive?

I don't

think it

would have

been a

hard question

to answer.

But within

40 years

of the

death of

Jesus,

the mountain

has been

moved out

the road.

Judaism

is no

longer the

threat that

it was to

the church

and the

progress of

the gospel

goes on

to the

world.

Come with

me to

the 16th

century.

16th

century,

the church

is moribund.

The medieval

church is

just a

mass of

money-making

schemes.

And a

friar called

Martin Luther

in a

backwater

called

Wittenberg

in Germany

rediscovers

the gospel

and stands

against the

Pope and

the Holy

Roman

Empire.

Not

alone,

but

pretty much

alone.

And God

moves this

mountain out

of the

way.

We've

heard today

about

Romania.

Go back

just over

35 years

and you

would not

have heard

that kind

of report

in church.

Go back

to the

bad old

days of

the 70s

and the

Soviet

Union

and Romania

under the

rule of

Ceausescu

and nobody's

setting up

these kind

of places.

It's all

underground.

Oh,

the gospel's

there,

but it's

underground.

1989,

the mountain

moves.

mountain

that you

and I

are

conscious

of

today

is

Islam.

Some of

you may

have read

or heard

of a

book

written by

David

Garrison

called

The Wind

in the

House of

the House

of Islam.

It's

quite a

challenging

book to

read because

it's got

so many

statistics

in it.

It's so

carefully

researched.

Garrison

has

noted that

there's been

82

movements

in the

entire

history of

Islam

from 600

AD

to the

present.

Now,

a movement

in

Garrison's

research

is

a

thousand

baptized

believers

or a

hundred

churches

planted.

That's a

movement,

either or.

Thousand

baptized

believers,

hundred

churches

planted.

Now,

there have

only been

82 in

the whole

of the

life of

Islam,

but 69

of those

movements

have taken

place between

2000 and

2012.

There has

never been

a time

in history

where more

Muslims are

coming to

Christ than

today.

On the

eve of the

79 Islamic

Revolution in

Iran,

there were

reckoned to

be no more

than 500

Muslim

background

believers

in a

nation of

40 million.

Forty years

later,

there are

hundreds of

thousands of

Iranian

Muslims who

have given

their lives

to Christ.

Now,

be clear,

this is

still a

small

percentage of

a huge

empire.

I think

there's

1.9

billion Muslims

in the

world.

And there

are pockets,

so he

talks about

this house

of Islam

in terms

of rooms,

different

parts of

the world,

and there

are some

parts of

the world

where there

is very

little

happening.

But

central to

that

progress

are the

prayers of

God's

people.

So let

me end,

I'm going

to finish

with this,

I'm going

to end

with this.

Here's the

question that

all this

poses for

us,

okay,

very simple

question.

Would you

have been at

the prayer

meeting?

Will you be

at the prayer

meeting?

Let me pray,

then we're

going to sing.

Heavenly Father,

thank you

for helping

us to live

in a world

of uncertainty,

to know

how to

sleep in

the storm.

Thank you,

Lord God,

that you

are

outstandingly

gracious

to the

wicked

and to

the

unrighteous.

We pray,

Lord,

that you

would help

us as we

seek to

invest in

your agenda

and walk

in step

with your

plans.

We ask

this for

Jesus'

sake.

Amen.

Amen.