The Jesus Church: Finding the Church of Jesus in the Book of Acts | Donovan Rillion | The Faithful Church

Do any of you find submarines to be fascinating?

Think about it. These machines that like a hundred

years ago, maybe even longer, were inconceivable,

that can go down into the greatest depths of

the ocean. I personally can't understand how

they do it, but they go down and they go deeper

and deeper under this serious pressure. And the

reason they're so fascinating is because they

can go down and withstand all of this pressure

and not break. They don't implode. You can drop

a submarine into the deepest ocean and push it

down deeper and deeper, and every square inch

is just gaining more and more force on it, force

that would crush anything else that was not built

to handle this. It would make our bodies crumble

up like a Coke can, yet this submarine can go

down and withstand all of that pressure. So when

a submarine is built well, it can go down and

survive. Now I want you to contrast that with

three years ago, this past week actually, a submersible

called the Titan was journeying down to go down

and explore and see the shipwreck of the Titanic.

And in this submersible, five people died because

it imploded. Investigators spent the last few

years trying to figure out exactly what went

wrong with the Titan, why it was able to go down,

because it had gone down before. It had gone

on these journeys before, but this time it goes

down and it implodes. And if you've ever heard

the audio or you've seen some of the visuals

that people have made of it, it's crazy how quickly

it happened. And it really is kind of like a

Coke can. It just kind of crushes. And these

people in an instant lost their lives. The conclusion

that investigators came to was that the hull

of the ship was never what it was supposed to

be. It wasn't as... strong as it was supposed

to be. It looked like it was supposed to look.

It looked like a good submarine. It looked nice.

It looked strong. And it had made some trips

before, and so they felt good about it. But what

they didn't know, or what maybe they just didn't

care to know, was that the true strength of this

submersible was never properly tested. And so

dive after dive, the damage was building up until

one day the pressure was so strong that the weakness

of the Titan And that's the first point I want

us to know this morning that we have to identify

is that pressure does not create weakness. When

bad times happen, when bad things happen, when

life gets rough, that's not what creates the

weakness in our lives. Pressure simply reveals

the weakness. It shows you where you're weakest.

It's the hard times that happen and you find

yourself caving in to peer pressure or you find

yourself caving in to the stress and you realize,

maybe not in the moment, but after a while you

realize that that weakness had been there all

along. You were predisposed to it. It just showed

up in a crazy way when the bad stuff happened,

when the pressure came. It's kind of like during

COVID. When you saw people... lose their lives

or at least be seriously afflicted by this virus

because they had these predisposed conditions.

These things that were already there. that maybe

they didn't realize were there, but they were

there, that they struggled with. It's why we

wanted to be extra cautious for our friends that

had diabetes, or we wanted to be extra cautious

for our friends that maybe were struggling with

cancer, or we wanted to be extra cautious for

the person with the autoimmune disorder. So we

had to be very careful, but because we knew there

was a weakness there that under that type of

pressure would not withstand. And I want you

to hold on to that because this morning in Acts

Acts 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, we'll see the pressure mount on the

early church that we find in the book of Acts.

We'll see it mount on the man trying to crush

the church. And as we do, I want you to hold

on to the question, when pressure comes, how

do we respond? Because in many people's lives,

when pressure comes, they start drinking. In

many people's lives, when pressure comes, they

turn to drugs. In many people's lives, when the

pressure comes, they start running away or they

hide and they find the darkest place that nobody

will find them and they go there. I think of

Harry Potter in the first movie where you see

the family that Harry's living with and the letters

keep coming in. And they're like, all right,

that's it. We got to go somewhere where they

can't find us. And so they go away and they go

to like this remote island out in the ocean where

nobody can find them until someone finally does.

Because no matter what you do, no matter where

you go, the pressure will find you. And so when

it does, what will you do? And communally, for

us as a church, what does a faithful church do

when it's at the mercy of this pressure, this

seemingly crushing and destructive force? So

hold on to this question, and if you've got it,

I need you to say, I've got it. Okay, let's try

that again. If you've got it, I need you to say,

I've got it. You got it. What do we do when the

pressure comes? Okay, now let's get into Acts

Acts 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, starting in verses one through four.

If it's underlined, I'd love for you to read

it along with me so I know that you're awake

because I think a lot of you had already fallen

asleep. Are we ready? All right. 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.

Several weeks ago, our brother Truman preached

to us about the murder, the martyrdom of Stephen,

this first Christian killed for his faith. And

from that moment on, the church had to be very

mindful. They had to be very careful about how

they proceeded in society. Now, they were bold.

They didn't pretend that they didn't know this

Jesus. They didn't pretend that they weren't

Christians. They didn't hide it. They were just

cautious because they had to be. They wanted

to obey the call of Christ to go in all the world,

proclaim the gospel, and live in radical community.

But they also didn't want to die because nobody

wants to die, right? And so they had to be mindful

of how they operated. Now, here in Acts 12, we

see that this persecution is starting to kind

of build up. It's becoming a more serious issue.

As we said with our submarine, the pressure is

starting to mount. Herod begins by attacking

the church. The way he does this, he starts off

with killing. John's brother, James, making him

the first of Jesus's 12 apostles to be killed

for his faith. And then he sees that this makes

the Jews happy. So like this is a political stunt

where he's like, okay, killing this man makes

these people happy. And if I can make these people

happy, they'll like me and they'll approve of

what I do. So let me keep on killing the Christians.

And so he arrests Peter. And he throws him in

prison on a Jewish holiday. And it seems that

the plan was for him to bring Peter out after

the days of unleavened bread. And so what he's

going to do is he's going to bring Peter out

before this great crowd of people, just like

he did when he had Jesus on trial. He's going

to bring him out and he's going to show him.

And he's going to say, what do y 'all want me

to do with this man? And you know what they're

going to say, right? Kill him. They may want

to crucify him like they did Jesus. They may

want to hang him in the streets. I don't know

how, but their plan is to exterminate the Christians,

the church. And so when Herod does this, he makes

sure to have a large number of guards, 16 guards

to watch Peter. And I don't imagine Peter was

a big, very capable fighter. I don't imagine

he was like a Houdini type guy that could escape

any situation. I think... Herod just knew that

there was something about Peter where he finds

a way to escape these situations. And if you

remember Peter's rabbi, Jesus would do that too.

People would come up in crowds to stone him and

he would just mysteriously get away. Well, Peter

has done this a time or two. And so Herod wants

to be sure that this prisoner that he has will

not get away. And so he knows that if he can

kill an apostle of Jesus, one of the guys that

was of the 12 that walked and lived with Jesus,

well, he can make a pretty bold statement. And

so he's putting pressure on the disciples to

give it up, to quit with this Jesus business.

And that's serious pressure, pressure that honestly

we can hardly imagine. We can't really understand

that type of pressure because we don't live in

a society where the literal government is threatening

to take our lives away for following Jesus. We

don't have to face that fear. We have never in

the history of America had to face that fear.

And I'm grateful for that. And I'm grateful for

the people that make that a possibility. But

we do still face pressure, do we not? I would

be a fool to stand up here and act like we don't

face pressure because we do live in a society

where holding on to what Jesus taught can cost

you a friendship. It can cost you relationships.

It can cost you a reputation. We live in a society

where following Jesus can cost us. We're doing

the right thing when nobody else will can leave

you standing alone. Our pressure exists. It's

just different. Our lack of physical death -type

persecution doesn't mean we don't have pressure.

It's still there. And so we revisit our question

earlier of when pressure comes, how does the

church respond? Because it's going to come. And

it may not be a persecution -type pressure. It

may be an internal pressure that we deal with

in our family or that we deal with in our personal

life. Maybe it's a sickness. That you just feel

like you've prayed and you've prayed and you've

prayed, but you can't shake. And it doesn't make

sense to you why you're still having to deal

with the weight of this. Or maybe it's like the

loss of a loved one just hits after hit after

hit. And you just feel like everybody's falling

around me. And I keep praying that God would

help my family, but it doesn't seem to be working.

Or maybe it's a financial pressure that you've

been dealing with. And you just, you feel like

you haven't been able to escape it. Pressure.

is going to come for every one of us if it's

not already there. And we have to ask the question

of how do we respond? How does the church respond?

And I want you to see how the church responds

in Acts 12, verse 5. So Peter was kept in prison,

Acts 12:5

but earnest prayer for him was made to God by

the church. You notice they didn't panic. It

doesn't say the church freaked out and they ran

away and they hid in their holes. It doesn't

say the church got scared and so they went and

they got pitchforks and swords and they just

decided if we don't fight, then we're going to

be killed. So we've got to fight first. That's

not what happens. The church goes and they pray.

Despite the anxiety and the fear I imagine they

were feeling, their response is a response of

faith. It's earnestly praying. While Herod had

the weight of the government, while Herod had

the soldiers and the chains and the prisons and

the entire kingdom at his disposal, the church

prayed earnestly. And what that means is they

prayed with a serious intent. That they prayed

the serious, dedicated, zealous prayer. Other

translations say they prayed without ceasing,

that they would pray in a way that held some

weight, that they would pray constantly, unrelenting,

that they did not give up praying, that they

did not stop praying, that that was their defense

against the darkness, was to pray, to plead with

the God of heaven and earth, the king of the

universe, and ask him to come down, show his

power, show his presence, and free them from

this pressure. They prayed earnestly. This wasn't

a, Lord, would you please be with Peter? He's

hurting right now, and he's scared. It wasn't

a sweet little mention of Peter in their bedtime

prayers. It wasn't just a casual, hey, y 'all

be praying for Peter. This was war, that they

were fighting with words, that they were fighting

with their feelings. You think about Jesus in

the garden when he's praying and he's praying

with sweat drops like blood. I think that's what

this prayer was. It was shouts of proclaiming

God's goodness and saying, God, we know you can

do it. We just ask that you will. I imagine it

being this constant vocal and vibrant prayer

session of the church. whether they were together

in a gathering place or in their homes, in their

prayer rooms. I imagine this was white knuckles

on your knees, hands outstretched, pleading with

God. Because a church that's going to withstand

the pressures that come, the pressures that surround

us, a church that is going to withstand the pressures

that sometimes find themselves in the church,

a church that's going to withstand The darkness

is a church that is going to pray earnestly.

It's a family that's going to put their faith

in God. And they're going to show that faith

in the way they communicate with God. They're

going to show that faith in the way they plead

with God to come down and show His power, to

show His might, to show His love, His compassion.

A church that is going to withstand is going

to be a church that puts prayer as their first

line of defense and offense. Because if God is

the one empowering and enabling this mission,

then he has to be the one we go to first when

things get tough. God has to be the one. Not

the preacher, not the elders, not the person

that you think is wisest. God has to be the one.

God has to be the one that we pray to and say,

God, would you give us direction? God, would

you give us strength? God, would you give us

power? God, would you help us handle these hard

times? If it's going to be God's mission, it

is going to be God's provision, and we need to

make sure we always remember that. And now I

want you to see how God chooses to show up after

the prayers of his church. Because if you remember

earlier, I said in the welcome that God loves

to show up where his people are hungry for him.

And in this moment, God shows up where his people

are hungry for him. Peter's there in a prison.

And after all this time of waiting, he's sleeping.

And now this is the day that Peter is set to

stand trial where his life is probably going

to be taken. And as he's sleeping between two

soldiers that are there guarding him, where he's

chained up, I want you to see how God shows up.

Look with me at verses seven through 10. 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 he went out and followed

him. 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. You see,

deliverance comes for Peter, but not before a

long period of waiting, or maybe we'll call it

a little period of waiting, but deliverance comes

after Peter has to wait a little while, after

Peter has to sweat. After Peter has to stress

a little bit, deliverance does come, but not

after a little suffering. See, God works. He

always works. He may work on his own timing,

and it may not always look how we want it to

look, but God always works. I was thinking last

night about a series of lessons I want to write

or maybe a blog or something. I don't know, but

I'm driving and I'm thinking, and the thought

came to my head. It will all be okay. And then

I thought about it. Okay is kind of a bleh word.

Like it's not, you know, like if somebody asks

you, hey, how was that meal I cooked for you?

And you're like, oh, it was okay. You'd be insulted.

If somebody asks you, hey, how does my hair look?

It's okay. And so then I thought maybe the title

for this or the working title will be, it will

be, and then in parentheses and small letters,

better than okay. And I was like, I feel like

you maybe got to put a qualifier, maybe a subtitle

for this. It'll be good. And not good in the

sense that we use good, but good in the sense

like when God looks at his creation after the

seven days of work, God looks at it and he says,

it is very good. And the word there for good

actually translates to lovely. It's delightful.

In fact, Eden translates to delight. And so God

looks at all of this and he says, it's lovely.

And I think about my suffering. And I think about

the hard times that I've had in my life. I think

about all the days when I was a kid where I just

prayed and prayed and prayed that God would place

me, like just magically place me in another family,

one that had a dad so I could have somebody there

to raise me, somebody there to help me grow as

a man. And I think about all of those moments

where I was just praying to be anywhere but where

I was. But after a little bit of suffering, instead

of giving me exactly what I prayed for, God gave

me what I needed, and it was better than what

I would have asked for. It was lovely. It was

delightful. See, God always works. And when he

works, it's not okay. It's not just all right.

It's good. It's lovely. And what happens here

with Peter is awesome. Like God could have easily

just said. hey, Herod, release my guy or I'm

going to strike you down. But instead, God sends

an angel to walk with Peter, free him from his

chains, out of the gate. And it's this cool story

and it shows deliverance that only God could

provide. And so I don't want you to look at this

and say, well, God hasn't delivered me. I don't

want you to look at this and say, well, God hasn't

delivered my loved one that's hurting. God hasn't

delivered my friend that's been suffering. God

hasn't delivered these people that are in chains

still. I don't want you to look at this and say,

well, what about them? Because the truth is that

it doesn't always work the same. It doesn't always

look the same, but God does always work. And

we could look at this and we could say, well,

how come James had to die, but Peter gets freed

from prison? And we could look at this, and if

you're not sure you even believe all this yet,

you may sit there and you might be asking the

question of, well, why would a good God rescue

one and not the other? So before we go any further,

I just want to be clear for a second in what

I'm not saying. I'm not saying God killed James,

nor am I saying that if you just pray hard enough,

God will free you from physical pain and persecution.

That's not what I'm saying. Some of you have

prayed hard, yet the chains feel like they are

tighter now than they ever have been. And I won't

sit up here and pretend like that's not a reality

for many of you. We've all seen people who have

begged God. We are in this room praying for people

who are begging God for a different outcome.

And it may not come. And it may not have come.

And so I wouldn't dare try to dress it up and

say something, make it something prettier than

it is because the truth, the honest truth is

I don't fully know why James died, yet Peter

walked free. And neither did the people in the

early church. But here's what I am saying. I

am saying that God sustains his people. God carries

his people through hardships when they depend

on him to persevere. Like I said, God loves to

show up where He's wanted. And in your darkest

moments, in your hardest times, if you will let

God in, He'll work. God is near to the brokenhearted.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. All throughout

Scripture we see... that God wants to comfort

those who need comfort. God wants to give peace

to those who need it. God wants to heal those

who are hurting. We see that through scripture.

But do you know what the constant is? He has

to be invited in. Now, sometimes God just shows

up and does his own thing, and that's awesome.

I love the sovereignty of God. But sometimes,

most of the time, we need to say, God, would

you come and work in this situation? God, would

you come and bring healing? God, would you come

and bring comfort? Or in Peter's situation, God,

would you come and break those chains? Because

here's what we do know. Both James and Peter

were delivered. It didn't look the same. But

James was delivered. He was delivered from this

evil world, this broken world, into the very

presence of the God that he died for. And if

you ask me, that is a good deliverance. Because

this world, let's be honest, sometimes it stinks.

Can I get an amen? But God's world, the place

that God is bringing us, the place that God desires

for us to live for all of eternity, that place,

that place is good. It's not just okay. It is

lovely. It is delightful. It is the presence

of the king of the universe. And if you ask me,

I will take that over this every day of the week.

I love my place here. I love my family, and I

love all of you. But being in the presence of

God, now that's deliverance. So James was delivered.

It just didn't look the same. And it was a little

bit quicker than Peter's. And Peter was delivered

from the chains Herod had him in. Why it looked

different, we don't know. But what we do know

is both men were delivered because both men belonged

to a faithful God. When we trust in God, even

when things seem dark, even when things seem

heavy, God will sustain us. He will work. As

Paul says, God works all things together for

good. As Joseph said, when he's in Egypt and

his brothers are like, could you forgive us?

Are you going to hurt us? What's this relationship

going to be like? And Joseph says, what you meant

for evil, my God meant for good. God. works all

things. And he always works. And now as the story

goes on, we see that when Peter returns to his

church family, he finds them in the home of John

Mark's mother, Mary. And you know what he finds

them doing, right? They're praying. They're praying.

They're still pleading with God. Now, Peter's

been in prison for a little bit. He's been in

there for a couple of days, yet they are still

together praying. They're pleading with God.

He finds the church together, remaining. The

church was doing exactly what the church is supposed

to do when times get tough, what we're supposed

to do when times look like they may be getting

tough, what the church is supposed to do in all

times. They are remaining faithful despite their

worry, despite their fear, despite the pressure,

despite the uncertainty. The church is remaining

faithful in their commitment to talking and pleading

and praying with God when one member is struggling.

When one of us is in bondage, when one of us

is carrying a weight that is far too heavy for

us to hold on our own, we remain faithful in

our prayer for one another. Because a faithful

church is a community that shows up. It's a community

that prays together, a community that bears the

weight of one another's burdens together. And

that's what Peter finds when he shows up. He

comes. Home. He's freed. It's first day out,

and he comes out, and he sees that they are just

praying for him, that they are praying for his

deliverance, that they are praying for this persecution

that they are under, that they are praying that

the word of God will spread, that they are praying

that they are remaining faithful. And here's

something that I love. Peter shows up at the

door, and this servant girl named Rhoda, she's

so overjoyed, and she runs to tell everybody,

and every, well, first of all, she forgets to

let him in. So I can just imagine the scene,

like maybe in a TV show, like Peter knocks on

the door. She opens it. She goes. She slams the

door shut. She runs back. She's like, Peter's

back. And the church, the ones who had been praying

without ceasing this entire time, they had been

praying for this exact thing. They tell her,

you're out of your mind, kid. Are you crazy?

Peter's in prison. He's going to die. They were

praying for Peter's release. Yet they didn't

believe it when it happened. And I find that

strangely comforting. And this is why, because

it tells me that a faithful church isn't a church

that has it all figured out. It's not a church

that has a perfect faith. It is a church that

still lacks to see what God sees. It's a church

that still sometimes can't quite comprehend the

ways that God works. But it is a church that

keeps showing up to pray, even. when they don't

understand how it'll all work. It's a church

that prays with wonder, that prays with awe.

And maybe, I hope you've felt that before. You

felt the prayers of people. You felt the prayers

of people finally in you. You show up and you

know that you've been prayed for. Maybe you've

had moments that were darker and heavier than

you ever imagined that you've had to endure,

but you didn't have to endure it alone because

you had a faithful church that was going to pray

with you and pray for you through it. Or maybe

you finally gave your life to the Lord and you

found out after the fact that an entire church

or an entire small group had been faithfully

praying for you. make that decision. In our small

group years ago when we were members of the Landmark

Church in Montgomery, we used to pray for the

empty chair. We would always, we would have one

chair that would be empty, sometimes intentional,

and we would pray for that chair. That that chair

would be filled. That somebody out there that

needed to be a part of a faith -based, a Christ

-based community, that somebody out there would

fill that chair. And we would pray for that.

And we would all have our person in mind that

we were thinking they could fill that chair.

They could be that person that if they would

sit in that chair, maybe their life would be

changed, transformed by God. That if they would

sit in that chair, that they would feel the goodness

of a faithful community. And we would pray for

them. And it would be the coolest, most awesome

thing when someone would show up and fill that

chair. When someone would be delivered from the

darkness by God because they were now a part

of the faith. Even more amazing to see that happen.

It's always amazing to see someone delivered,

but it's even more amazing to know that earnest

prayers were part of that story. And so this

morning, can I encourage you? I just want to

give you some encouragement. I've been challenging

us a lot the last, well, really the last year,

and now I want to give you a little encouragement.

to stay steadfast, to keep the faith. When it's

hard, when it's heavy, when life doesn't make

sense, when things just don't add up, when it

is very, very hard to keep moving forward or

to keep going deeper, when the pressure is mounting,

earnestly pray without ceasing. Stay connected

and be faithful to the church, even when we don't

immediately see the outcomes that we want, even

if we never see the outcomes that we want, understanding

that God's way is far greater than our way. Gather

with one another, carry one another, and refuse

to let a brother or sister walk alone through

the hard times, through the heavy times, that

this life, that this world, that the enemy throws

at us. And so now as we close, I want to go back

to Herod. Because I told you we were going to

see how the church would respond to the pressure.

And I also told you that the guy trying to crush

the church would face some pressure of his own.

Herod, he had every advantage over the church.

He had the government, the strong army. He had

the soldiers, the crowd's applause. He looked

strong. Yet in verse 23, what we see is Herod

is struck down for not giving glory to God. Herod,

in all of his earthly glory, Herod is struck

down. The same pressure that revealed the church

to be sound revealed Herod to be hollow. Herod

looked like he was supposed to look. He looked

like he had everything going for him, but he

had nothing underneath of substance. He had no

faith. He had no trust in God, no glory given

where it was due. And so when the moment came,

there was nothing to sustain him. But in verse

24, I want you to see what happens. Awesome.

Could you read this with me? The Word of God

increased and multiplied in the midst of persecution.

In the midst of danger, in the midst of pressure

like nobody could imagine, the Word of God spread.

The Word of God went how it was supposed to go.

The Word of God touched people's lives in this

world of danger. See, when a well -made submarine

endures pressure, it's able to accomplish its

mission, come what may. Likewise, the faithful

church holds up under pressure, not because the

pressure lets up, not because it gets easier,

but because of what the church is made of. And

I believe a faithful church is made up of prayer

and a dependence on God and one another. A faithful

church is made up of... Faith. It's made up of

a people that desire the presence of God and

believe that He will come down and work among

us. Y 'all, we can't escape the pressure. We

can't escape the bad things that happen in life.

And even when one issue goes away, another will

come. Herod was struck down, but the rest of

the New Testament and church history proves that

pressure would continue to come and pressure

is still coming for the church. But if we will

remain, If we will keep our eyes on the mission,

the mission to spread the word of God and multiply

his kingdom, that mission will continue on because

this thing will be made up of the right stuff.

And so this morning, if you're enduring pressure,

if all of this seems too heavy to bear on your

own, whatever it is that you're struggling with,

if you're ready to find the deliverance that

can only come from God's power, I ask you to

come down to the front row here. to come down

here and allow us to earnestly pray with you,

to earnestly pray for you, to gather together

around you. Whatever it is that you need, if

you need to respond to the call of Jesus, to

come home, to lay your burdens down, we are inviting

you to respond so that we can be the faithful

church that prays earnestly for you. If you need

that, come now as we stand and as we sing.