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Nov 23, 2025

Don’t Fight God! | His Word, His Plan, His People

Don’t Fight God! | His Word, His Plan, His People

Passage: Acts

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: His Word, His Plan, His People

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: what acts 12 teaches about fighting against god, bible story about peter in jail, how god delivers through prayer, why herod was struck down by god, spiritual lessons from peter’s escape, why we should trust god during trials, examples of god answering earnest prayer in the bible, how to respond to persecution as a believer, can we win against god?, what happens when you fight against god’s will, lessons on surrender and obedience, sunday sermon on prayer and boldness

In Acts 12, we see two drastically different paths: one man consumed by pride and power, and another walking in obedience and prayer. This sermon walks through the dramatic story of Peter’s imprisonment and Herod’s fall to reveal what happens when we fight God versus when we trust Him. It’s a call to surrender, to pray boldly, and to live with confidence that God is in control—even when it doesn’t feel like it.

Well, good morning church, and happy Thanksgiving to all of you this week. For all of you that are back in town this weekend to visit family, it is great to have you. Well, look, if you haven't been here over the last couple of weeks, we have had two incredibly exciting weeks in the life of Burnt Hickory. Two weeks ago, we had Disciple Now, and it was awesome to watch God's power move in our student ministry here and for God to challenge us. Last week we had our mission Sunday. It was a great day of celebration, getting to watch Peter and Javi really share their hearts and really challenge us. And in the middle of those two weeks, one of the things that happened that was really, really, really cool, at least in my eyes, because you probably don't care, but I do, that we actually stayed on series the last couple of weeks.

I don't know if you noticed it or not, but Ryan, a couple weeks ago, preached out of Acts chapter 10, and he challenged us with this idea of the saving of Cornelius in Peter's vision and the moving of the gospel into the Gentiles. Last week, Peter preached out of Acts chapter 11 last week. It was the Antioch account, the first time that Christians were mentioned by that name, Little Christ was last week. And it was a challenge to all of us to live out our callings. That was last week out of Acts chapter 11. One of the cool things about the Book of Acts is that every single week, it just seems like God gives us this little new sliver of God moving and God meeting people's needs and God saving people and God doing what he does best, and that is reigning his power into his people.

We've seen so far in this little journey through Acts that we're taking, we've seen the gospel be shared in Jerusalem. We've seen it move into Judea. We've seen it move to Samaria. And now we're right on the cusps of watching God just blow his gospel into the winds of the whole world. But in the middle of all of this gospel spreading, what has been happening is is there's been also a undercurrent of persecution. There's been a group of people, actually two groups of people that have really pushed back against the gospel. The first group of people are the Jews, right? We've seen this over and over every single week. They're losing power. This little group of Christians that have been stirred by the spirit of God are beginning to build, beginning to grow. And the Jews are not liking it, right? They missed Jesus. They want to hold on to the power.

In fact, they stoned Stephen. We saw that a couple of months ago, and we've been watching the Jews not only fight against Christians, we've actually been watching them fight against God, against God. That's what we were really seeing throughout the Book of Acts. But there's another group of people that are just as angry, and that is the leaders that have been coordinated on behalf of Rome to manage this area. Now, we haven't seen them a whole lot yet, but today we're actually going to get a glimpse into how they are fighting back against God. How they are pressing into these group of people that we actually call Christians. Now, here's the difference though. The Jews thought they were fighting for God, but they were really fighting against God. But the Roman authorities that we're going to see today, they could care less about God.

All they cared about was themselves. All they cared about was keeping Rome out of their business. So both groups, listen closely, both groups are pushing back against the followers of Jesus, and they're really just trying to fight God, which brings us to Acts chapter 12. All right? That's where we're going to be today. If you got a copy of scripture, and in Acts chapter 12, oh, man, church, there is a great reminder in Acts chapter 12. And actually, the overarching thought of all of Acts chapter 12, I want to give you today, and then we're going to work our way through the text because it is such a reminder for all of us, no matter where we fall in life and no matter where we are in our walk with Jesus. Here's the first principle I want to give you. And it follows all the way through this chapter.

And it's this. This is the principle of we will never win when we fight God. We will never win when we fight God. Listen, we lose. We lose. Always. Always, always. Say, man, that's a pretty declarative statement. Yes, it is. Always you will lose when you fight against God. You might think you're winning, but you're not. You might think you have slipped something by God, but you didn't. You might think that God will just let it go and just sweep it under the rug, but he will not. Listen to me closely, fighting against God never works. It never works. In fact, he's the wisest man to ever live. Said it like this in Proverbs chapter 21, Solomon, he says this, Proverbs 21:30, he says, "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord." You may think that it does, but it doesn't.

Here's the thing though. We know that truth intuitive, don't we? We know that. We know that enough to say it. But, man, why is it that we live such big chunks of our lives fighting against God? Fighting against God. Well, listen, in today's text, we're going to see this take place. So again, we're going to check in with the early church. We're going to watch God moving. God is saving many. God is pointing the glory to himself. And we're just going to read the text, and we're going to see it through a couple of different angles and a couple of different people. Particularly, we're going to see it first through a guy on this side that really loses in the end. All right. He loses in the end of the story. I promise you he does. You're not going to think he does, but he does.

He actually fights against God. He thinks he has God beat. He thinks he's above God, and actually he thinks he's kind of a God. All right? You're going to see that in a few minutes. But also, I want to show you a group of people and particularly a person on this side that show us what it looks like to live with a deep understanding that we're not to fight against God, we're to fight for God. All right? For God and God moves in our lives, and God delivers us. We can learn from both sides today, all right? Both sides. So Acts chapter 12 is, in my opinion, one of the most epic stories in all of Acts. In my mind, I can see the old Dr. Luke later on in life just keeping on telling this story, keeping on telling this story. On this side, he tells it with deep heartache, but in this side, he smiles a little bit.

He smiles. Why? You're going to see that in the end of the message. All right? Acts chapter 12, verse one. Let's watch what it looks like to completely trust in God and to completely fight against God. Here it goes. Acts 12, verse one, it says this, it was about this time right after last week, this is right when the revival in Antioch is happening, Christians are growing, this movement is happening, it was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church intending to persecute them. And he had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. Now, this is big. All right? And I got to roll you into the context here because I need to point out a couple things before we move on. This first person that it's mentioned right here, it mentions that James is killed.

All right? James is martyred. All right? Yes, we have already seen Stephen be martyred, but now we're seeing James martyred. You say, "Matt, why is that a big deal?" It's a big deal because this James is the James that is an apostle. All right? We got Peter, James and John. All right? This James is one of the inner circle of Jesus, right? The 12. It's actually one of the inner three of Jesus. This is James. This is not the James that wrote the book at the end of your Bible. That letter, that is James, the half brother of Jesus that is leading the church of Jerusalem. It gets a little confusing there. There's a lot of James. All right? This is James, the apostle. And what did the Bible just tell us here? It just says that James was killed. He was the first apostle to be martyred.

And you know that this absolutely shook the church. Yes, Stephen has been martyred, but this is one of the boys. This is one of the apostles, one of the leaders, right? And the text just told us that he was killed with the sword. He was killed with a sword. Now, that literally means that he was either beheaded with a sword or he was run through with a sword. It can mean either one of those things, but it also means that not only King Herod was involved with this killing, but also it means that probably the Jewish leaders had a little part in this killing as well. You say, "Matt, how do you know that? " Well, because in the Jewish Talmud, that is their little handbook for life, it tells them in there that the death or the sentence for a person that is leading people in apostasy or leading a rebellion to a false God, the sentence to that person should be that they should be killed with the sword.

All right? That's what it tells them in their Jewish life. And we see that that is actually how James is killed in this moment. So there's probably some gathering together of some intel here and participating together. But here's what we know about James. So, Matt, how is James being killed for leading a rebellion against God? He's not. He is actually standing for the true God, the resurrected Savior, the Messiah Jesus, but it's the Jews that miss God. And now they are misrepresenting who God is and trying to take him out and Herod is doing the same. But here's the deal about Herod, King Herod that we just read about. King Herod could care less about God. He could care less about the Jews, and he could actually care less about the Christians. All that King Herod cared about is what some of us care about, and it was himself.

That's it. You see, King Herod really and truly just wanted to get rid of a problem. And the problem was is that the Christians were fighting with the Jews. The Christians were rising up, and King Herod did not want Rome to hear about this and come in and take his power from him. That's what we're seeing right here. So Herod was not anti-church, he wasn't anti-Jesus in a God sense. He was just like the rest of the Herod's than his lineage. He was just about himself and his idea, in his glory, in his power. In fact, this King Herod is the grandson of Herod the Great that actually was the one that proclaimed all the babies in Bethlehem be killed around Jesus' birth. He's actually the nephew of Herod Antipas that actually sent Jesus back to Pilate to be crucified. This is the Herod family.

They could care less about religion. They only cared about themself. The Herod dynasty just didn't want problems in their lands. And as we've seen in the Book of Acts, the Christians were causing some problems because it was rallying up the Jews. Now, Herod really fell into the trap that some of us fall into all the time. You say, "Matt, I've never killed anybody." Well, I hope so, right? But here's the trap that Herod fell into. Herod fell into the trap that he would do anything. He would say anything. He would roll over anyone for his advancements, for his advancement. Even if it meant, here it is, let me tie it in, even if that meant fighting God. He would do anything in this world for his advancement, and Herod joined a long line of his family and a long line of other influential people throughout history and throughout his future that just stood up and fought God.

He joined a long line of people, listen to me students, that thought that they could fight God and win. But here's the deal. He didn't win. He didn't win. You see, he thought for a minute he could win. But here's the deal. You cannot fight God and win. You just can't. You just can't. In fact, go back with me through time just for a minute. In Genesis, the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve, they thought they could fight God and do what they wanted to, right? And what happened? They lost, and death entered the world. And who won? God did. He lived. The Exodus. Remember Pharaoh and Exodus, the greatest man on earth at that moment? All the power on earth. He fought God. And who lost? Was it God? No, it wasn't God. Pharaoh lost big time. Look at the kings of the Old Testament in first and second Kings and Joshua, the greatest men on the planet fought God.

And who's still living? They ain't. God is still living. In the book of Judges and first and second Chronicles, these national leaders that had been set apart actually fought against God with all power and all riches. And who's still alive? It ain't them. Them brothers are in tombs and are dust. It's God that's still alive. Remember Jonah? He tried to fight God. Nuh-uh. That didn't work out for him. Remember Ahab? Remember he tried to fight God? And he lost in the end. You can't fight God and win. You just can't do it. Everyone that has tried to fight God in scripture and everyone in culture are now dead, and God is alive. He's alive. That's just the Bible. Not just the Bible. Think about the greatest leaders of all time, whether they were totally evil or totally good. They did not live.

Alexander the Great, he's dead. Napoleon, he's dead. Hitler, he's dead. Stalin, he's dead. Many, many others have spent countless treasures, countless goods, massive power, unlimited resources, and stood against God and still did not win. But we still try it. Why? Why? Friends, listen to me. Fighting against God never works out. It never works. You may think that you're winning, but you're not. Back to the text, Herod, he's still fighting God, right? And for a minute, he thinks that he's winning, doesn't he? He kills James, right?

But listen, he just kills James' physical body. He really just set James free to go spend eternity with his savior that actually was to be absent from the body is to be present from the Lord. Actually, what Herod did was he fell into the trap of God and said, "Hey, you kill one of my boys and watch what happens to the gospel."

Herod's not winning. He's a pawn. He's playing checkers, and God is playing chess. He's losing. The irony is that James would've given his life anyway to see what happened with the gospel. But keep reading on verse three, Herod thinks he's winning and watch what he does. When he saw that this met the approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. You see it? He's like, "Hey, watch this boys. I just killed that guy. So now I'm winning." The Jews are loving him. James is dead, and Herod now decides to go after the leader of the whole crew, right? He goes after Peter. And what does he do? He actually captures Peter. This was the prize he thinks, right? Why? Because Peter's the one that every time he preaches, everybody gets saved. Every time he stands before the Sanhedrin, people get saved. Everywhere he goes, he's preaching the gospel. People are following after Jesus.

Herod thinks that if I can just get Peter and beat Peter, I can beat God. Well, what does Herod do? Herod arrests him, right? Read the rest of verse three. It says this. When he saw that this met the approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also, and this happened during the festival of the unleavened bread. Herod thought this. "Hey, listen, I'll get all the glory. I'll get all the power. I'll calm the Jews down. If I just wait and I arrest Peter when all the Jews are in town, all the Jews are coming to Jerusalem. We're one year from Jesus' death and resurrection at this point." That's the first 13 chapters is about a one-year period. And now Herod says, "If I just arrest him, when all the Jews are here, all the Jews will love me. Everything will go back calm again. I fought God. I won. I am king. I am in control."

He loves his power. He loves his glory. He's a people pleaser. And what does he do? He arrests Peter. He arrests Peter, and he puts him into jail. Now, he knows he can't kill him during the Passover. You just couldn't do that. The Jews would be mad about that. So look at verse four. Watch what it says. It says, "After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each." Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Herod, loving his power, loving his glory, he puts Peter in jail, right? Not just any jail. He puts him on the supreme supermax jail, right? That one you just see, and you go, "I ain't going there."

Green Mile kind of jail, right? There it is. He puts him with these four squads of four soldiers. That means there was round the clock guards, four guards that was with Peter all the time. Two of them were chained to him. Two of them were up at the door. By the way, this is all probably a result of the Jewish leaders telling them, "Hey, that Peter guy is slippery." Right? He's slippery. We put him in jail twice already, and God or something in their mind, something has got him out. So they're like, "Hey, just to make sure, let's put him in. Let's chain him up." And keep reading. Watch what happens. Look at this truth for all of us. Verse five, it says this. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church... Oh, here's the message for us. The church was earnestly praying to God for him.

You might want to circle that, earnestly praying, and write this principle down. Listen, when culture or people attack the church, that's you. That's me. The church should automatically counter with prayer. Automatically counter with prayer. Listen to me really closely. Prayer should be our first and foremost most trusted response during any time of need. During any time of need. Never let anybody look at you and say, "Hey, you can stuff your prayers. I just want somebody to do something." Because when you are praying, you are doing something. Now, I'm not saying prayer gets you off the hook from giving, prayer gets you off the hook from supporting, prayer gets you off from going. But what I'm saying is this, prayer should be first and foremost. Actually, look at the word that it uses to describe prayer. It actually uses the word earnestly praying. Earnestly.

Now, this word earnestly in Greek, it actually carries three different powerful connotations. The first one earnestly carries is the idea is that the church was not just a little bit praying, they were praying continually. That's what it means. That's what earnestly means. It is a continual or ongoing prayer. The second connotation here is that the church was praying as if they were stretched out or extended to the max. In other words, these weren't little puny prayers. These weren't like God bless, God bless, God bless the food prayers. No, no, no. These were earnest prayers. They were powerful prayers extended with everything they had. And the third connotation is that they prayed with as much intensity as they could. So think in your mind, a total effort, total surrender, ongoing prayer before the Lord as if God didn't move were sunk prayer.

All right? That's what's happening. This word right here is the same word that carries in Matthew chapter 26, the idea of when Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane, when the sin of the world was coming on him, when he was before the Father and the sweat drops of blood, the capillaries were bursting in his head, that's the intensity that it's asking out of us to pray. Earnest prayer. In other words, these believers would just not quit. Does that describe your prayer life? Or is your prayer life like many of our prayer lives just fickle, whenever, however, and really not trusting it?

There was four quick prayer thoughts that hit my mind this week as I was looking at this from the context of the story. Here's number one. This might help you this week. Number one, pray when you're afraid. Pray when you're afraid. That's actually exactly what's happening here, right? These brothers and sisters, they're afraid. James has died. They're now in the house thinking that their other leader, one of the three, right? The other leader has been captured, and they don't know what's going to happen. So they're praying to the max. They're praying with all intensity. They're praying continually for him to be saved. You know one of the things that God has been teaching me over the last couple of years is a threefold prayer life. Number one, I just encourage you to pray is the first thing you do when you get out of bed in the mornings, when you go before the Lord. You pray about the fears that is coming up through the day. You go ahead and submit them to the Lord.

The second thing I encourage you to do is as the day goes by, when something does come at you, not only pray in the morning that God would set you up for the thing, but then in the moment when it hits you, what if prayer was your first thought? God, I don't know where this is going. God, I don't know how I'm going to do this, but God, I need you. I desperately need you to move in this very moment. And then thirdly, I would say this, pray when you put your head on your pillow at night. Pray when you put your head on your pillow at night. For me, this has to be really quick. Amen. I'm a good sleeper. All right? For me, I mean, this lights out. I barely get vertical, and I'm gone, right? But here's why that is important to you because then you can pray not only from what came through the day, but you can pray towards the anxieties of the next day.

You see, I think that's the connotation that Paul had in mind when he said in First Thessalonians to pray without ceasing or continually. Pray when you are afraid, that's what they're doing. But secondly, pray like you're using a wartime walkie-talkie. Now, for you young folks, you're like, "What the heck are you talking about?" Right? Now, when I was a kid, all right, when I was a kid, we used to get these things called walkie-talkies, and you could talk to your neighbor in their house. You could hit that little button and go, "Hey, you there? You there? You there, right?" And then you would let that button go and then they would go, "Hey, I'm here. What you got going on?" And you're like, "Nothing. I just wanted to see if you were there, right?" Now, you just text them, you FaceTime them, you hit up the chat. Couldn't do that stuff right then.

A walkie-talkie is literally one of the best examples of what our communication to God looks like. In fact, John Piper says it like this, "We're at war, and prayer is actually what calls up the commander to move to give us our orders." Now, when you hit the button on the walkie-talkie, you are speaking, but then you have to let go of the button to receive, right? To receive the message from God. And when we do this, what does God do? God hears us. God speaks back to us. It's not a one-way street. Prayer is not. Why? Because it's God that shuts the mouth. It's God that humiliates the Pharaohs. It's God that breaks the chains. And it's God that opens up the doors, but we have to be in communication. Listen to me. Prayer is what unlocks God's power in your life. It is. So pray like you're using a walkie-talkie.

Here's number three. Prayer should be our first response in conflict. It should be our first response. Our first response is not to fight. Our first response is to pray. Pray is not the last response, it's the first response. Do you see what this church is doing? This church is not marching around the jail. This church is not causing a scene or causing a riot, they're lifting up their words to God. Peter is in jail. The church is praying. It's an offensive weapon. It's not a retreat. They prayed first. Here's the fourth thing that hit me for prayer this week. Number four, prayer should be a continual response. It should be a continual response in conflict. What does that mean? That means that these brothers and sisters that are praying, this is not a one and done prayer movement. Say, "Hey, God, I lifted it up to you, and I left it to you. And if you don't do it's your fault." Ever been there before?"

It's continual. The word that sticks in my mind is persistent. Prayer is persistence. In other words, they were placing their full trust, they were lifting up their lives to God, and they kept doing it and kept doing it and kept doing it and kept laying their stuff before the feet of an all powerful God that can literally move mountains. That's what they're doing. They're living out the story. Remember when Jesus gave the story of the persistent widow? It's one of the most underrated stories in the whole New Testament. This widow rides up beside this judge, right? Gets up beside this judge, and this widow lady just would not quit praying, would not quit giving her requests to the judge. And what happened to the judge? The judge finally just got so sick of the lady being there, he let her have her request.

That's the message that God gives us. God says, "Listen, just keep doing it." And you keep doing it and you keep doing it. Well, Matt, how long do I keep praying something? You keep praying something until one or two things happens in your life. Number one, either God answers that prayer directly or God tells you to shut up about it. Otherwise, you keep praying. You just keep on going. In fact, I love how Charles Spurgeon talks about this. He says this, "Some fruit you just have to keep shaking to get down." Samuel Chadwick says it like this, "It's prayer that turns ordinary mortals into men of power." It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God. There is no power like that of prevailing prayer. That's constant prayer.

Let me ask you something. Do you pray and walk away or do you just keep going and keep going and keep going and keep going and keep going? Sometimes you got to pray and God will move in the moment. Sometimes you got to pray and God will move in the decades. But what about you? Are you praying for God to fight for you or are you fighting against God? Well, let's see what happens in the story right here. Watch this. Peter's in jail, right? The church is praying. And watch this. In verse six, it says, "The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with his two chains and the centuries stood guard at the entrance." Verse seven. Suddenly... Oh, I love that verse in Acts, you know something good is about to happen, right? Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the sail.

He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up," he said. And the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. Well, yeah, he did so. Watch this. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. A couple things stood out here in my mind this week. And first of all, do you notice what Peter was doing in prison? Was Peter pacing? Was Peter mad? Was Peter angry at God? Was Peter upset at the moment? What was he doing? He was sleeping. He was sleeping. He's chained the two guards. He's in the floor, cold, damp, prison floor, and this brother hadn't taken Lunesta, this brother is in the peace of God.

He is living in the peace of God. And he's so asleep, the angel has to literally strike him to wake him up. In my mind, the angel's like, "Get up, Peter. We got stuff to do." The literal Greek word is to smoke. That's what it is. So what did Peter know right here? You see, Peter knew that peace wasn't defined as the absence of God in the storms, but it was defined as the presence of God in the midst of storms. You see, Peter knew one of three things was happening here. Number one, he either thought, "Hey, this is not how I'm going to die," because in John chapter 21, Jesus, when he restored him, had already told him that he was going to die at an old age by being led to somewhere that he did not want to go. That's actually what Jesus told him on the beach. So maybe, maybe, maybe just Peter's like, "Hey, do what you want to. I already know how I'm going to die." How would you live if you already knew how you were going to die? You'd be pretty bold, wouldn't you?

Or, two, Peter knew in the moment that, "Hey, God has already got me out of this situation twice. I might as well take a nap so I can be fresh tomorrow." Right? I think that's actually why he was living out this. And actually how he said in first Peter five, six, watch what he said later on, where Peter said, "Humble yourself therefore before the Lord under his mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time." And verse seven, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." This brother could say that with boldness because he did it. Or the third reason that Peter's asleep is possibly, number three, is because that Peter just trusted that whatever God was going to do, he was going to do, and he was his son and God was his king, and you could not take his soul, but he would spend eternity with him.

I personally think that's another reason he thought it. He was like, "Hey, I might as well take a nap because my God is in control." This is why Paul says later on in Philippians four, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request before God." And the peace, there it is, of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Do you see the example that Peter's living here? Peter is at peace in the middle of the storm. He's asleep in the middle of the storm because he knows God's delivered him. He knows God can deliver him. He knows he's lifted up before of God, and he knows that God is his king, and there is nothing you could do for him to take that away. Oh, what an example for us.

So what happens? The angel busts into the scene. The angel lights the room up with the glory of God because that's what happens because in angel's lives, they were with God, and they brought that glory with them. And then the Bible says that he kicks him awake. He smokes him. And the Bible says that the what? The chains fall off. Why? Because that's what God's in the business of doing. Amen. He's in the business of releasing us from the bondage of our life and setting us free. So what happens? Peter hops up, and in this quasi, half awake, half asleep, going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you know what I'm talking about, mode, now the angel is leading him. Watch what happens in verse nine. It says, "Peter followed him out of the prison." But Peter, he had no idea what the angel was doing was really happening. He thought that he was seeing a vision.

They passed the first and second guards, and they came to the iron gates leading into the city, and it opened for them by itself. The Greek word there is automatos is where we get our word automatic. Think Publix, open the doors, right? And they went through it. When they had walked through the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. And then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel, and he has rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen." Man, this is amazing, isn't it? It's amazing. In the middle of the night, this angel busts in, leads him out, puts him in the street. The angel's job is now done, so it just removes itself. Now, Peter is walking down the road, realizing a principle that every one of us needs to realize, write it down in your notes, and that is that there is no physical, emotional, or spiritual prison that God can't get you out of.

He can do it. He can do it right now. What does that mean? So never give up. Never quit praying. Never quit trusting in God. Never quit believing that there's an all knowing, all powerful, almighty God that wants to work in your life, that wants to lead you in your life. And God is our rescuer and God is our deliverer. Oh, this reminded me this week that there is some stuff that I have quit praying in my life that I need to pick back up and start presenting before the Lord. That's what it's showing us. And I need to let him work in me so I can just aimlessly shuffle behind him and enjoy his presence.

Oh, keep going in the story. Watch this. Watch what Luke says happens here in verse 12. When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark. Now this is Mark that wrote the Gospel of Mark. This is Mark that we'll see later that went with Barnabas and Paul on a little missionary journey. They had a little moment, but that's okay, right? Watch this. He went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had done what? Gathered and were praying. Now notice the church is still praying in the middle of the night. Peter knocked on the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda. I love Rhoda. She's one of my favorites, right? Came and answered the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, he must have talked a whole lot, right? She was overjoyed, and she ran back without opening it. In other words, she ran back from the courtyard into the inner courtyard, and she forgot that Peter was still at the door.

And she exclaimed, "Peter is at the door." Now look, look, dial in here. The very thing that these brothers and sisters are praying in that garden that night happens. It happens. Peter's at the door. Rhoda realizes it. She runs back into the inner courtyard. She busts into the prayer meeting, and she's like, "Peter's here. He's here. He's here." And guess what? The believers, they jump up. They're overjoyed. They're absolutely praising God in the moment. Nope, that's not what happens. They're like, "Rhoda, you need to be quiet. We're praying over here. You need to hold it down. We're having a little prayer meeting. Get out of here, little Rhoda. Get out of here." And guess what? What happens is really where many of us are in our prayer lives. Yeah, we're faithful in praying, but do we really believe that God can do miracles?

Oh, God does exactly what they're praying. Can you imagine what God would've done with their prayers if they prayed not only with the zeal, but with the faith that God can move mountains? You see, God was answering their prayer of zeal in this moment. He answers our prayer of zeal. But what if we prayed with zeal and with faith that God can do what we're asking him to do? So Rhoda tells them, :Peter's here. Peter's here." Watch verse 15. Watch what they said. They're like, "You're out of your mind." They told her when she kept insisting that it was so, they said it must be his angel. Now, the Jewish people here, now they're having a theological debate that their prayer has been answered or not been answered. And Jesus is like, "I don't know what you're talking about other than the fact that the man is at the door." But watch. But Peter kept knocking. He's like, "Hey, let me in, let me in, let me in. I don't know when those guards are going to wake up, but they're not there anymore. Let me in."He kept knocking. When they opened the door, they saw him, and watch this, they were astonished.

They were like, "It works." Right? They're like, "Oh, my gosh, our prayers, they worked." Do you get surprised when God answers your prayer or do you just look at God with that little smirk and go, "You did it again. You did it again"? Peter motioned with his hand. He's like, "Shh." Motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this. And he said that, and he left for another place. Peter's like, "Hey, come on, let me in, let me in, let me in, let me in. Let me show you what God has done. Let me teach you what God has done. Let me show you that God is faithful, that I'm alive. I am well. God heard your prayers."

By the way, this is how we have this story because Peter actually probably gives it to Mark here. Mark gives it to Luke, and Luke writes it down in the Book of Acts for us. It's the lineage of the story. And really and truly what we're seeing here is that Peter is teaching us a principle you can write it down, and that is that we can live in the full confidence and trust that God hears and answers our prayers. But do you really believe that or are you like the people in the courtyard? You're going through the motions, you're doing the deal, but do you really believe it? Peter came to the house and goes, "Hey, God is in control. God can save you. God can redeem us. God can move. God will move mountains."

But do we believe it? Because he'll fight for us when we put our requests before him. Now, that's where most pastors quit preaching this text. But here's what I know. Y'all are Bible honor students. So let me just read to you the rest of the text because it tells us what happens when we don't fight with God, but we fight against God. Watch what happens in verse 12. It says this. "In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers to what had become of Peter." After Herod had done a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Those four guards, right? They didn't do nothing wrong. God did this, right? Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea. Now let me tell you what happens here. Herod leaves town. He's sulking. He didn't get what he wanted. His power is dwindling. He goes over to his little sea palace over here, invites a bunch of people in for a big party for himself.

He said it was for Caesar, but Josephus tells us it wasn't. All right? He throws this grandiose party so people will lift him up and look at him as a king and almost a God. Now, I want you to skip all the way down to verse 21 here. All right? And watch what it says. It says, "On the appointed day, Herod wearing his royal robes sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people." Right? He threw this party. He's dressed in his royal regalia. Verse 22, they shouted, "This is the voice of a God and not a man."

And immediately, verse 23, because Herod did not give praise to God. In other words, he's like, "Yeah, I am. Yeah, I am. Look at me. Give me the glory. I have done it immediately." Verse 23, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, there's that word again, and he was eaten by worms and died. You've got to smile at that, right? You've got to smile at that. Not only do we lose when we fight God, write this last principle down then when we're done, anytime we do fight for our glory and not God's glory, there's always consequences. There's always consequences. Just when old Herod thought, "Hey, I did it. I got him back. Give me the glory. Give me the glory. Look at me. Look at me." God says, "Nope. I am in control." You think you're in control. God says, "I'm in control." You think you're all powerful. I am all power. You think people can look at you and give you glory. Give me the glory.

In fact, look at the last verse in verse 24, it says this, look at the opposite of Herod. It says this in verse 24, "But the word of God continued to spread and flourish." You see it? You can't fight, God. You can't do it. You think you're going to win, but nothing's going to happen other than you bursting from being eaten by worms.

Here's my question. Here's my question. Are you fighting God or are you fighting for God through prayer for him to move with you? One of those two things is happening in your life. Either you're fighting God or you're fighting God. You're fighting in the power of God. So here's what I'm going to do for invitation this morning. I just want you to ask yourself that question. God, am I fighting you? Is there areas of my life that are pushing back against you? Or, God, will you just move in me today so I can be a vessel like Peter that just says God is in control?

 

Follow Along with the Message

Don’t Fight God!

November 23, 2025

PRINCIPLE: We will never when we fight God.

Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
Acts 12:1–2
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
Acts 12:3
When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Acts 12:4
After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
Acts 12:5
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

PRINCIPLE: When or people attack, the church should automatically counter with prayer.

4 Prayer Thoughts

1. Pray when you are .

2. Pray like you are using a “ walkie-talkie.”

3. Prayer should be our response in conflict.

4. Prayer should be a response to conflict.

“Some fruit you just have to keep shaking to get down.”
— Charles Spurgeon

“Prayer turns ordinary mortals into men of power… It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God. There is no power like that of prevailing prayer.”
— Samuel Chadwick

Acts 12:6–8
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.
1 Peter 5:6–7
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Philippians 4:6–7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Acts 12:9–11
9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. 11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

PRINCIPLE: There is physical, emotional, or spiritual prison God can’t get you out of.

Acts 12:12–14
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
Acts 12:15–17
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” 16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

PRINCIPLE: We can live in the confidence and trust that God hears and answers our prayers.

Acts 12:18–23
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply. 21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

PRINCIPLE: Anytime we for our glory and not God’s glory, there will be consequences.

Acts 12:24
But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.
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