Let's all turn to that passage of Scripture we have been meditating on. You scarcely need reminding, but it's the book of Acts, Acts chapter 12. And you will know that we began a little series, we just have to call it a mini-series, beginning the service yesterday afternoon. looking at Acts chapter 1 and saying, yes, there are important aspects, characteristics if you like, of the book of Acts. And yet in any list of topics or themes that belong to the book of Acts, one surely would have to put down the attention to prayer that must be given once you start reading through this inspiring history. And I said, then, that gathering of the church for prayer in Acts chapter 1 really sets the standard for every other meeting of the church, which is described in the later chapters. So that's an important passage there in Acts chapter 1, when having seen our Lord ascend into glory, the disciples returned to Jerusalem. But the first thing, and this is what we tried to emphasize yesterday, the first thing was for them to go to the hour of prayer. Then we had the names of some of the men present and reference made to 120 of the disciples who were there in the house of prayer. So we praise God for that. And what I'm saying is that sets the standard. And some of the characteristics that emerge from the study of that prayer time certainly influence us as we proceed through the book. And there are so many places in the book of Acts that one would choose and should choose given this very theme. But I have felt Acts chapter 12 being so important that we should tarry here and think about aspects of prayer. And again, that's what we'll do tonight. I'm thankful for the invitation to be here for your anniversary. And I want to join to that, a recognition of your pastor's 10th anniversary, I think. how quickly the years spin by. So it was a joy to me to be here and to minister this time. You will have a place in our hearts and I would desire, as you would, that both in Northern Ireland and here, God might visit his people and move our hearts and incline us more than ever before to seek his face in prayer. We want to learn vital lessons from the Word of God that we mean to get right into the study here. So I'm not thinking tonight, at least not thinking so much of preaching a sermon, but of getting around the Word of God for a time, because there are many, many of the Lord's people these days quick to volunteer. Oh, I don't get enough time with my Bible. I don't get enough time with the Lord. That thought may have been in your mind too and therefore we take an opportunity like this of getting down before God and searching the scriptures and looking for the message that the Lord would leave with us. So we're thankful for this evening and for the fellowship we have enjoyed with your pastor and his family and also with all of you. Let's look at this portion. We have some things to think about. One of the key verses in the chapter would have to be verse 5. Peter therefore was kept in prison, kept under guard, kept with a view to having him executed soon as the Passover season would have terminated. We could say there, but God. Yes. The Lord was in the prayer meeting without a doubt. That's why we have a spectacular intervention from God in this chapter. No doubt about it. And I did say as much this morning, it's an amazing chapter full of incident. I can hardly get away from it. So many different lanes and pathways open up as soon as you start reading through these verses. There it is. Prayer was made without ceasing. You might give attention to the words in the margin of your copy of the authorized version of Holy Scripture. We believe that the authorized version is the most reliable translation and the best version to use in personal study and devotion. Look at the margin there for the comment. against the words without ceasing. Another aspect of the prayer time comes to mind now, that with instant and earnest prayer before God. Instant and earnest prayer was made. Oh, what a prayer meeting. Prayer was made. without ceasing of the church. Now, individuals can pray, and we spoke about that yesterday. Getting alone with God, to use the words in Matthew 6, in our authorized version, going into the closet there, shutting the door. Many, many of God's people in these times know nothing of that by experience. Lots and lots of Christians know nothing of that by experience. Oh, they have prayer, they do say prayer, they pray at the table, rightly so. And they have private prayer in the morning, very likely, and the same in the evening time. But we don't go as far as to get there into that room and shut the door. I pray God that that precious word taught by the Savior, taught by the Savior, there's no higher authority. might be imprinted on our hearts, and by His help, let us all seek to put it into practice. You have to shut the door, and I added a little bit yesterday, and shut down the mobile phone, and get alone with God. My Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee, shall reward thee. It's not for nothing you do such a thing. He shall reward thee openly. Isn't that precious? Prayer was made without ceasing in an instant and earnest fashion. The words describing our Savior in Gethsemane's garden at the last, when he prayed more earnestly, that word is connected here to the one that's used for prayer in the church without ceasing. He being in an agony. When we think of the Lord, in Gethsemane's agony, praying as he did more earnestly, we could apply ourselves to that. Well, there's a relationship between the words. They come from the same family, if you like, of words, the words translated without ceasing. And we can, therefore, with entitlement, write in the word more earnestly by the church. unto God for him. Individuals can pray, families can pray, but oh men and women, the church can pray. And there's great power. There is wonderful enrichment when the church gets to prayer. The fact that God takes note of the prayer meetings of the church is brought to our attention here in verse 5. I ask the question, why else would God write this into the chapter to give attention to what he considers precious in the experience of the church. He takes note of the prayer times. And yesterday, we did notice the 11 men to the four in the work, all of their names mentioned as being there at the hour of prayer and 120 others. God even had the number of people present for that first prayer meeting recorded in the book of Acts. Wouldn't it be a surprise to you and me if on getting to glory at some time the Lord should produce a book and he'd open up the pages and he would say, let's take this congregation, the one in Lisbon and Northern Ireland and many others of like nature It would surprise us immensely if the Lord opened the book and said, here are the people who are at the prayer meeting. That would be stunning. We wouldn't expect that. Are there not grounds for thinking that way, given the wording of Acts chapter 1, the 11 men named, and Mary named, and the woman classified, and the 120? The Lord had it all down, already numbered, those who were meeting with Him. That's interesting. And here I bring this verse to your attention, Peter kept in prison. prayer. The Lord noted this down because it's precious in heaven. Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And there are lessons we haven't even touched on to be gleaned from this verse as well. But I want to take a larger view tonight given that the theme is prayer in the church, prayer in the book of Acts, looking at the history, the inspired history of the work of God in those precious days. Let's briefly engage in prayer. I need help from God tonight, so I value your prayers. The Lord takes note of them, even though you and I think them to be very feeble, and you and I may not see a great deal of value in them. And the devil comes by to rubbish your prayers too. He loses no time in rubbishing every effort you make for the Lord, even in prayer. That's his practice, but the Lord doesn't do that. And so, when you pray, Lord, bless this preacher tonight because he needs that blessing. He sorely needs the blessing of God. Lord, hear prayer. Now, you hear the prayer of our hearts, know God, come by and stand in this pulpit, stand alongside this preacher. Lord, we can do our utmost to reach the external organs for hearing, do our very best in that respect, yet we cannot speak to the heart Thou canst do this, Lord, do come and do that. Speak to my heart, the hearts of all who are here. There are some here tonight who don't know Thee. They're still proceeding further along the road of sin. Lord, hear prayer. Stop that man. Stop that woman. Stop that young person from going on another day without Christ. There could be some here, Lord, really cold and backslidden or discouraged, someone who has really quit on God, nearly abandoned altogether Thy Word. Oh, God, come with forgiving grace, restoring grace, that joyous portion to being received again with warmth, by our Heavenly Father, do a new thing tonight. And some are young, Lord. Take that young heart tonight, that young life. And even though adults are in mind in the preaching, Lord, you can give something to the child, even to the youngest who can hear tonight. Lord, do that too. Let this be a night when we will come to the conclusion, the right conclusion. At this night, we have been shut in with the Lord. It has been like that closet. We have shut the door. We have switched off the mobile. We have sought to get alone with God. Hear prayer, we beseech thee in Jesus' name. Amen. Yes, and looking at this chapter, one could survey the ground covered thus far in the inspired history we call the Book of Acts. Times of great blessing. These can be noted and should be noted. Even chapters 9, 10, and 11. Chapter 9, the conversion of the notorious Saul of Tarsus. And chapter 10, the conversion of Cornelius. And then, again, moving into chapter 11, the foundation of the work in Antioch and the new church formed. A great revival Barnabas, a man filled with the Holy Ghost, used of God to bring many to Christ. There is much cause for rejoicing going through these portions. And we get here to Acts chapter 12, and then there's a chill breath The very power of hell let loose on the church. Circumstances can change. Feelings can change. And here there is the reason for it. Now by that time, this man Herod is activated by the devil. The devils are very real adversary. To me, the devil is present in the world. He's the adversary of the Christian. The Word of God warns the believer in this age against being unwatchful or caught on the wrong foot. I have lots of friends now, lots and lots of friends in this country and also at home in Northern Ireland, very sound people, godly people, and they believe the devil is already in the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit is part of hell. The bottomless pit is a place. It's not a state, it's a place. And it is their conviction, apparently. The devil is there. The devil's not omnipresent. I can't subscribe to that view. I do not see it having the least support in scripture, and it's astonishing. that men, otherwise very sound, godly men, should take that notion into their hearts for a minute that the devil is already seated up in the bottomless pit. That's unworkable. The devil's in the world. He's a very real adversary. Sometimes I've had to say of my friends who have that persuasion, I don't believe they could prove it. The devil's there. Remember, he can't be in two places at once. He's either in that part of hell called the bottomless pit, or else he's here in the world. To me, the evidence of scripture certainly is the devil's still in the world. Well, I sometimes said in a bit of a tease to my friends that they must have a wonderful lifestyle compared to me. I have had no end of abuse targeted by the devil one way or another. The devil stabbing me in the back and confronting me to the face, having me from all sides. Well, I know I have been in a battle and I bear the scars of battle. My friend believes the devil's not here at all. I have to say, you must have a marvelous spiritual life going along with God in a world without the devil. What would a world without the devil be like? No, no, that's not the way of it. Do you see Herod here? Do you see what he's doing? That's the devil. That's my firm conviction. Now if you look at this chapter another way, in another light, I will listen to you on some occasion. But we're glad we have the book. I put it to you, there's a deadly enemy here. And with all the blessing we may consider the subject of previous chapters here, with all these blessings in mind, there's a sudden change. There's a sudden change of fortune. The menace of persecution, serious persecution, raises its head. And Herod the king has determined to hurt the church. Indeed, I believe he has determined to crush the church altogether. that it might no longer continue. We have a deadly enemy here. Verse 1 tells us plainly, there's no mistake in it, his purpose, his singular purpose is to vex the church, to vex the church. He targets the gathering of God's people in a number of ways, and I needn't elaborate on tonight, that's not the subject. We need to be Captain Safeguard. That's where prayer comes in. That's where the power of the precious blood of Christ reveals for the Christian. We believe in the cross. We believe in the finished work. We believe in the shed blood. We believe in that sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's dear son. And consequently, the Lord will give the victory. Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And haven't I suggested already, as my firm belief, there wouldn't be one Christian left alive in this country or anywhere else, including Northern Ireland. There wouldn't be one Christian left alive for five minutes if the devil had his way. And the fact that you're here tonight is testimony to the fact that there's keeping grace with God. My heavenly Father watches over me. I'm thankful for that. you can see a singular policy wipe out the church another thing a reference to time you see the first line of verse one you could be in such a hurry reading your chapter you've missed it none about that time so this wave of persecution starting with the purpose of wrecking the church It's not some sort of circumstantial occurrence, an accident of fate. Oh no, the timing, the timing of the event has to be noted. Not only do we have a deadly enemy, one who's certainly in the world, who plots the downfall of the Christian. If he can get you as a believer to wander away from God, turn your back on the Lord, if he can do that, he has achieved his object. But it's not for nothing. Four words. You see those four words at the beginning of chapter 12? Have you taken account of them? Now about that time, it would be nearly a subject in itself for me to elaborate on that, and I'm not going to do it, but we'll drop a few hints perhaps. Now about that time, what I'm saying is it wasn't an accident that Herod killed this dearly beloved brother, James, the brother of John. John, the three of them so near to the Lord, three of the men in the New Testament who were nearest to the Lord in gospel days. And James, brother of John, is murdered by this man, but it's not an accident. About that time, what time? Now, just very quickly from chapter 4 onwards, practically every chapter reveals some difficulty that the church had to encounter. It may not have been a major difficulty, but let it be called a disappointment, let it be called a serious matter. The chapters vary. But I could take you today through these chapters, beginning chapter four, where there was a prohibition put on the preaching of the gospel. You're not allowed to speak in the Savior's name. That's chapter four and thereafter. Something happens every chapter to cause annoyance, to cause grief, to cause discouragement in the church. And there we have this as a kind of conclusion to it all. Now about that time, just a rap matters up and the devil attacks again. Or could it be? not only the culmination of a series of discouragements, but could it be, in response to verse 28 of the previous chapter, that there would be a dearth throughout all the world, which affected Israel at the time. Starvation, desperate trouble, physical trouble. The church there needed relief. And could it be when provisions were running low, Children were in need, families were distressed, even among believers in Jerusalem, of all places. But in that time, there came this savage attack by the devil. So you must think of the timing, not only of the target, but the timing. The devil doesn't work in a casual way. There are lots of Christians who imagine the best way to worship God is in a casual way. I'm not persuaded of that. I believe in public worship. It's good to show we have reverence for the Lord, but that's beside the point. What I'm saying is tonight that when we come together to seek God's face, There is not only the target and the timing of the devil's attack, but we're glad for the preservation the Lord gives. Could it be in this time of starvation, when there was shortage and anxiety in the city, that the devil then began his assault when things were hard and distressing? The devil will kick you when you're down. The devil knows how to stab you in the back when you're feeling low. He's no friend of the Christian and really he's no friend of the sinner either. I want you to notice these things. Herod thought the church didn't have an answer. So he struck at the church and thought there was no danger of reply. His life was not in danger. He was Herod after all, king over that part of the country that he was responsible for. So he was very proud of himself. He could strike at the church with abandon, get rid of James, get rid of Peter also, and others in the list that he had, I'm sure, in his mind. He can do what he likes, he thinks, but God, that God stepped in, and God used the prayers of the church, and this is where we are tonight. I said this morning, and it bears repetition, this is an amazing chapter, gripping, full of incident, well worthy of prayerful study. We want to look at this tonight because Herod thought the church didn't have an answer. They had no weapons. And then 2 Corinthians 10, 4 and 5, if you're taking a note, 2 Corinthians 10, verses 4 and 5, will not turn up the place now, although it would profit us immensely if we did. The weapons of our warfare are are not carnal, but they're mighty. I believe that as Christian people, who you have been well taught in scripture and you yourself have meditated on God's word through the years and you follow the Lord in prayer, yet I think we may not be sufficiently aware that we have weapons, the weapons of our warfare. We know that there is a warfare going on, but we may not be altogether conversant with the weapons as much as we should if you join the army. And especially if you were going to be in the front line of the offensive, then you'd be taught about guns and equipment, shown how to use them, what they were best employed for. You would learn about the weapons. That would be part of the training. Of course, that's so. What about the Christian at war? Does he know enough about the weapons? There it says in Corinthians, the weapons of our warfare, pulling down, pulling down the strongholds of Satan. Have we a lot more to learn there about that? Pulling down the strongholds of Satan and casting down Those high imaginations and bringing every thought into captivity to Christ. There is more power in prayer than, may I say it tonight? May I suggest there's more power in prayer than we realize. Maybe there is occasion for us here to think about studying 2 Corinthians 10 all over again, maybe. And I'm speaking to the Lord in my heart as I say this. Maybe we have a lot to learn yet and my prayer is Lord come by. I'm even praying as I'm speaking, Lord come by. open up this book again, this very passage about the weapons of our warfare. We need to know about them. There are two views of prayer in Acts chapter 12, two different views of the church at prayer. The first one there is verse 5 mentioned already. And then as we go to Verse 12 and 13, we have the second look at the prayer meeting. Verse 12, when he had considered the thing, Peter stopped and thought about what God had done for him in the prison. And as a result of that consultation with himself, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. And there, there is the interesting detail you want to know about. Now many were gathered together. What were they doing at that time of the night? Sleeping? No, no. They could have been. They're just the same as you and me. They needed sleep. Something more important by far had taken their hearts. They were gathered together praying. And then verse 13, we have to put this in too, it's vital for tonight. As Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel, the damsel came to hearken and her name was given. She's called Ruta. I expect to meet Ruta in heaven. And already there are interesting side lights to her work and her character that have to be marked out in this chapter. Really wonderful. Really wonderful. But there's a difference. There's a difference between verse 5 and verse 12 and so on. Oh, there's a tremendous difference. And I'm going to attempt to sum up that difference by saying that in verse 5 you have the prayer meeting conducted by the church as God viewed it. We have God's verdict on that prayer meeting in verse 5. Then when we come to The verses in the passage, beginning verse 12, still describing the prayer meeting. It's the same prayer meeting. It's the same prayer meeting. You might scarcely believe that, but it is. This is the manward view. It's one thing to look at the prayer meeting from the divine aspect. How does God see the prayer meeting? That's wonderful. Verse 5, the divine aspect. And then in verse 12, we have the manward view with all its imperfections. Now we're learning something. It's not a perfect prayer meeting. And then we've got to be quick to say, oh, but our prayers are far from perfect. In fact, you might even distance yourself from the prayers in the book of Acts by undervaluing your prayers. allowing the devil to rubbish them. Because you're saying, well, my prayers are feeble. I'm afraid my prayers are feeble by comparison. My prayers are of nothing. But that's man's judgment. That's your verdict. Doesn't necessarily have to be right. But when we look at the latter part of the whole sequence here, I'm saying we're looking at the prayer meeting from the manward aspect and we see all the blemishes. We know about them all too well and we're the first to say our prayers are not perfect. Sad to say, I would to God they were. I would to God my prayers were perfect. But my prayer fails, falls short of the standard. And I look at the prayer meeting in the light of the passage, beginning at verse 12, and I am astounded. Perhaps you are surprised as well. This is the book of Acts. This is the book of Acts, men and women. This is the book that tells of mighty revivals beginning with Pentecost. It's incredible that getting down to the, I was going to say, the low level for the prayer meeting. We're astounded to think that Bible saints, Bible Christians could be praying like this. It's a homely lesson. It's for your encouragement. because we tend to, we can't help it. We put these saints of God away up on the pedestal and think more of them than is written. Now it's right to esteem them, so I don't apologize for that. I do esteem them. I esteem them all highly and I'm going to meet them in heaven. In fact, I may meet some of them in heaven who will tell me I listened in. If you can listen in on the web, to this service or some other service, it might be possible for the Lord to know more about technology than people down here in the world. And some of them might say, I listened in to what you said when you were in Providence Chapel for the anniversary. Oh, yes. Now we have the manward view, and we're seeing here prayer is not perfect. I say that for your encouragement, because when you put these folk up there on the pedestal, and we do want to esteem them very highly and love, because they are special people. They are. We tend to put them way up there, and we're way, way down here. But when you get to the make up of the prayer meeting, then God's people are just the same. Today, as always. The weakness is there. The regrettable things are there. It's astonishing. We could spend all night in this because if we did, there would be a great deal of profit for us to get this homely lesson. So there is that contrast, the Godward view, and it is enhancing in verse 5. Prayer was made without ceasing of the church. You know, there isn't one word there of blemish about the church prayer meeting in verse 5. Not one blemish. I'm glad I can say of the prayer meeting with God's people there, those who are spirit-born and blood-washed, have been given acceptance in the well beloved. I'm thankful for that and that acceptance carries through in prayer. I put it to you that's why verse 5 is so enhancing for the prayer meeting in the church. But I'm glad, I was going to say I'm delighted maybe i am to get the other passage in the same chapter about the same gathering and learn also about the manward side of prayer at that time and then we see the saints are not so perfect and their prayers are not so perfect and then it's a short step from there to say well if they had those handicaps and prayer there's room for me praise the lord There's room for me with my feeble prayers also. And if God accorded such blessing to them with their handicaps, then surely there's a word from my soul for blessing also. The Lord did not cast them off. I will not cast you away either. So then I draw your attention to a young lady. As she's mentioned there in verse 13, she's not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. This is the only place she has a lovely name. Neomroda is a Greek name. And there's a wonderful fragrance about it because the name Rhoda means rose. So we could just as well, and maybe I'll adopt that, just use the English translation. and call her Rose. Rose is just a servant girl. She's a young girl. I don't know her age, possibly in her teens, maybe twenties. Well, there's some things to say about Rhoda. Most people here will have to say, oh, we don't know Greek, and we'll take your word for it. But then you've been in the garden, perhaps, and there's a plant there with a beautiful flower to it. It's called a rhododendron. that's a compound name, rhododendron. Dendron means a tree or a bush, and rhodo means rose, so actually the name for the rhododendron, that beautiful flourishing plant, is the rose bush or the rose tree, rhoda. You're quite familiar with the name then, and you haven't made the association. Here is a rose from God's garden. Do you know Pastor read in the prayer time tonight from the Song of Solomon, and our Lord Jesus Christ is the Rose of Sharon. And if we have any likeness to Him, any relationship to Him, well, we may find believers here. A young girl here tonight, or an older lady for that matter, a fragrant rose with the fragrance of heaven, the fragrance of Christ. I'm glad she has a name like that. Do you know this? Out of this prayer meeting in Bible times, she's the only person named. That's very humbling. Now, the house is identified, of course, the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark. Of course, you have that detail. But that more or less describes the house. It doesn't describe the people. And there's only one person named. at the prayer meeting. That's not to say that the Lord knows the identity of the rest. Of course he does. Why does the Lord single her out? She's the only person named in this assembly of the saints. That would strike you as being a marvelous thing if you thought about a prayer meeting and that God paid special attention to a person by your name at the prayer meeting that night. Her emergence here is almost coincidental. That's why it is a fact for some believers reading Acts 12, not really to think very much about Rhoda. It's because her emergence in the account is almost coincidence, a coincidental thing. God has her there on purpose and given her name. And so I see her among God's people. That's the first observation. I thank God for that. And looking at you tonight in this congregation, even some of you who as yet haven't come to receive Christ as your Savior, I'm glad you're here. I'm glad you're among the Lord's people. You're in a good place where you hear about him. And when you hear his precious word, you're in a good place. But with Rhoda, she is a believer. Oh, that emerges all right. That emerges with dynamic force in this chapter. What a person she is. What an example. We have girls here tonight. We have older... Ladies also, and there's encouragement, immense encouragement for you. Maybe spiritually we can call you Rose from tonight on. She's among the Lord's people. Moreover, she's found at the prayer meeting. Now that's a nice thing. I wouldn't want you as a Christian to be found in some other undesirable crowd. I don't think it's a good testimony for a Christian. On the Lord's day, for example, or any other time, you'll be found in company where the atmosphere and the language and the interest is far, far away from God. I think that's tragic if you're a Christian. Your place is among the Lord's people. Companionship is important. We just touched on it this morning. Peter lying between two soldiers. I sort of suggested to you we could call them companions, but we couldn't say they were friends because it was their task to keep Peter there. Don't let him go. And so some people form friendships of the wrong kind. They have companions, but no real friends who hold them fast in the world and in sin. Here, there's a young girl, and she's among God's people. Moreover, she's in the prayer meeting. And I love that about her. She knows Peter's voice. Remember, she knows his voice without opening the door. Now, what does that tell you? tells you she was at the meetings very frequently, heard Peter preach time after time, knew that man right well, knew the sound of his voice. She didn't have to open the door. It was pitch black out there, the darkness of the night already. I don't know if she would have seen his countenance in the darkness. Maybe she would. But at any rate, she didn't have to open the door. She knew the voice. She'd been there at the house of God so often. I like that. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. We would like to have preached this to everybody connected with the church. Some people are not here tonight because they're not so well. Some people are not here tonight because of those infirmities. Some have other explanations which are justifiable. Well, I wouldn't like to think somebody just stayed away on a notion. I wouldn't like to think somebody stayed away so that they could follow other things instead of following the Lord. Here's a young girl who's at the prayer meeting. Moreover, she's a girl familiar with the preachers, familiar with the preaching of God's words. It's, I knew that voice. Oh, for sure. How many times God has spoken to us, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. Public worship is important for the Christian, very, very important. And moreover, men and women, here's a girl present, listen very carefully, present at the all night of prayer. Why, some men wouldn't even be present at the all night of prayer. And when these people are praying without ceasing, didn't you get that in verse 5, without ceasing? Well, one of the meanings attaching to that is, they prayed on and on all night. It was the last night, remember? Remember, we touched on that this morning. The last night to be spent in laying hold on God. They're going to pray through to the dawn. Oh, no mistake in it. and wrote us there. She's there at the all night of prayer. I'm not saying these things are forced on you. No, they're not. The Lord believes in volunteers. He's looking for your heart. He doesn't have conscripts in his army brought into the army by force. No, no. You follow the Lord out of your heart's desire. You'll say like Abraham, here am I. Or like Isaiah, here am I, send me. That's touching. And many are in attendance. And I thought to myself, how many are many? I would love to go around the meeting now and say, how many were here? In your opinion, we'd have to guess at it. Would somebody say 100? But then this was a home. The whole might have been as big as that, but doubtful. So maybe they've got to bring the number down. We're just working with guesswork. Could it have been 50 or 60? I don't think you would have had 10 there. 10, you'd hardly say that would be many. To have 10 or five or six wouldn't be many. There are many at the prayer meeting, even though it means praying on through the night. with resolve. Praise God for that. So, I like what I read about the prayer meeting. And, Rooda has a hearing heart, because that's one of the things we pick up in verse 13. The damsel came to hearken. That has reference to the door, the knocking. What time was it? Three o'clock in the morning? Four o'clock? And I don't know that anybody else at the prayer meeting heard the knocking. Anyway, they would say, that's the job for the servant girl. Rhoda, Rhoda, Rhoda, go you to the door. That hour of the night in the dark. Oh, she's very cautious as she came. Cautious girl, she's cautious. To listen, who's there? He knows the enemy could come. Did Herod send somebody else with a sword? Who's there? And Peter says, Peter, don't you know me? Peter, I'm here. It must have nearly taken our breath away. Praise God. Wonderful. she came to hearken. Could I just stop with those words and say that's a splendid way for Christians to come to the prayer meeting even though yes strictly speaking in the chapter it's answering the door but I would like to turn the words around a little bit and say well we've come to the prayer meeting to speak to the Lord and not only so but we've come to hearken. There was Solomon in 1 Kings 3 and 9. I read the words to you. And Solomon as a young man, newly come to the throne, is praying. 1 Kings 3 verse 9, and he's saying there, give therefore thy servant an understanding heart. Oh, that was the prayer Solomon prayed back then. Give thy servant an understanding heart. I'm glad we have the authorized version. And even these remarks in the margin are often very helpful. Nearly always they are helpful. And you'll notice against that verse 9, 1 Kings 3, these words with reference to an understanding heart. Have you got an understanding heart? That the Hebrew there is hearing. Solomon praying for an understanding heart. Remember God gave him such wisdom? Praying for an understanding heart is really asking for a hearing heart. Give me a heart to listen. And I would say of Rhoda, that's one of her qualifications. People treat her like a servant girl. She seems to wear the title well. And she goes to the door as one prepared to listen. She went to the prayer meeting like that, ready to hearken. When you're going to the prayer meeting next time, just you think of Rhoda. Even going to the door, she went to hearken. It could have said men and women, could have said in the narrative, and the damsel named Rhoda went to answer the door. And that would have been very fitting. you might have expected that. But it doesn't say that. The Holy Spirit ordering the language of Scripture gives rather this characteristic. It doesn't say, as it could have done, that she went to answer the door. No, no. She came to hearken. And I think that sums up to her attitude of heart at the prayer meeting, she came to hearken. And when you come to the public worship, Sunday, the Lord's day, or elsewhere, if you could say, Lord, let me come to hearken, let me hear thee. And then she has a joyful spirit. so much, and I'm going to hasten on from here. It says in verse 14, And she knew Peter's voice. Of course she did. She had been at many and many a meeting. She had heard that dear man of God preach the word. Her heart had been stirred. Yes, she knows God's servant. And it says, She opened not the gate for gladness. Isn't that just like the thing? She's excited, filled with joy, just for gladness. And the poor man standing out there freezing in the dark streets of Jerusalem, knocking at the door with intention to get in. And there she is, so excited, jumping virtually, with enthusiasm. The scripture saying there, for gladness and run in. Remember, I'm guessing now, it's three o'clock in the morning. in the prayer meeting, still going on, wrestling with God, four o'clock maybe, in the morning. And if we think of many a servant girl or somebody doing that kind of trivial work, let's say, There would have been a grumbling heart at 3 o'clock in the morning. Asked to go to the door at 4 o'clock in the morning. Who are you talking about? She could have gone with a grumbling old heart. And instead of running, she could have dragged her feet in unhappiness. But she's not that kind of girl. Oh, she has a wonderful testimony. With gladness and light step, running, running. Let us, whatever we're engaged in for the Savior, let me talk to girls who are here tonight. Just run for Him, run, run when it's the Lord. And to the men who are here, and maybe some of you are getting to the stage where you can't run very much, but even so, quicken your step, run, start running. with gladness i see her character filling out in every way and i like what i see i thank god for her life she's the only one mentioned in the great prayer meeting that night god put her name in the book for a purpose the lord has her name there is one of the people you want to meet in heaven she possesses this Joyful spirit. She rushes in and stops the prayer meeting. She must have done. And I could just think of her saying, stop, stop, stop, stop. And men who are there, oh, sedate apostles. And the servant telling us to stop. Who is this servant girl? Who does she think she is? Men could have been offended, greatly offended. I think by the nature of things here they weren't too pleased either. And she must have said, Stop! Stop! He's here! I don't know if she added, Glory to God! He's here! Filled with gladness, just having run in from the door. What a person she is. Stirring up the prayer meeting. I thank God for her. And she got two responses. Did you see that? Did you note that down? Two responses she got. Oh, you say, thank the Lord for that. The first one was, praise the Lord, hallelujah. No, no, that wasn't the response. The other response she got, thank the Lord, Ruta, for giving us the message. Thank the Lord for telling us about answered prayer. No, that wasn't the message. It was like some of those praying people taking a bucket of cool water and throwing it over her. You see, this is the test of character here. I must say, I feel very small compared to her. I feel very small. Because the first one is not a shout of praise. And those saints didn't have the spirit she has. Even though they're the prayer meeting crowd, let's say, they are the prayer meeting crowd in the church. They don't have the spirit she has. And those precious days following on from the great revivals. And here she is, listen carefully. She took the knocks and the trials. It came from Christian people. You wouldn't believe it. I'm sure they didn't intend to do wrong. I'm sure they didn't intend to be discouraging, but they were. And he did do wrong. And the first thing they say to her, you're mud. You're a maniac. Praying people? You see, When you come to verse 15 there, you have to take note of that. They said, you're mad. You wouldn't even want Christians to talk like that. And she's a believer. And they're saying to her with strength of opinion, you are mad. You're mad. That's very hurtful. That's very hurtful. And what did she say? Well, I'll never come back to the prayer meeting. He said, well, get me my coat. I'm going home. I'm never going back to the prayer meeting. I couldn't pray with you people. I couldn't really say much to her if she had said that, but she didn't. I see a girl here who can take all the knocks. I admire this in her, but what a character she has. What an example for me. I feel so small. I feel so small compared to her. She's a way up there, true enough. She will not climb down. She gets rebuffed, but she's not broken. And she keeps on. Look at what it says there. verse 15 she didn't hit back she didn't denounce them she didn't call them names if they called her this awful name you're mad young girl go away that must have said that that's hurtful you should be careful of your language even though you're among the prayer meeting crowd at the church You have to be careful of your attitude, and this behooves us all. Right here, beginning at the pulpit, and going right through the membership here, and the friends who've come. Now you have to review your attitude. I hope already you're not guilty here in this respect, but just in case you might be next week, you take advice from this. Yet here's the thing in verse 15, she wouldn't let go. I like that about her. Her tenacity got to be noticed. She held to the point. She constantly affirmed. And then the scripture adds, even so, even so, they're not going to back down, not even to the apostles. High in authority as they are in the church, their word respected, their decision always one that get submission. But she's not giving in. She says, even so it is. She constantly affirmed it. I said this morning about Herod, he went on in sin. Taking those words in verse 3, he proceeded further. That little thought of going on runs through Acts 12. Just take a note, verse 5 for example. Only this time it's for God's people to go on. And I repeat what I said this morning to an unconverted person, you're in danger of going on in sin. That's terrible because you're going on toward perdition. But look at the Christian. Verse 5, they continued praying without ceasing. Look at verse 16. But Peter continued knocking, kept on doing it. And the girl herself, verse 15, she constantly affirmed. She kept, she wouldn't keep quiet. They tried to stop her, and I'm going to use a rude word here, you'll forgive me for that, but they're going to say, you shut up, you shut up. We don't want ever to use that kind of language, not at all. But things were getting tight here, and shall not give in. What about the church this is the 27th anniversary, you know those words they're constantly affirmed 27 years after Men and women we're still constantly affirming the things that are even so The Bible is the Word of God the Word of the Lord is right Psalm 33 verse 4 he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast Psalm 33 verse 6 Ah, I'm not the pastor here, my dear brother, will allow me this margin. They say, after 27 years, that is constantly affirmed. We take the book, the book of God as it stands from cover to cover. Furthermore, we believe that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. We continually affirm this to be so. And that He is the virgin born Son of God. We constantly affirm this is so. And that He finished the work there on Calvary's cross. The work of our redemption when He shed His own precious atoning blood. We constantly affirm that it is. Even so, it's the truth of God. And equally, equally, we constantly affirm He's coming back again. Zechariah 14 and 4, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, plainly identifiable to this day outside the city of Jerusalem. The Word of God will have a literal fulfillment there. He's coming back again. We constantly affirm it to be so. I like this girl. I like her spirit. It's wonderful. No wonder the Lord put her name. She constantly affirmed it to be so. Let me say that to you as a Christian. You believe these things. The Lord has shown you the certainty of these things. You want to constantly affirm it. Let there be no going back, no change. Your pastor will say, preach it on, preach it out. He's 100% in this. Ah, thank God I don't have to preach and find the minister of the church scowling at me. No, no. There is no disapproval here. We constantly affirm. You know, churches have changed. Bible colleges have changed. And people have deserted the old foundations. Things are not the same now. In this church or that church yonder, some church far away or near at hand, you're saying things are not the same now. They didn't constantly affirm. That is so. Let us pledge ourselves today, this very important day. Men and women here, young and old alike, let's pledge it now. We just stand for the book, four square for the book. God's own precious word. She wouldn't give in. She wouldn't be beaten down. I like that about her. She constantly affirmed, it's true, it's true, it's true. Then the men changed their tune, the women too, and mawed that girl. Then they began to be abusive. That was difficult. They'd go into the nonsensical and say it is, it's angel. Do God's people have a readiness to believe the fanciful rather than the fact? It's not as angel. No such thing. Listen, I just put these notes down here. The angels do not impersonate anybody. That's what would have happened if they had been right. The church of the New Testament actually saying, it's as angel at the door. Nonsense. Nonsense. The angels don't impersonate anybody. An angel won't come to your door saying, I'm Peter the Apostle. No, otherwise he's a lying spirit. And furthermore, the angel wouldn't have to knock. That's the absurdity of it. The angel doesn't need to knock. How did the angel get into the prison? Past the keepers, past the iron gate, and get right into that cell where prisoners are kept with the utmost security. How did the angel get in there so freely? He doesn't need to knock. He can step right in. He has that power. Say he's knocking on the door. Let me tell you this. If it had been his angel, he had no chance of getting in. They didn't even believe what they were saying themselves. And for them to come off of that nonsense, it says the angel, they don't believe it. And the angel has no chance of getting in. But that's Peter. I have to finish here. And I do bring the word to a conclusion. Men and women, this girl believed God when they did not. And it's marvelous to have the manward view of the same prayer meeting. You couldn't believe it's the same prayer meeting, but it is. People who are actually praying all night, praying for Peter, believing professedly in God, will answer prayer and do the miraculous thing. They're so shocked. They're saying, no, no, it's anything but that. we're all going to find out when we get to heaven or later on when the Lord comes, we're all going to be astonished. That's the word at the end of verse 16 there. You see it? Astonished. No matter what your position is in this teaching or that teaching, we'll all be astonished. And we see the glory and the beauty of the Savior that will dazzle every eye in the crowning day that's coming by and by. Everybody here will be astonished. To see the print of the nails in his hand, astonished. To know that after all these years, meet the Lord now, astonished. To see the glory of heaven, our Father's house on high, and be astonished. And here's a girl hammering away at it, not backing down, not giving in. What could you do with her? He says, it's even so. She knows what she believes and she's not giving in. And that's what I'm praying here as I speak. I'm saying, Lord, give me something of her heart and spirit. Give me a dose of that medicine tonight. And I might continue with my last breath. Was it Wesley who wrote, I think it was, with my latest breath? And he wanted to cry in death, behold the law, I'm still affirming constantly, even in death, that it is so. That's the spirit. We could linger here. You know what I meant when I said early on, we could stay here all night, so we could. If the Lord would open this door and that door and take us further into it, we couldn't get over it. And we think of the rest of the Christians, they are great people, great people, the best people in Jerusalem. God's praying people. Everyone was astonished. What would you say of their faith? You'd say this, the Lord didn't cast them away because their faith was so bad. They weren't charismatics. A charismatic might say, away you go, you haven't got the faith. The Lord doesn't do that. These people melted in the heat. They failed the test. And it came to the knock at the door. It's not so. They were astonished. They were astonished that God answered. They were astonished God answered prayer. And that's what the whole thing was about. The Lord has wonderful surprises for his people. The Lord loves his people. I can say to you as a Christian, the Lord loves you dearly. God's dear son shed his precious blood on the cross of Calvary for your soul. The Lord will never give you up. And even though in unbelief, you've been astonished that your prayer was answered, you're astonished. The Lord has not cast you off. He didn't cast these people off. Verse 5 gave you the Godward view. Remember, prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And God heard their cry, and no matter about their feelings, he rewarded them openly. And you and I have many feelings. We know all about them, and the devil reminds us of them too. And we're asking the Lord to forgive us and to cleanse us, and to renew in us the first love. And let us on an anniversary day, men and women, Let us press on with God for it's well worth it. You're not going to regret a thing when you stand there astonished in his presence. Praise the Lord, your minister will come.