Summer Fruit: Figs of Faith

August 18, 2015

Summer Fruit:  “Figs of Faith”         NOTES NOT EDITED

Acts 12:5-18

SIS—Faith means we do our part and trust God to do His part.

Kindergarten students love to have visit from the local firefighters, especially if they bring the Fire Engine.  On one visit a firefighter in his full gear was speaking with a kindergarten class.  The fireman said, “Remember, in a fire the smoke will rise so you need to crawl close to the floor where there is more air.  If you hear the alarm here’s what you do.  Go to the door and feel with your hand if it is hot.  Then,” the fireman continued, “fall to your knees.  Do any of you know why you fall to your knees?”  One of the precocious little boys piped up quickly, “Sure, I know.  You fall to your knees and start praying, ‘God get us out of this mess!’”

That little boy demonstrated a great principle in the Bible.  There is an inseparable connection between prayer and faith.  That little boy had faith that “through prayer, God gets us out of the messes of life.”  That little boy wasn’t far off the mark.  The “Figs of Faith” grow on the vine of believing prayer.”  Let’s read to see what the Bible says bout The Fruit of Faith and Believing Prayer.  [Acts 12:5-18]

1.  Faith Fuels Believing Prayer (v. 5)

As I pointed out above, faith and prayer are inseparable.  Faith is a fruit that grows on the vine of believing prayer.  Notice what God’s people do when faced with an insurmountable obstacle:

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made

earnestly to God for him by the church.

There has never been a more explosive time of growth in the Church than in the first couple decades after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.  The early Christians had no money and no political power.  In fact, Christianity was religio illicita, or an illegal religion.  Rome tolerated any of a number of pagan religions, but not Christianity.  So, when the early church was faced with an impossible situation like the pending death of their primary leader, they could not bribe the government officials—they had no money.  They could not threaten the government—they had no power.  They could not muster a mob for an open protest—they were too few in number.  What they COULD do and DID do was pray.

Great faith does not require riches or political clout.  Great faith does not require great power or a majority in the culture.  Great faith fuels believing prayer and believing prayer accomplishes great—even impossible things—as we will see in a moment. 

So many Christians (and churches) rely on great programs.  When a church relies on great programs, they see what great programs can do.  So many churches rely on elaborate, ornate, remarkable buildings.  When a church relies on great building programs, they see what great building programs can do.  The early church relied on prayer.  When a Christian, or a church, relies on prayer—they see what God can do!

The Fruit of Faith grows on the vine of prayer—but not just any prayer, but believing prayer.  Let’s examine the prayer of these early believers to see faith in action.

Notice that believing prayer is FERVENT prayer.  Our text says, “prayer was made earnestly.”  The word for “earnestly” means “constant in time as well as intense in quality.”  It refers to something being “strained, like a muscle” or “extended as in a stretched out arm.”  Fervent prayer “stretches and strains the limits of human passions.”  St. Jerome describes their prayer in the Latin Vulgate as “sine intermissione,” or “without intermission.”  They did not take a break for coffee and cookies.  They “prayed, and prayed some more!” So few Christians pray “fervently.”  Thus, so few Christians and so few churches ever see God work in the miraculous way the early church—and true churches throughout the world today are experiencing.

Their prayer was not only “fervent,” but it was “focused.”  Here is where faith and prayer intersect.  Notice that these believers not only made “fervent” prayers, but they “focused” their prayers, “to God.”

There are many religions in which the adherents prayer fervently—with passion and dedication.  Many Buddhist monks spend hours at a time in prayer and meditation for example.  Consider also the pagan priests of Baal in the O.T.  They were quite fervent in their prayer during their contest with the prophet Elijah.  You recall the story.  Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 female counterparts of Asherah to a contest of fire.  The God who sent fire to consume the altar in response to prayers offered would be the “True God.”  It was a contest where the stakes were high—the loser would lose his life.  Here’s what it says about the “fervency” of the pagan prophets (1Kngs 18:26-29):

²⁶ So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound;  noone answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.²⁷ At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!”  ²⁸ They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. ²⁹ All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.

The fervency of the prayers of these false prophets cannot be denied.  They mixed their prayers with blood!  The problem with their prayer—and the prayers of all non-believers—is the FOCUS.  No one answered, because no one was at home!  They sent their prayers to the wrong address.  There is no God but Yahweh.  Prayers must be “focused” upon Yahweh and a connection of faith must exist. 

I remember when I was a child, before I was old enough to use the telephone for myself.  I would hear my Mom pick up the receiver and say the operator:  “Please connect me to TI5” and then she would give a number.  It was not enough that she knew “who” she wanted to speak with, she had to be “connected.”  It is not enough to have a measure of faith—even a large measure—that faith must be FOCUSED on the One True God, Yahweh.

Faith fuels believing prayer.  Prayer without faith is impotent.  Faith without prayer is useless.  Consider another aspect of faith in our text:

2.  Faith knows God can do ANYTHING (6-10)

⁶ On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

Verse one describes the intensity and danger of this situation.  The language in the original is quite vivid saying, “Herod laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.”  Herod had already put the Apostle James’ neck to the sword (he cut off his head).  As we are learning presently, beheading people is a particularly terrifying means of eliminating one’s enemies.  It is intended to cause fear and to show utter contempt for one’s enemies.

Verse 2 tells us that this bold action of Herod “pleased the Jews”, or we would say today, “was politically advantageous,” so Herod decided to go after a bigger fish.  Peter had always been the undisputed leader of the Apostles.  He was bold in his actions and fearless in his faith (except for that one sorry night when he denied Christ and heard the “rooster crow”).  Eliminating Peter would likely stop the Christian movement in its tracks—at least from a human perspective.

We know Peter was a particularly prized political pawn because of how Herod treated him.  Verse 4 tells us that Herod, put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him.

16 elite Temple guards were assigned to this one prisoner.  Peter was not going anywhere.  Death would come with a certainty at the break of dawn—just as it had for the first martyr, James.  And, not only was he in prison, under the watch of 16 elite guards, but Verse 6 tells us that Peter was literally chained between two of them! 

This was an “impossible” situation.  Peter’s death was imminent and unstoppable.  There were no appeals that could be made.  There was not “Seal Team Six” to send in to rescue him.  His fate was sealed by the force of the King of the Jews and the power of the prison guards.

The only hope was prayer, but here’s where prayer and faith converge to accomplish the impossible:  Believing prayer KNOWS God can do ANYTHING!  Let’s read on:

⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” Then the chains fell off his wrists.  ⁸ “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did so. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what took place through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.  ¹⁰ After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him.

If you listen to many modern preachers, they treat faith as a magic formula activated by “positive thinking.”  If you just “muster up enough faith,” (usually related to sending a preacher money), you CAN DO ANYTHING!  Friends, nothing could be further from the truth.  Faith has NOTHING to do with what WE can do, but with what God can do.  Peter had faith—but was powerless to do anything about his situation.  The Church had faith, but likewise no power to intervene.  We don’t need faith to do great things—we need faith to believe God will do IMPOSSIBLE THINGS!  It is true that Paul reminds us (Phil 4:13): “I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

We CAN “do all things”  but only when we are connected by faith to Jesus Christ.  It is “through Him,” that we have any power.  It is “through faith” that we experience God accomplishing the IMPOSSIBLE.  Without Him, we can do nothing. Faith knows God can do anything.

Allow me to take a slight detour for just a moment to give you a vivid picture of “faith.” Notice in verse 6 that Peter “was sleeping” when the angel entered his cell.  In fact, Peter was sound asleep.  Verse 7 says that the angel had to “strike him on the side.”  The word for strike refers to a pretty solid punch.  It can also mean a “fatal blow.”  The angel had to hit Peter pretty hard to wake him up.  Now, here’s a great “portrait of faith painted by the brush of inspiration.”  In just a few hours Peter would meet His Maker delivered to eternity by the sharp edge of the executioner’s sword—but . . . he was sound asleep.  How could this be?  Perhaps the answer to Peter’s unshakable faith is in something the Lord said to him, perhaps 10 years before. 

John 21   Jesus said. ¹⁸ “I assure you:  When you were young, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹ He said this to signify by what kind of death he would glorify God.

Peter knew the Word of God.  Jesus said that Peter would not die until he was “old” he would die—and he wasn’t old yet!  Could it be that we would have greater faith and a more secure peace if we knew the Word of God?

Now, back to our text.  God answered the prayer of His people by sending an angel.  Very calmly and deliberately Peter got dressed and walked out of that prison cell with the angel.  The chains miraculously fell off.  The angel and Peter miraculously walked right by two guard posts and up to the iron gate of the city.  When they came to the impenetrable obstacle of the iron gate, verse 10 says, the impenetrable iron gate “opened to them by itself!”  The gate opened like the automatic doors at the grocery store.  Notice that this experience greatly impressed Peter.  He thought that he had been having a vision (see verse 9) but look what it says in verse 11

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp.

Faith is not “wishful thinking,” or positive thinking, or even a strong hope that God will come through, but faith is KNOWING God can do ANYTHING.  Faith gives us a strong hope because it is based on “strong evidence.”  Hebrews 11:1 tells us, Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof [evidence] of what is not seen.

What the text literally says is that Peter said, “Now I see what’s real.” 

So many people have an “If I see it, I’ll believe it” attitude.  Faith is much different.  Faith is a “I believe it to see it” attitude.  Augustine declared many centuries ago, “Credo ut intelligam,” which means, “I believe in order to understand.”  By faith I believe that God can do anything—and He does!

Faith fuels believing prayer.  Faith KNOWS God can do ANYTHING.  But, there’s another important aspect to faith:

3.  Faith Understands God WON’T Do EVERYTHING (12-18)

There are two doors in this story:  the iron gate, and the wooden door of the house where the people were praying.  Look what our text says about the “wooden door” (verses 12-13):

¹²He went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark,  where many had assembled and were praying. ¹³ He knocked at the door in the gateway, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer.

We can presume that the door Peter knocked on was the wooden gate leading into the courtyard of the house.  Unlike the iron gate leading out of the prison, this was a much less formidable impairment to Peter’s freedom.  This gate did not miraculously open at Peter’s presence.  He had to knock.  In fact, Peter had to keep knocking:

¹⁴ She [ei, Rhoda, a house servant] recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gateway. ¹⁵ “You’re crazy!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true. Then they said, “It’s his angel!”  ¹⁶ Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded.

Don’t miss the humor of this moment.  They had been praying for Peter to be released.  He shows up at the door and Rhoda fails to open it leaving Peter standing and knocking.  She shouts, “Hey everybody, God answered our prayer and Peter is standing at the gate.”  Now, notice nobody says, “Praise God we knew he’d return. Open the gate.”  No, instead they said, “Rhoda, you’re crazy.  You are just seeing a vision, or a mirage or an angel or something.”  The word says Rhoda had to “keep insisting.”  Now, wouldn’t it have simply been easier to open the door for Peter. 

The issue of the wooden door teaches us that although God can do ANYTHING, He doesn’t do EVERYTHING.  We have to knock.  We have to open doors.  Faith always involves both God and man, working according to God’s purposes. Faith means we do our part and trust God to do His part. We can pray with folded hands but when we rise, our hands and our hearts must be open to be part of God’s plan and purposes. 

Every miracle has a human component.  God does not NEED our help but DESIRES our participation.  God does not NEED our help in healing the sick.  God does not NEED our help in comforting the lonely.  God does not NEED our help to save anybody.  But . . . and this is the very key to the message of the Bible—God has a part for us to play in His story of redemption.

The “wooden door” represents the human aspect of faith.  There is an oft-told story about a terrible storm that brought a destructive deluge upon a Southern community.  For days it has been raining really hard. There's an old Christian gentleman living alone beside a river and it starts to flood. The sheriff's deputies come by and tell him he should leave before the river cuts off the road. 

"Thank you,” he tells them, “But I’m going to pray that the Lord delivers me.” 

The river creeps up steadily to the front porch.  Some folks come by in a boat and tell him to hop in and they'll take him to safety. 

"Thank you,” he tells them, “But I’m going to pray that the Lord delivers me.”  The water rises above the first floor and the man has to climb on his roof. The National Guard comes by in a boat and begs the man to come with them. 
Politely, but resolutely the man declares, 
"Thank you, but I’m going to pray that the Lord delivers me.”  

The waters keep rising and the man is clinging to his chimney. A helicopter appears and lowers a rope, but the old gentleman stubbornly refuses to take the rope.  He says again, his voice wavering a bit, 
"Thank you, but I’m going to pray that the Lord delivers me.”  
Finally he is standing on top of the chimney and the water is around his ankles. 

"Lord," he calls out, "Lord, why have you forsaken me?" 

The sky splits open and a HUGE voice booms out... "I sent two boats and a helicopter... What more do you want?"

Folks, life is full of two types of doors and faith is needed to open both of them.  The iron door represents insurmountable situations that only the direct and independent action of God can overcome.  The wooden door represents those things God expects us to do.  God wants the poor to be fed, and He has given us the resources to feed them.  God wants the lost to be found, and God has given us the resources to search for them.  There will be more than a few “iron doors” in the course of our Christian lives—God will open them.  There will be many more “wooden doors,” and God expects us to knock on them and open them ourselves and walk through them.

In God’s “basket of spiritual fruit,” none is more important than the “Figs of Faith.”  Faith fuels believing prayer.  One of the greatest men of faith, and also a great man of prayer, John Wesley, once said, “Prayer is where the action is."  I’d like to modify that a bit and say, “Prayer is where the faith is!”

Faith means we do our part and trust God to do His part.  The “Figs of Faith” hang from the vine of earnest prayer. Learn the discipline of believing prayer and faith will hang from your life like an abundance of figs weighs down the branches of a fig tree.

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