My Deficiency is His Sufficiency

Dr. Rick Ivey

Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Acts 12

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When deliverance is coupled with His power, we see God Glorified.

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God is Still in Control

Intro: Even worse than feeling like you don’t have enough is feeling like you are not enough.

Have you ever gone through life with this nagging sense of inadequacy, fearing that you have somehow been “weighed on the scales and found wanting” ? The feeling that you have lost all control and life has taken a turn for the worst? Illness, regret, habitual sins, all the responsibility you carry — can become reminders of all the ways you don’t measure up.

But God has continued to be gracious to us — so much so that we can thank God for our short comings and failures, because he is greater than all we need.

Let us take a look into these passages an be reminded that when we think there is no hope, God still shows up.

But God has continued to be gracious to me — so much so that I am now able to thank God for Crohn’s disease, the very thing that saps my strength.

Acts 12:1 NKJV

Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.

Acts 12:2 NKJV

Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

The New King James Version Chapter 12

Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

Acts 12:3 NKJV

And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

The New King James Version Chapter 12

And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Acts 12:4 NKJV

So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

The New King James Version Chapter 12

So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

Acts 12:4–5 NKJV

So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

Acts 12:5 NKJV

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

Acts 12:5 NKJV

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.

Acts 12:6 NKJV

And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.

Acts 12:7 NKJV

Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.

Acts 12:8 NKJV

Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”

Acts 12:9 NKJV

So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

Acts 12:10 NKJV

When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

Acts 12:11 NKJV

And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

When we recognize that God is still in control:

We should not be afraid of danger

What is danger in relation to our everyday life?

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Thesaurus danger

the state of being exposed to injury, pain, or loss

a. danger is anything that diverts our attention from God.

i. danger of failure, suffering from self inflicted pain, spiritual adultery, ect.

b. danger can be life changing.

i. When we allow our fears to override our knowledge of who and what God is, we are in Danger.

1 Samuel 13:6 NKJV

When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.

Peter was in danger of loosing his life. In those moments we need others to stand by our side to help us. Verse 5 tells of the church praying on Peters behalf.

Do we stand with others when we see them facing danger?

1 Samuel 13:6 NKJV

When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.

1 Samuel 13:6 NKJV

When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.

Danger will cause you to act in ways that you normally would not.

175 Sermon Outlines 27. God Is Still in Control

We Are Not Afraid to Suffer

We should not be afraid to suffer

Suffering bring clarity

Pain heightens the sense and drives us to deal with the danger/problem.

John reminds us that pain and suffering will be apart of our earthly lives. However, one day things will be different.

Revelation 21:4 NKJV