Jesus in His Church..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Chapter 12 from verse 1. About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.

He killed James the brother of John with the sword. And when he saw that he pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivered him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out of the temple. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Verse six, now when Herod was about to bring him out on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and sentries before the door were guarding, my apologies, and centuries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him saying, get up quickly. And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, dress yourself and put on your sandal.

And he did so. And he said to him, wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city.

It opened for them on its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the Jewish people were expecting. When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door, of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter's voice in her joy, she did not open the gate, but rather ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.

They said to her, you are out of your mind. But she kept insisting that it was so. And they kept saying, it is his angel. But Peter continued knocking and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. but monitoring to them with his hands to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.

And he said, tell these things to James and to the brothers. Then he departed and went to another place. Now, when they came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord. And having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food. On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting the voice of a God and not of a man. Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory.

And he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied. and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, where they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark." Amen. This is indeed the word of the Lord.

Well, brothers and sisters, the most recent chapters that we've been working our way through in the book of Acts as a congregation have really been leading us to see how it is that the Lord Jesus Christ was indeed bringing to fruition his prophetic word that had spoken to the apostles back in Acts chapter one. Back then, if you remember, he said that he will build his church through the witness of the apostles and through the power of the gospel, and he'll be redeeming people in Jerusalem. to Judea and Samaria, and then to the outermost parts of the earth. Of course, his meaning was not only geographically, but also meaning the inclusion of those other than Jews. And in the Bible, those who are other Jews were spoken of as Gentiles, the nations.

those of whom the apostle Paul later writes, these are the ones that are separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in this world or in the world. The Gentiles, they didn't have oracles from God. But now in the new and the better covenant, a covenant ratified in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Jews, as well as the Gentiles, are going to be the recipients of the redeeming work of our Lord. Indeed, his salvation will reach to every tribe. It will reach to every language, every people, every nation, without distinction.

Beloved, this was promised and seen in the Old Testament and now has been fulfilled in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. And so the chapter building up to chapter 12 has been very much primarily concerned to show the movement of the gospel and the extension of the church from beyond the borders of Palestine and the Jews and into the Gentile world. God shows no partiality. He shows no favoritism now between the Jew and the Gentile, whether you're black or white, it doesn't matter. Ethnicity doesn't matter, language doesn't matter, culture makes no difference because the message of the new covenant, the gospel in Christ is this, all are one in Christ.

All are one in Christ. Walls are demolished. Boundaries removed. God unites all people by one faith, in one body, through one spirit, into one family. The household of God.

And this was big news for the Jews. Peter witnessed this blessing, and he saw it firsthand when he went to the Roman centurion's home, Cornelius' home, and he saw that indeed the Spirit of God had come upon Cornelius and his household, that he'd received the gift of repentance and faith. And the last time we meditated upon the book of Acts in our last Bible study, we meditated together in chapter 11, a chapter that describes Peter and his time with Cornelius when he'd come back to Jerusalem to inform the Jewish Christians of the glorious news. that God is granting the Gentiles repentance unto life. And they, that's the Gentiles, through what Peter had experienced with Cornelius, are receiving the same Holy Spirit that the Jews received at the day of Pentecost.

Now, we may remember last week, initially the Jews, at least some of them, the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, they didn't take well to Peter's actions. They criticized him at first for entering into a home of a Gentile and having table fellowship with him. As far as they were concerned, this was forbidden. Why? Well, we need to understand the ritual and the purity laws of the Jews.

And we have been working our way through the book of Leviticus and we know how important it is for the Jew or was for the Jew to be ritually clean. Ritually clean. So the Jews had removed themselves from unclean Gentiles. And they'd limited their association with this people, especially table fellowship, as the Gentiles, as I said earlier, were considered unclean and their food was not kosher. So Peter's actions were were considered a betrayal of Judaism.

However, when these Christians who'd criticized Peter at first had a chance to listen to what Peter had been saying and the witness that he'd given about what he experienced with his own eyes and the six men that had gone with him in the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, then they realized that God is even granting salvation to the Gentiles. that they realize that God is offering them the same gift of the Holy Spirit. They realize that now the gift of repentance and faith is for those apart from the Jews. And so their reaction was one of silence. They could not say a word.

Just as Peter learned that he could not stand in the Lord's way, now these criticizing Jews are recognizing this truth. Now they too recognize that they could not utter their mouths in criticizing Peter, but rather to glorify God. And that's what we're told. They glorified God for his grace and his mercy. Now that's the foundation of the mixed church and it's being laid now.

And the latter part of chapter 11 took us to the pagan city of Antioch, a city that had had a reputation of being in rampant immorality. It was steeped in pagan religious worship. And by God's grace, it would one day become the capital, the center of the Christian church. For now, the gospel had reached this city. You see, the reason the Christians were there in the first place was the persecution against Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen.

We remember that back in chapter 7, and then chapter 8 tells us they dispersed or scattered into the region surrounding Judea. Some Christians landed in Lebanon and others in the island of Cyprus across in the Mediterranean Sea and others still found themselves in Antioch about 500 kilometers north of Jerusalem. But Luke tells us and we made note of this last week that most believers had reserved their evangelistic efforts to the Jews in those regions. Now, one needs to give them an A for zealousness, for fervency, for the gospel, because they did go out preaching the gospel, but mainly to the Jews. It seemed, at least to begin with, the Gentiles were neglected as far as the gospel proclamation was concerned.

But But we're told in chapter 11 that some faithful believers with enough insight into scripture and were able to discern that the Gentiles were also to be included into the body of Christ. So some from Cyprus, we're told, and some from Cyrene, which is in Libya, began preaching Christ to the Gentiles. And the hand of the Lord was giving them incredible harvest. Report came back to Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to encourage the believers and to partner with the believers in the continued work of the Lord among the Gentiles in Antioch. And it was a rich spirit-filled work.

And Barnabas was able to discern with his own eyes the grace of God at work in that place. And a great many were told were saved and added to the church. And Barnabas recognized after a point he needs help. He couldn't do it on his own. So he journeyed to Tarsus, found Saul.

or the Apostle Paul, as we know him, and he returned back with him. Together, for a whole year, they continued the work there in Antioch, and they discipled the Christians to walk in faithfulness to God's word. And it's here in Antioch that the followers of Christ were first called Christians. You remember that last week? Probably a derogatory designation.

It was a slur by the pagans to disparage the Christians. But either way, the fact that both Jews and Gentiles, we know that both existed in the church in Antioch. The fact that they were both called by the same name tells us that as far as the world could see, they belonged to one group. One group. of people.

They belonged to Christ. The deep-rooted cultural differences had given way to the supernatural unity found in their Savior and their common faith. And that's beautiful, beloved. For indeed, they were one in Christ. And when they heard from the lips of Agabus, a prophet from down south in Jerusalem, when he had come up to visit Antioch, and they'd heard from him that a famine was coming, a worldwide famine was coming, and then they realized that the believers in Jerusalem will be seriously affected, probably more so than themselves.

What did they do? Well, we see in their actions that their outward actions of unity were actually represented with an inward reality. It was rooted from their souls, from their hearts, from their spirits, because in their hearts they were moved. They will move for their brethren down south. And they collected among themselves a relief, each according to his or her ability.

And they sent down that relief with Paul and Barnabas into the hands of the elders in Jerusalem. Beloved, this proved that they had come to realize that they are one in Christ, that they're one in Christ with those who have faith, that those who are in the church, even 500 kilometers down south to people who they'd never even met, the fact that they know they're Christian knits their hearts together. And they sent relief to the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. A beautiful, beautiful chapter of unity. And now brothers and sisters, we come to chapter 12.

And here in chapter 12, our attention is now brought back to Jerusalem and the serious persecution still is present in Jerusalem. But the key persecutor of the church is not actually the Jewish religious leaders. And that may be a surprise to us because that's what we're used to. Now the persecution does indeed remain. We'll see that later on.

The Jews aren't any more sympathetic to Christ, to the followers of Christ and the apostles. There is still going to be antagonism and hostility. We'll see that coming forward. But in chapter eight in particular, the main instigator of the heavy persecution inflicted on the Christians comes at the hand of King Herod. King Herod, an evil, proud king who will seize, prepared to lay violent, murderous hands upon righteous men, it is simply to receive the applaud of people.

But by the end of the chapter, we see also the mighty hand of God bringing divine retribution to Herod, not only because of his evil action towards God's people, although that would be one of the causes, but also because he was willing to receive and enjoy glory that is due God alone. Now, chapter 12 can be divided into four sections. The first section is from verses one through five, and this speaks of the persecution at the hand of Herod. He kills one apostle, James, and his purpose to kill another until God thwarts his plan. But also in this section, we'll see the immediate response of the church in the midst of this tribulation.

That's going to be important. Then in verse 4, verse 6 through 19, we have details of the miraculous rescue of Peter from prison, as well as him returning to the believers to describe what had just occurred. In these verses also, from 6 to 19, we see Herod's response to the whole situation and how he reacts to Peter's escape. And then from verse 20 to 24, judgment. I'll label that section judgment.

In these verses, Luke narrates for us the details surrounding the judgment of God in striking down Herod with painful death. And then the result being that the word of the Lord continued to increase in Jerusalem and many are joined to the church. Now of course there is that final verse and that final verse gives us a little bit of detail about Paul and Barnabas and John Mark in order to prepare the reader for what is to come in the chapters of Acts from verse from chapter 18 throughout to the end of the of the book. And it really is to prepare us for the Gentile mission that will come at the hands of the apostle Paul in particular. So let's work our way through chapter 12 together and trust by the Lord's grace that he'll bless our time together.

Let's read verse one through five. About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And when he saw that he pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread.

And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Who is this King Herod that's spoken of here? Well, it's referring the King Herod here is spoken of as Herod Agrippa I. Now, we shouldn't get him mixed up with Herod Agrippa II, who is his son, by the way.

And Agrippa II is the Herod that we'll become familiar with in the latter portions of the Book of Acts, in the latter chapters where the Apostle Paul stands trial before him. Agrippa I, however, the Herod in our passage, was a very powerful man. He was very powerful because he was quite a clever man. He'd made some very important alliances with some very powerful people. In fact, he was well educated.

His education was in Rome. that's the key because when he was down in Rome to the west he became very closely acquainted with Caligula or Gaius who became the emperor in AD 37. Remember Emperor Caligula was the emperor I mentioned last week. He was the one who was attempting to convert the Jewish temple into an imperial shrine. This is the emperor that wanted to place his statue, a statue of himself, and erect that statue in the very temple itself so that he would be worshipped.

Most called him insane, but either way, this King Agrippa I had made friendship with this emperor. So not long after Caligula becomes emperor, he proclaims Agrippa I as king of the regions east of Galilee. And then about two years later, Agrippa's uncle, who was a Tetrarch, or otherwise Tetrarch is a ruler, the ruler of Galilee and Perea, was deposed from his position and the regions he once ruled were now given to Agrippa I. So his regions are growing. He's got a pretty large size of land and people that he's now ruling.

Turns out friendships in high places do matter, right? Agrippa's kingdom, so to speak, is growing. But here's the thing, so was his ego. And we're gonna see this through this chapter. He was becoming proud.

He was becoming arrogant. The icing of the cake, beloved, came when his friend Caligula was assassinated in AD 41. And if you remember, he was assassinated by his own guards because he was a man that really literally lost his mind. And then Agrippa found favour with Caligula's new successor, Emperor Claudius, who took the reign from AD 41. And so the history books tell us that in the early years of Claudius's reign, King Agrippa I, appealed to have Judea and Samaria, massive regions north to the north of including Jerusalem and to the north.

He wanted those regions for himself. He wanted to rule over those regions as well. And here's the thing, he was successful. he made acquaintances with Claudius, and Claudius gave him his wishes. And so until the time of his death, King Agrippa I was in rule over a region as large as his grandfather, Herod the Great.

And as one who devoutly practiced Judaism, King Agrippa I was really loved by the Jews. They loved him as a king. Actually, he did much for them. Agrippa I was a patriot for the Jews and they knew it. He even was sympathetic to the Diasporian Jews as well.

So with the respect from Rome, and Rome regarded him as the leading king of the whole East. And the high esteem of his fellow Jews, Gripper was well loved by all. He was getting used to this, you know, this love and the affection. He was getting used to the accolades and the glory that he receives from men. But this sort of fame doesn't come without a price.

We know that, beloved. The popularity got into his head and also into his heart. Agrippa became proud and arrogant. He loved the attention and sought after the honor. Basically, he thought too highly of himself, and this was his downfall.

As it is written, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. This describes Agrippa perfectly. Proverbs 16, 18. But his greatest evil was that he pursued the Christians with a strong persecution. And also, as we will see later on in this chapter, that he would receive the glory that is befitting God alone.

But in regards to the first, he laid violent hands upon the believers, we're told in our passage. And when he killed James, the apostle and the brother of John, he saw that he pleased the Jews. And so he went after Peter also, possibly thinking in his mind, if he gets rid of the leaders of the church, the pillars, the shepherds, then his sheep will scatter. But time will tell, beloved. Over and over and over again, we see that the plans of man is thwarted by the ultimate predestined plan of God.

Because it's never the case when you kill a shepherd or a leader or a disciple or a leader in the church that the whole church crumbles. That's not what happens. History shows us, history shows us that even if you take away the shepherd, The chief shepherd, Jesus Christ, is eternally faithful to look after his sheep. And this chief shepherd has conquered death, and he will forever look after his own. But Agrippa, he was a people pleaser.

He was more concerned with glory of man than the glory of God. of God. You remember me saying this over and over again in our study in the gospel according to John. Spoken of there as from the leaders of the Jews in those days. But Agrippa was very much the same.

He loved the glory of man. And he knew the Jewish leaders and the people were now against the Christians. In fact, before the stoning of Stephen, we know the people of Jerusalem, not so much the religious leaders, they were always antagonistic to the Christians, but the people were actually sympathetic to the Christians. They may have not believed the apostolic message, but the early stages showed that they were actually sympathetic. That's why the leaders were afraid to use excessive force against the apostles, because if they had done, they may have caused a riot amongst the multitude of people.

But when Stephen was accused of blasphemy, We're told in chapter six, verse 12, that the Jews, that's the religious leaders, stirred up the people. They stirred their affections and they turned them against the Christians. And from that point, even the people became antagonistic. They became hostile to not only the apostles, but also their teaching and the Christians as well. And so Agrippa knew this.

So he steps up the persecution so as to receive the favour and the applause of his fellow countrymen. First he kills James, we're told that, we're told he kills him with the sword. And beloved, if we step back, we read that, we need to realize that this man knew the Torah. He knew the Bible. And he may have, I would say, I suspect he knew Deuteronomy chapter 13, because there it tells us that if a man entices a Jew to practice idolatry, such a man must be stoned.

But you see, Agrippa didn't stone James, he put him to death with the sword. Because in Deuteronomy chapter 13, also later in that chapter, it tells us, but if a man persuade a whole city to believe in false gods, then such a person must be put to death with the sword. That may have been the motivation of why he put James to death, not by stoning, but with the sword. That is another way of saying beheading. because of his understanding of scripture.

Because remember, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the apostolic teaching, was turning Jerusalem upside down. It wasn't convincing one or two. Even in the early days, we're told 3,000, then 5,000, and then more than you could count. And that's the last we hear of James. This apostle, this one who was one of the three disciples in the inner circle of disciples of Jesus Christ, he comes to his earthly end just like that.

We have one sentence, and that's the last we hear of him. One simple sentence. Beloved, this is God's will. Now, looking back, reading the gospels, you would have thought, you would have thought, that Peter, James, and John would have had the greatest ministry and probably the longest ministry. John is one we know who outlived the other disciples, but you would have thought James, his older brother, would have been one.

But that's not the case. I think when we read these things, it's meant to stun us. It's meant to sit us back and make us think, wow, the way I would have done things is not the way God does these things. And we need to sit back and know that God is sovereign. Even in the early death, from what we can see from our point of view of James, by an evil ruler like King Herod, God allowed for that to happen.

Why? In the sovereign mind of God alone, we can't question why, but we can accept that he is sovereign and this was his will and his will is always good. It's a time now in our passage of unleavened bread or the time of the Passover. It's the same. It's referred to as the same thing in the New Testament.

So Peter was captured by Agrippa and placed in prison, presumably until the feast had ended because he didn't want to kill a man, execute a man during the feast. That's not something that would do during the feast. But really what is going on is he was waiting. He was waiting until the end of the feast, even though normally you would think you would bring him out and try him before the people. Really what he wanted to do is he just wanted to do to James what he had already done to Peter.

because he saw that Peter, my apologies, wanted to do Peter what he's already done to James, because he saw that his killing of James was pleasing to the Jews and to do the same to Peter would have actually brought him some applaud by his fellow countrymen. You see, this man Agrippa, already we can see he has no respect for human life. He only sought for his own popularity to increase and the people's affection toward him to continue and to grow. He was a man that was hungering and desiring and lusting over accolade, over applaud, over pats on the back. So Agrippa places Peter in prison, we're told, likely the fortress of Antonia.

That's the fortress that was built on the northern side of the temple of Jerusalem. It's a fortress that was known to be highly secure. In fact, it was built there essentially to protect the temple. But it's also a place that housed the Roman soldiers who protected the city and who brought a level of protection upon the temple itself. Peter was likely placed in that fortress until Agrippa was ready to supposedly try him and then execute him as he did James.

And information that Luke gives us in this chapter, no doubt tells us that Herod was very, very careful when he did this. If you look at the one man being captured and how much security puts around him, how many guards he places around him, it is truly incredible. I believe that Agrippa had been made aware of earlier on if you remember back in Acts chapter 5 when the Apostles were when Peter and John were were were my apologies when Peter and John were in prison first time and released after a day, but then the Apostles were were were captured and they were put in prison and then supernaturally an angel of the Lord had had rescued them from the prison the very next day. They find them in the temple. The soldiers there were were bewildered.

They had no idea what had happened. The apostles the next day were in the temple preaching boldly the word of God. Herod probably had heard of that occasion and thought, well, Peter, you've been known to be released from prison by supernatural means. So I'm not going to take any risks with you. I'm going to place some serious guards.

around you. Four squads of soldiers were told if that's most likely four sets of four soldiers. That's 16 soldiers to guard one man beloved one unarmed Now in the context, and with information whether we have in verses six through 10, it's quite likely that there was, those 16 soldiers were split into two teams. Eight soldiers were commanded to guard Peter and each team of eight would probably have guarded him for 12 hour shifts. But even then, this was a high security prison in that case.

Eight men, eight soldiers, eight armed men to protect, to guard one man. And I have no doubt that Agrippa sent so many soldiers over him because he was actually probably fearing that Peter would actually escape as he had done in chapter five. Reading the first four verses of this chapter paints a bleak picture of the church. James killed, Peter next. One would think that one by one, Herod would execute the pillars of the church and bring destruction to the apostolic teaching.

And as Herod was engaging in the rites and the rituals and enjoying the feast, what was the church doing below it? What was the church's response to the bleak outlook and the imprisonment of Peter? We need to take note. We need to take note. The church fell on her knees in prayer.

The church were told. That's not one or two or three people. In verse 12, we're actually told many gathered to pray. And in verse five, we're told the church had gathered. This is the local church in Jerusalem.

One body, the body of Christ, a number of brothers and sisters, they all came together with the highest priority at this time. And that priority was to come before the Lord and supplicate before him on behalf Peter, I love that. I love that. It's the same thing that we see the church in Jerusalem does in response to the initial persecution set upon the church. You remember back when the religious leaders had captured Peter and John after healing, after preaching that wonderful sermon, after healing the lame man.

You remember they took them and there was a short rest only at night. when they were released the next day the church had been made aware of the persecution by the religious leaders upon the church and they came together to pray we're not told here in chapter 12 what they prayed for but in chapter 4 and if that's anything to go by their prayer was telling in fact flick back flick back with me open your bibles to to chapter 4 verse 24 I want you, I want your eyes to see. We're not gonna, we're not gonna go through the whole prayer. We just want to really, we just want to see the beginning, just the beginning of this prayer. Chapter 4, verse 24.

And when they heard it, they heard that Peter and John had been imprisoned. And the persecution coming upon the church from the religious leaders, they lifted their voices together to God and said, hear this, beloved, sovereign Lord, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. And that's it, that's where I wanna stop. The church in Jerusalem were a church who recognized that God was sovereign, sovereign. You see, Peter, in his first sermon at Pentecost, he also recognized the sovereignty of God and he taught accordingly.

He said that it's the definite plan and the foreknowledge of God, which was evident in the death and the resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God is sovereign even over the death and the resurrection of our Lord. The church was convinced of the sovereignty of God. nothing that could thwart the plan or the purposes of this sovereign God. The believers knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that James was killed because it was the Lord's will.

They knew also that Peter was in prison because it was the Lord's will. And they also knew that whatever the outcome for Peter is, as negative or as positive as it may seem at this stage, being being or he was in the impregnable place of the fortress of Antonia and heavily guarded and surrounded and humanly speaking there seemed to be no hope but even though they knew the outcome was in the sovereign lord's hands, what did they do? They fell on their knees and they sought God in prayer. You see, these believers were not fatalists. They were Christians with a proper understanding of true religion.

They knew that acknowledging the sovereignty of God is perfectly compatible with fervent prayer, because it's the most natural thing in the world for a Christian to pray, to seek the Lord, to show their utter and total dependence upon Him for all things, to rely upon Him no matter what the outcome is. Beloved, and all our prayers, all our prayers are rooted in our knowledge of God as he is revealed in scripture. So despite knowing that he is sovereign and his plans and purposes will come to fruition no matter what, despite knowing these things, they got on their knees and they prayed. because they knew that's what his word had taught. They knew that they had been commanded to pray.

They knew that in their heart, there was nothing else they could do but pray. They knew they were burdened in their heart to pray. There was nothing more natural in that moment than to collectively come and be united in the name of Jesus Christ as one body and to pray because beloved, they knew that their prayers would be effectual, effectual. You see, James, the brother of Christ, writes, the prayer of the righteous person has great power as it is working. And 1 John 5, 19, it says, and this is the confidence that we have towards him, God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And so as brethren that had an immense love for their brother Peter, an immense love for God and his word and the gospel proclamation which they had seen with their very eyes transforming people. They wanted to see nothing more in their minds than Peter released from prison and to continue his ministry. They get on their knees and they pray. You see, the burden in their hearts to pray was actually a supernatural burden. It's a burden that is placed by the Spirit of God in the people of God.

and their burden was actioned in faith and in love. But believe me, beloved, hear this. They were willing to accept the outcome from the hand of God, no matter what it is. People who love the Lord, who get on their knees, who pray before Him, who know the power of prayer, who know that it is all natural for a Christian to get on their knees and pray before a sovereign God. Christians ought not to be fatalistic.

but know that the prayer of the righteous can availeth much. And they know that whatever the outcome be, whether it's to the good of they think is good or what they think is bad, it comes from the hand of God. So they're willing to accept whatever the outcome be, but hear this, they're not willing to accept the outcome without first supplicating fervently. As our text says, or eagerly on their knees. Because how can a Christian know that there is a need?

And how can that Christian not fall on their knees and bring that need to God? How can a Christian have the attitude, whatever it was meant to be, let it be. God is sovereign over these things. He's governed over everything. And whatever he does is good.

I'm just going to believe it. How can a Christian have this attitude? Beloved, the church did not have this attitude and nor should we. They love Peter, they love the Lord. They want the ministry to grow in their eyes and their understanding.

They believe that Peter to remain among his family and among the church and to continue the ministry would be a blessed thing. So they bring that before the Lord. In their total dependence on God, they come and they pray because they will not, they will not stay idle when there is a need. They will ask and they'll ask with faith. James says, you do not have because you do not ask.

So the church in unity get on their knees and they ask, beloved, although as human beings, we may struggle with this, because we cannot fully understand how to harmonize the sovereignty of God and the power of prayer. It's a difficult thing for our simple human minds to grasp. I get it. Believe me, I get it. But both are attested to in scripture.

Both by faith must be held sacred and true in our hearts. There are some who mock and ridicule prayer and they say, God is totally sovereign. What's the use of you praying? But brothers and sisters, you know, in your own hearts, if you've been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, if you've been gifted with a faith to believe upon him, if you've been united into the body of Christ, then you know, just as the first century church knew also, that a proper understanding of God and his sovereignty will actually bring you to your knees and not off them. I want to hear that again.

A proper understanding of God and His sovereignty will actually bring you to your knees and not off there. Rest for the soul is found. in him. And the access has been opened through the shed blood of Jesus. And now communion with God in prayer is the greatest privilege and the highest honor for a believer.

And when the heart grows faint, falling on your knees is the most natural thing to do, Christian. And in doing so, you're reminded that it's not your prayers that you have confidence in. It's not the buildup of words. It's not the construction of phrases or the grammar you use that you should have faith in, but rather it's in the one you're praying to. It is God, our triune God through Christ Jesus that we have faith in.

And our confidence and our trust and our faith is in Him alone. The church prays for Peter. Now we come to the section of Peter's rescue, verse six. Now, when Herod was about to bring them out on the very night, Peter was sleeping between the two soldiers bound with two chains and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. What a picture.

Peter is chained to two soldiers, a further six soldiers guarding the fortress. His situation is bleak to say the least. He knows his dear brother and co-laborer in the gospel had just been executed and his turn is coming. Peter knows this. And Luke tells us what?

That he was asleep. He wasn't terrified. He wasn't fearing what would come. He falls asleep because he found rest for his soul in Jesus Christ. I believe the saints were praying not only for his release, beloved, but also for peace, for tranquility and complete trust in the Lord for their brother.

And I believe the Lord was honoring their prayers and honoring his faith. He slept. It wasn't a shallow sleep either. It wasn't, Luke's description tells us that this was a deep sleep. His purpose to tell us this, he tells us that the angel comes with a bright light and shines the cell where Peter lay and it doesn't wake him up.

By the way, it doesn't wake up the gods either, but that's for another reason. that Peter was in chains, and he was in the cell, and he was right next to the guards, and the angel comes, and this bright light comes in, and everyone remains asleep. And here we're told that the angel comes And he strikes Peter on the side. He strikes him on the side. Beloved, that word used here that's translated struck is used 10 times in the New Testament.

Every time he connotes a forceful action. This wasn't a tap. It wasn't like a tap that you would expect from your wife when you're late for an appointment and she comes and kindly taps you on the shoulder and says, hey, honey, you need to wake up. You're gonna be late for your appointment. This wasn't that sort of tap.

This tap from the angel was a strike. Peter was likely to end up with a bruise going by the other 10 occurrences in the Bible of this same word. The point is that he was deep in his sleep. He was resting and trusting in the Lord even on the eve of his execution. He wasn't up all night thinking and worrying and anxious about the loose ends that he's going to leave behind in this life.

He trusted the Lord whether he would live or die. His trust was in the Lord not unlike the rest will trust if you remember and I hope your mind goes back to our Lord Jesus Christ in his father. Remember when he was on the boat and the disciples were freaking out because the wind and the waves were overwhelming. And Jesus was found in the rear of the boat. What was he doing?

Fast asleep. God gives his beloved ones sleep. And beloved, Many, many liberal theologians have tried to diminish the supernatural aspect of this rescue that we have before us in chapter 12. But Luke was written in a way under inspiration of the Spirit that just will not allow for a natural explanation of what happens. Look at the detail.

He fastened the chains. The fastened chains fall off Peter's hands. All eight guards remain sleep. He shuffles to get his sandals and his cloak and he dresses himself and all the guards are still asleep. He gets up and walks by the first set of guards and then the second and they are not aware of a thing.

Then he gets a, it comes to a solid iron gate. Beloved, remember this is a fortress of Antonia most likely and it's not called a fortress for no reason. The locks on this gate couldn't be picked. The gate was formidable and was designed to keep what was outside from getting in or what's inside from getting out. So when Peter walks to the gate, supposedly where the two last soldiers were, the gate opens on its own and he simply walks out.

You see, the original word for opened on its own accord is automatos, and you probably know already, that's the word we get automatic from. It's like an automatic door that sees Peter walking, and automatically it opens. No pushing, no shoving, it opens on its own. Beloved, I hope you can see it. Luke will not allow a natural explanation.

This was a supernatural work from the divine hand of God to rescue Peter. And the angel then walks Peter to safety and he leaves him on his own. All the while, Peter thought he was seeing a vision. This was surreal for him. He must have felt similar to when the vision of the sheet that fell down from heaven, if you remember back in chapter 10, he must have experienced something similar.

But it's at this point he comes to his senses and realizes that the Lord sent an angel to rescue him from Herod and the Jewish people, for they all wanted the same thing. They all wanted Peter dead. But although God allowed James to die, beloved, it was not time for Peter to die. Why? Why rescue one and not the other, you may ask?

That's for God to know and not us. He gives life and He takes it away. And in His perfect timing, all He does is good. That's what we need to know. But in His rescue, It was experienced by Peter.

And then I think this was the motivation possibly for him to write later on in 2 Peter, where he writes something that he's actually experienced in real life. He writes then, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, 2 Peter 2.9. Upon being rescued, his heart leads him to the ones that he loved. So Peter finds that he walks all the way to Mary's home.

It's where the disciples and where the believers had gathered. At this time we were told it's John Mark's mother. She must have had a fairly large home and she was allowing the Christians to meet there and gather and pray. And so the Christians were still there and they had been gathering, they'd been praying when Peter knocks on the door and it's answered by the servant girl, Rhoda, who recognised Peter's voice and in her excitement, she leaves the door closed and races inside to tell the rest, but the believers did not believe her. You're out of your mind.

You're out of your mind, they said. Now, some have suggested that these Christians were praying, but they weren't expecting their prayers to be answered. Some would say that maybe they lacked some faith. Beloved, that could be possible, but it's not necessary. Their prayers were for the Lord to bless Peter with peace that could have been that.

That's what these people who deny faith for these believers, they'd say, maybe they just prayed simply, look, this is hopeless. It's impossible for Peter to be rescued from this point. Lord, just give him peace. Just give him comfort. Help him to face his execution with trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Maybe they weren't praying for their release, for his release. Maybe they were praying just for help and peace in that situation. Because after all, they had experienced James's death, the other apostle, and it does look like Peter's situation is helpless or hopeless, I should say. But beloved, they knew God is able to rescue Peter. They knew that.

And I don't think we ought to think of these people as people with little faith, but rather, think about it. This is the late hours of the night, maybe early hours of the morning. They didn't expect Peter or anyone else to be knocking at that door for that time of night. And the other thing is, for Peter to be there then would mean that he would have to escape from prison. And they must have been thinking that their prayers would have been for God to release him, that maybe God would impact the heart of Herod and the trial would be favorable for Peter in some way, prevent his execution.

It doesn't necessarily mean that they were lacking faith, but it would have been a surprise for them to see Peter there or anyone else there for that matter. But either way, we don't know. We don't know. The Bible hasn't told us whether it was a lack of faith or whether it was indeed just a surprising thing to them, either way. They were surprised with what they saw.

Initially, they thought him to be an angel because it's common in Judaism to believe that everyone has got an angel. And in the latter writings of Judaism, a little bit later from this time, but it may be that they believe this here, they believe that the guardian angel was also one who looked like the person he was guarding. Whether they thought that, I'm not sure, but they did think it was an angel. But Peter continued to knock, hoping they'd open the door soon because if he continued to knock, the commotion could attract some of the people he doesn't want to know that he's still out there. And finally, when they did come to the door and they opened, they see Peter and they were completely amazed.

Completely amazed. At that point, they knew that God had answered their prayers. In fact, Luke mentions the church earnestly praying back in verse five, and then again in verse 12, as Peter arrives, they were praying. And it was really mentioned both places, so the reader would put two and two together, because Peter's rescue was indeed an answer to prayer, beloved. It's an answer to prayer.

And the church was amazed, absolutely amazed, how great and powerful God is. This is a far better outcome, I'm sure, than anyone would have expected. What a lesson in prayer. May the Lord give us the desire to fall on our knees and pray, even for outcomes that seem impossible. Verse 17, but motioning to them with his hands to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison and said, tell these things to James and to the brothers.

Then he departed and went to another place. So now Peter explains to the church exactly what had happened. He probably wasn't there long. He needed to get out of there fairly quickly, but he would have had enough time to explain to them and describe the absolute miracle that had just occurred. And surely, surely the church was absolutely thrilled to be a part of it.

Thrilled to be a part of it. They knew that their prayers had played a part in his rescue. They knew also that God is sovereign. Now how that works together, no one really knows. That's in the mind of God.

But beloved, our prayers are effectual and God is sovereign. We must hold those two things simultaneously and believe in him. Because the believers in their hearts and their minds, they knew that the sovereignty of God and prayer was completely compatible because both are perfectly true. what an experience for them. They supplicate for Peter, and now Peter is released.

And now their prayers of supplication turn to prayer of praise and worship. And now Peter leaves them to go to another place. We don't know where he goes. Now, some suggest Peter went to Rome at this point in time, but it's probably unlikely because not long from now in Jerusalem, in chapter 15, which is probably four or five years from this point. Admittedly, Peter is seen in Jerusalem, but it could be most likely, most commentators would probably say that he wasn't far from where he is.

Probably, maybe he went to Caesarea or someplace there, but we cannot be sure. But either way, he asked the believers gathered in the home to inform the good news to James and the other brothers. Now, James here is the brother of Christ because James the apostle had already been martyred. And then he goes, and then he goes. It's incredible, isn't it?

It's incredible. A point to ponder, and I'm not gonna stick to this point, we're gonna move on, but point to ponder is just to think that this James, the brother of Christ, in the earthly ministry of Christ, didn't believe Jesus. He was an unbelieving brother. But somewhere along the line, he was redeemed by our Lord, and now he becomes a part and an integral part of the church of Jerusalem. In fact, the fact that Peter mentions him by name here tells us that he's become a leader, a pillar in the church of Jerusalem.

But moving on, verse 18, now when they came, There was no little disturbance. Now, when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers of what had happened to Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he exclaimed, the sentries and ordered, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down to Judea. from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Herod was no doubt furious at this point. His plan to execute Peter was thwarted and he wasn't happy about it. We know he wasn't happy about it. So he sent out a search party and he flooded the streets, likely going through the homes of Christians to see if someone is harboring this fugitive. But it was all to no avail.

Peter had disappeared as far as they're concerned. He was nowhere to be found. So now Herod's, a grip of this evil man, his attention turns to the soldiers who were themselves absolutely head over heels. They were bewildered at what had gone on. They didn't know what had happened.

They understood the serious nature of their vocation. They appreciated that their line of work meant that if a prisoner was to escape from under their own hand and their duty, that there would be some serious, heavy consequences. You see, Roman law requires the death of soldiers who are unable to prevent the escape of a prisoner under their care. And so we have 16 soldiers in that predicament. But here's the thing.

Not one of them were able to work out what had happened. What a shock for them all. What are the chances of all eight soldiers on duty, assuming... They worked in two shifts. We'll all be asleep when this all went down.

How could the two soldiers besides Peter explain waking up with the chains attached to their wrists, but nothing attached to the other side? Surely they pleaded their case to Herod. Surely they made an argument that was consistent with one another. They weren't making this up. Herod showed no mercy.

Again, he's displaying the hardness of his heart and his arrogance and disregard for human life. Sure, the law allowed for the soldier's execution, but as one who no doubt was aware of the supernatural escape that occurred previously, and now having to admit that nothing apart from the divine hand of God must be the explanation for what has transpired. Yet in knowing all these things, he put the soldiers to death. His pride was incredible. because his pride was affected in this situation.

His word was not upheld. Even if it was God who rescued Peter, he didn't care. He didn't care to ask questions because maybe he would be opposing God. But he didn't care about that. He showed no concern.

And he didn't care that he may be unfairly passing judgment upon the soldiers that would cost their lives. Because they could do nothing to prevent this from happening. but he didn't care. It executed them, and then he went off to Caesarea. But Herod will give an account for what he has done in this age and the age to come.

And that's what we see in the last portion from verse 20 to 23. Now, Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sodom and Sidon, and he came to him with, and they came to him with one accord and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace because their country on the king's country for food. And on the appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, the voice of God, not of man. Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give glory to God and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

Luke tells us that Herod was angry with the residents of Tyre and Sudan. Both these cities are found on the west coast of the Mediterranean Sea. the West Coast on the Mediterranean Sea, which is modern day Lebanon. The details of the feud between the two, we don't know, we're not told. But we do know that they were coming to appeal to Herod because they wanted the channels for food to be opened between the regions.

It seemed that Herod's actions had roadblocked the essential needs from coming to their cities, and they wanted the conflict to be over. Representatives from Sidon and Tyre had come, and they'd already persuaded Blastus, the king's chief officer, or Chamberlain, as it is in our ESV, to the terms of peace. So Herod agreed to meet with him, and he appointed a day to meet with his audience. And then we have verse 21. On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.

And the people were shouting, the voice of God and not of man. Immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. You see, Herod Agrippa was so full of pride, so full of himself, love for self and arrogance that when his audience who was seeking his approval to open up the food channels, blew wind under his sail and gave him some compliments and even more, they claimed of him to speaking as God, he didn't refuse the glory. You know, he was aware of the first commandment. Remember, this person was a devout Jew.

He understood that Yahweh is jealous for his glory and will share his glory with no other. But his pride, prideful heart was puffed up to the point where rather than becoming horrified at what the people were saying, he drank them up and enjoyed the compliments and enjoyed the applause. You see, his pride had blinded his own eyes. And as I said earlier, he was more concerned with the glory that comes from man than the glory that comes from God. And even so, he attempted to rob God of his glory.

Beloved, what is the right response here? What should have Agrippa done? He should have been horrified when the crowd proclaimed him to be deity. You see, in a couple of weeks time in Acts chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas will be confronted with something similar in Lystra. in Lystra.

This is a place in Asia Minor on Paul's first missionary journey. It's a superstitious pagan city. Paul and Barnabas enter into the city and they heal a crippled man who was crippled from birth and the people were astounded. They were just head over heels, and then they began to chant something interesting. The gods have come down to us like in the likeness of man, they started to say.

They thought Paul and Barnabas were gods. They were claiming them to be divine. You remember the response of these missionaries? This was the right response. They tore their garments, we're told, and rushed out of the crowd, crying out, men, why are you doing these things?

We are also men like nature with you. How could they even imagine of receiving compliments like that? They were horrified. They were disgusted. How could someone mistakenly take us to be divine?

That glory, that honor, those accolades belong to God alone. How can they receive glory and worship when they know that God himself is only one worthy of such? The right response for Agrippa was to back it down and say, no, how dare you? God, Yahweh is the one worthy of glory. Give him the praise.

But he did not do that. Instead he'd talked himself up so much and was so proud and so experienced so much internal love for self that over the years he'd been setting himself up for this and God strikes him down with an angel and immediately Gripen knows his demise. Why? Because we're told He did not give glory to God. And it continues, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

The text tells us that he was struck down immediately. But whether he died immediately or a few days later, we cannot be sure. But what we do know is he was struck down immediately and he was eaten by worms. That would have been an incredibly, incredibly painful death. The lesson is for all, that God is not a God who will share his glory, beloved.

He's jealous for his glory. He's jealous for his praise and his honor, and he'll share it with no one. And this is an example of divine retribution in this age, and of course, it will be continued for this King Agrippa in the age to come. But beloved, it's not always seen this way. Sometimes we see people rob God of his glory, and it seems like they receive no retribution from God in this age.

But beloved, Everyone will give an account for everything they have ever done, whether good and evil, and every thought they've ever thought. And robbing God, beloved, is done in many ways. Because one robs God of his glory whenever he bends his knee to anything other than the only true God. Now it may come to your mind that one needs to bend his knee to certain things crafted from silver or gold, wood or metal, like idols. Yeah, that's true.

You can rob glory of God by worshipping idols, yes. But it also comes when someone bends their knee to an unseen God. Because beloved, gods can be seen, that's small g, and gods can be unseen. Think about career, money, popularity, power, lust of the flesh, or the most prevalent of them all, self. Self, that's right.

Self can be a God, small g, and one can give the glory that he's deserving of God alone and receive that glory for him or herself. This was Agrippa's God. He became so proud of his achievements that he began to worship self and allow others to do so also. So he attributed to self the glory that belongs to God alone. Beloved, great men and women have fallen in this trap throughout the ages.

Pride is the root of multitudes of sins. Great kings in the past have fallen in this trap. You remember Uzziah, you remember the king Uzziah, one of Israel's great kings, the Lord made him prosperous, but at some stage his unchecked pride inflated to the point where he blatantly disobeyed God and he entered into the temple to offer incense. And that was a duty only given to the priest. He knew full well, but even if he didn't, he did.

There was 80 priests that day that were in horror and they were saying, King, don't do this. They were trying to persuade him not to do something that is against God. This defiles God. He's made a way and he's given us his word. Only the priests are to offer incense in this way.

And then he did not listen in his pride and God struck him down with leprosy until the day he died. Pride. Pride. It is a wild beast, pride. Beloved, may the Lord give us wisdom to discern our hearts and by his spirit illuminate us so that we can see whether we have unchecked pride in ourselves.

Because beloved, if you do, you are worshiping self and not God. You're receiving glory that belongs to God alone and taking it and receiving it unto yourself. That's what pride is. And when one does not seek, or when one does seek glory for himself, just like a gripper, he declares war with God, because it's written, God opposes, opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Who wants to stand against the almighty God?

It's the war that cannot be won. Beloved, may the Lord give us to see whether we do actually have unchecked pride. because it starts small and it builds. And beloved, the scary thing is that this beast called prides lives in every single one of us because it's found in our flesh and it seeks above all to be let loose. Again, may the Lord give us the power by his spirit to restrain this wild beast until we are freed from the flesh and pride that comes with it in the age to come, where we're given glorified bodies and hearts that are just like Christ.

Finally, verse 25 tells us that Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem after delivering the relief collected at the end of the previous chapter in Antioch. And they bring John Mark back with them. And again, this information is given out to the reader to set us up to what is to come in the latter parts of, or from verse 13 in the book of Acts. But beloved, I wanna finish with this. I wanna finish with the verse we just skipped.

And briefly, I want us to read verse 24. But the word of God increased and multiplied. Hear that? But, but the word of God increased and multiplied. What a contrast.

What a contrast. At the beginning of the chapter, things looked so bleak and dark and depressing for the church of Jesus Christ. One of the key pillars, one of the key apostles, James, as I said earlier, one of the inner circle of Jesus Christ was captured and he was killed. Peter then was captured and imprisoned and he was awaiting his own execution. The church was now behind locked doors, fervently praying because they were aware of the seriousness of the situation.

They knew Herod's plan was to destroy the church. And humanly speaking, that would have been the outcome because with their eyes, that's all they could see humanly speaking. Who can stand before a man who has the whole of Rome on his side and the whole of the Jewish people on his side as well? But the tables do turn. By the end of the chapter, the chief persecutor of the church in Jerusalem is divinely punished by God and his life is removed from being an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed.

This brings an end to his persecution. And not only that, but the word of God, that is the gospel of Christ, increases and multiplies. That is to say that the Lord removes that obstacle that is a gripper, and he continues to build his church as Jesus said he would. because Jesus said he will build his church, and the gates of Hades, no matter what power comes against it, will not prevail against it. Jesus said he'll build his church, and he will build his church.

Jerusalem was on the brink of having the gospel, it seemed, muffled. through the dead key pillars of the church. One by one, this herald was going to assassinate. And if they all died, what would have happened? That's probably what the people were thinking.

What would have happened? If Agrippa remained alive, he would have taken them out one by one. The apostles would be gone. What would happen? Beloved, That didn't happen.

That didn't happen. Because God would not allow that to happen, but even if He does. The Lord Jesus said he will build his church. The gospel will be proclaimed into all the earth. And when the gospel is proclaimed by the power of the spirit, he will redeem people unto himself.

He will bring salvation unto himself, whether there's persecution or time of peace, it will continue to grow. Why? Because Jesus said it would. And I believe the Christians in this day had trust in Christ. And that's why I believe they were on their knees believing that God will work, but whatever the outcome would be of their prayer, they were willing to accept because they believed that Jesus has spoken and Jesus will fulfill His words.

Jesus will always fulfill His words. He always keeps His promises. the result of getting rid of Agrippa, because that pleased the Lord. And to allow Peter to remain in the church, to be freed from the king's persecution meant that now the gospel begins to flourish again in Jerusalem. Not without persecution, there still will be persecution, and it continues to grow until the end of the book of Acts.

We know that from the hand of the Jewish leaders, but the gospel continues to be preached, and people continually added to the church. Because beloved, later on in Acts chapter 20, despite the majority of the believers being scattered into all the regions surrounding Jerusalem and Judea, we're told in Acts chapter 20, which is about 15 years from now, that there are thousands upon thousands in the city of Jerusalem who believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to remember that. And we need to hold on to the promises of our Lord. We don't know what the future holds.

We don't know what difficulty the church will face in Australia. We don't know what difficulties we'll face individually, beloved. But we need to hold on to the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ and know that beyond a shadow of a doubt, that His redemption is eternal. No one can take that away. And as long as there is, this world is in existence, then He is redeeming a people through the gospel.

He is. And the question is, will we partner with Him in the work? Will we come before him in prayer and pray for the work? Do we carry a burden for the work of the ministry? Do we carry a burden for those missionaries abroad who are actually even now being persecuted?

Do we carry a burden for those in Australia who have yet to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do we carry a burden for the true choices of Jesus Christ to remain bold in their transmission, in their proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Because if we do, we ought to be, as the early church was, on our knees in prayer, in fervent prayer, asking for the will of God to be accomplished, and that our Lord Jesus Christ be exalted, and more knees bend in worship to him, because he alone is worthy of all honour, of all praise, and of all glory.