But the Word of the Lord Continued
Acts 12:1-25
September 23, 2012
I certainly don’t mean to continue covering these large chunks of Scripture every time we meet on Sunday night.
But as I study these passages it becomes apparent to me that
There is an overall story here that must be preserved to be understood.
If we just break off and see a few verses at a time I fear that we will
Fail to see the forest for the sake of looking to closely at the trees.
It is obvious when studying chapter 12 that it is one incident,
By which Luke reveals a very important truth to us.
And that truth is in regard to opposition.
One thing we are certain of as we study Scripture
Is that God has faced His share of opposition.
We are aware of how Lucifer opposed God and was kicked out of heaven.
He is often called “Satan” which is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary”
• Satan just opposes God.
• Satan is always there to vote “no”
• Satan is always there to argue
• Satan is always there to drum up opposition to whatever God is doing.
And we have seen that throughout the pages of Scripture.
• It was Satan in the garden convincing Eve to eat the fruit.
• It was shortly after that the whole world opposed God brining on the flood.
• After the flood they built the tower of Babyl which God stopped.
• We get Pharaoh not listening to Moses
• We get the children of Israel rebelling against God’s commands
And on and on and on.
God has faced His share of opposition.
He knows what it is to be opposed.
Even in the New Testament, God was continually opposed
From the Jews, from Rome, from false believers…
God knows what it is to face opposition.
But God does not know what it is to lose to His opposition.
One thing we are sure of about God is that though He faces opposition,
He will win the battle.
Job 9:4 “Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm?”
I have always been fond of Revelation 4.
That is the chapter in which God calls John into the throne room.
Before John saw anything of the end, John first saw the throne.
It was a vivid reminder to John, that despite what he was about to see,
God was still on His throne, God was still in charge.
There can most certainly be times in our lives when by our estimation
It appears that God has forgotten, God has fled, or maybe even failed.
When we get in the middle of the storm, it can certainly feel that way.
And that is why we are thankful for stories like this in the book of Acts.
We get the liberty of reading about a difficult period for the early church,
And yet we get to cover it from start to finish in a matter of minutes.
We get to zoom out and see the whole story.
We get the bird’s eye view of the event.
And any time we get that view we come away convinced
That God was never in danger of losing the day.
Take the story of Job.
Terrible for Job, but because we get to see the whole story from start to finish, it all makes sense to us.
Take the story of Joseph.
There must have been days of extreme confusion for Joseph, but we get to see the whole story and it makes sense.
Take the story of Paul and his arrest.
Certainly the shipwreck and the snake bite must have been difficult, and yet because we see the whole story we realize what God was doing.
Now when we are in the midst of our own trials and storms…
When we face our own opposition we don’t have the luxury
Of zooming out and seeing the bigger picture.
We just have to endure.
We just have to trust.
But we are thankful for all the testimonies preserved
That help us see the sovereign and powerful hand of God
To help us know how our struggle will turn out.
So let’s examine this chapter and see the great victory of God here.
There are three main things I want you to see.
#1 HEROD’S OPPOSITION
Acts 12:1-4
The Herod we are referring to here is Herod Agrippa I.
• You know him as Herod the tetrarch who was reprimanded by John the Baptist and who eventually be-headed John.
• He also tried Jesus before His crucifixion.
• His grandfather was Herod the Great who slaughtered all the babies in Bethlehem seeking to kill the Christ child.
And just a little background on him.
• He was educated by Rome, but not necessarily a fan favorite.
• He ran up several debts in Rome and then fled without paying them.
• He also had a big mouth and comments he made actually had him imprisoned for a while.
• This made his relationship with Rome a little rocky.
The point being; he needed Jewish support
To help keep him in a place of leadership.
And that explains what we see taking place here in chapter 12.
We have a man seeking to keep his power
And here he has found a way to do it.
“Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people.”
In those 4 verses we already get a taste
Of what a difficult time this must have been for the church.
We see:
1) The Mistreatment of Believers
“the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them.”
2) The Execution of James
“he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.”
3) The Arrest of Peter
“When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.”
Those are what we call – DIFFICULT TIMES
The church is once again under persecution.
They are being mistreated.
The writer of Hebrews alludes to this mistreatment:
Hebrews 10:32-34 “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.”
The early church faced some extremely difficult circumstances.
“reproaches” “tribulations” “imprisonment” “seizure of your property”
This was a difficult time to be in the church.
Just when Saul settled down, now you have Rome on your back.
And apparently this is serious for now James has been killed.
• This was one of the twelve, John’s brother, one of the “sons of thunder”.
• James was one of the more brass and direct of the apostles.
• He was the one who wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans.
He is the first original disciple to have been martyred,
But if Herod has his way, he won’t be the last.
For now he has also arrested Peter.
When he saw that the death of James earned some points with the Jews
He went for the big fish.
Peter was the leader of the 12, he was the chief disciple.
Herod is going all out now to please the Jews.
But think what a difficult time this must have been.
Don’t just skip over these 4 verses.
People were suffering, the leadership was attacked.
If this guy will kill James and Peter, what does that say for the rest of us?
This was a time of great hardship for the church.
I can imagine there were plenty of people
Who were curious exactly what God was up to.
The church was facing opposition.
Herod’s Opposition
#2 GOD’S INTERVENTION
Acts 12:5-23
Now as we read this passage here, there are really six things
That just sort of jump out at you here as astounding.
1) THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH (5)
I like how that verse reads.
“So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”
In other words we have a bad situation,
But don’t underestimate what is going on behind the scenes.
We have the church in full-battle mode.
They are praying.
And just notice some of the aspects of this prayer.
“prayer for him” – this was SPECIFIC PRAYER
• They weren’t praying in generalities or non-specifics.
• They were specifically praying directly for Peter.
“was being made” – this was CONTINUAL PRAYER
Paul told us to “pray without ceasing”, certainly Peter’s predicament was heavy on the hearts of the other believers and their prayer was continual.
“fervently” – this was INTENSE PRAYER
The Greek word here is EKTHENOS, it comes from EKTENES, which is a medical term referring to “a stretching of the muscles”.
It is the word used of Jesus in the garden.
Luke 22:44 “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”
This was devoted fervent prayer.
“by the church” – this was EFFECTIVE PRAYER
James is clear that “the effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.”
None of us would claim to be righteous and thereby successful prayers,
But we have been made righteous by the blood of Christ,
And so we pray in His name.
That makes the prayer of the church effective prayer.
“to God” – this was TRUE PRAYER
Far be it from us to pray to anyone else.
The early church surely didn’t.
Jesus taught us to pray like this:
Matthew 6:13 “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]”
The Psalmist said:
Psalms 79:11 “Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; According to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are doomed to die.”
That is the type of praying going on here by the church on Peter’s behalf.
Now, I’ll be honest.
We talk about prayer a lot as an absolute in the Christian life.
For one thing absence of prayer equals the presence of pride.
A prayerless person is a person who thinks they can handle it on their own.
Furthermore if Jesus prayed, and if the Holy Spirit prays,
Who are we to think we don’t need to.
And so we understand the necessity of prayer.
But in all honesty there has always been and there will always be
An element of mystery surrounding it.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
I have no idea.
But it does.
Luke 18:1-8 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘ Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
The point is, that just because Peter is still in prison,
Doesn’t mean you give up praying.
Jesus said we “ought to pray at all times and not to lose heart”
I realize the dark is darker than you expected
And has lasted longer than you thought,
But don’t lose heart, keep seeking God.
“will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”
The early church certainly understood this.
They were in the middle of a difficult time, but they kept praying.
Another thing that stands out to us:
2) THE PEACE OF PETER (6)
• Peter is facing execution in the morning.
• He is chained between two soldiers.
• Two more are guarding the cell.
And what is Peter doing?
“Peter was sleeping”
That sure sounds like a nervous man to me.
Peace like this only comes from God, and from trusting God.
David had a great Psalm describing God’s peace.
Psalms 131 “O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.”
David knew the way to have peace was
• To not be proud,
• Not to involve himself in matters beyond his control.
• And to lean upon God and to trust in him.
You get the idea that this is what Peter is doing.
There’s nothing he can do about his circumstances so he’s resting in God
He is at peace.
Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
3) THE POWER OF THE ANGEL (7-11)
Now for one thing we see how hard Peter was sleeping.
The bright light into the cell didn’t wake him up, the angel had to actually hit him.
And Peter was so groggy that he wasn’t even totally sure what was going on.
But beyond that, notice the power of this angel.
You sort of have here a “Mission Impossible” type scenario.
• We have Peter in a cell guarded by two guards…
• Peter chained to two guards…
• Peter not wearing his shoes or coat…
• And Peter asleep.
The angel’s mission is to get into the cell,
Get Peter awake, unchained, dressed,
And then back past the first and second guards,
And then through the iron gate that leads to the city.
It would take us days to come up with a plan,
And one that probably wouldn’t work.
And yet none of those things were obstacles for the angel.
What looked like an impossible situation to Peter or the church
Was in reality nothing to God.
He even had time to wait on Peter to tie his shoes.
4) THE PECULIAR RESPONSE (12-17)
Now honestly we find this a little humorous.
Peter shows up at the house of the praying believers, and the servant girl is so excited to see Peter she forgets and leaves him outside.
(I’m sure that was some nerve-racking for Peter)
But then notice the response of the church.
(15) “They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”
I find this interesting.
We have a church fervently praying,
But they were not fervently believing.
• They were not expecting Peter’s release.
• They were not believing it would happen.
• They were praying, but did not expect this.
So first, do not attribute this victory to the power of their faith,
Their faith obviously had holes.
Attribute this victory to the power of God.
Furthermore, it illustrates the gravity of this situation.
They had no expectation that Peter would be delivered, that’s how bad it was.
And yet God had delivered Peter.
5) THE PUNISHMENT OF THE GUARDS (18-19)
NOW WHAT DOES THAT INDICATE?
Namely that Herod was serious about his plans to execute Peter.
He was so serious in fact that the guards who let him escape
Gave their lives in his stead.
See, I want you to recognize the seriousness of the situation.
Sometimes after God delivers, He does it so easily that
The temptation is to look back on the situation and assume
Maybe it wasn’t as bad as we thought.
Yes it was, it’s just that God had great power to deliver.
This situation was so bad
That even the praying church wasn’t hoping for much.
And yet, God had intervened and delivered Peter.
One more noteworthy thing
6) THE PASSING OF HEROD (20-23)
Here we have a separate incident in the minds of most people,
But not to God.
God was about to deal with a man
Who had caused much grief to His people.
Herod had been angry with Tyre and Sidon and apparently cut off their food supply, so they come to beg for mercy.
And on this day he put on his “royal apparel” which Josephus tells us
Was made of silver cloth and reflected the sun brilliantly.
And he began “delivering an address to them.”
And in order to flatter him and make sure they got their food.
(22) “The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”
(23) “And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”
He didn’t die and then was eaten by worms,
He was eaten by worms and died.
The historians tell us that Herod died from a ruptured cyst filled with tapeworms that literally ate him to death.
His pain was excruciating and took 5 days.
God dealt with this opposition to His church.
He thought messing with God’s people was a good way to secure his career, in reality it was a good way to end his life.
He came to attack God’s people and God intervened.
He did something totally beyond the scope what was humanly possible.
He did something so amazing that even those who were praying for it to happen couldn’t believe it actually did.
That is God’s intervention.
Herod’s Opposition, God’s Intervention
#3 THE CHURCH’S CONTINUATION
Acts 12:24-25
What a simple and yet amazing statement.
“But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.”
It looked like someone was stopping the church, but they weren’t.
God had this all under control.
(25) “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.”
Remember, Barnabas and Saul had been sent to Jerusalem to deliver the famine relief money.
And they fulfilled their mission and then came back.
And here is the amazing thing.
Chapter 13 picks right up where chapter 11 left off.
Chapter 12 indicates that Herod had great plans of stopping the church
By executing her leaders and mistreating her people.
But he didn’t affect the flow or growth of the church one bit.
The church was the same after him, as it was before him.
This man didn’t even make a dent.
Because God knows how to handle opposition.
And when you see the scope of the hardship from start to finish,
We realize that God can handle the hardships that we face in life.
We realize that not only is God in control.
We also realize that God has everything under control.
When you read Peter’s letter
1 Peter 5:6-11 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
When Paul wrote about suffering he said:
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
That was Paul’s ways of saying that the victory is sure and absolute.
Or we could even go back to the writer of Hebrews.
I read to you earlier about those believers who suffered the seizure of their property.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 10:32
Notice his encouragement.
READ (10:32-39)
Then of course comes the faith chapter by which he highlights the people who have endured hardship on the road before them, but how they exercised faith.
READ (11:13-16)
READ (11:32-40)
READ (12:1-2)
And you get the idea.
Be encouraged.
Suffering and hardship and opposition are real,
Because Satan the adversary is real.
But just because it feels like all is lost and we are defeated,
Doesn’t mean it is true.
God always stands victorious.
• So be in prayer
• Be at peace
• Be patient for God to deliver, because God never loses.
God can handle opposition.
Job 9:4 “Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm?”
