Acts 12-
August 19th, 2012 Theme Text:
Romans 8: 31 What then shall we say
to these things ? If God is for us, who is against us?
A man who
had been caught embezzling millions from his employer went to a lawyer seeking
defense.
He didn’t
want to go to jail.
But his
lawyer told him, "Don’t worry. You’ll never have to go to jail with all
that money you have."
And the
lawyer was right.
After the
man spent all of his money for his legal defense fund.
When the man
was sent to prison, he didn’t have a dime.
Today we
will witness the Apostle Peter being put in Prison for the sake of the Gospel.
One person
actually did a comparison and contrast to prison and work and they came up with
the following:
Prison vs.
Work
* IN PRISON...You spend the majority of your
time in an 8x10 cell.
* AT WORK....You spend most of your time in a
6x8 cubicle.
* IN
PRISON...You get three meals a day.
* AT WORK....You only get a break for 1 meal
and you have to pay for it.
* IN
PRISON...You get time off for good behavior.
* AT WORK....You get rewarded for good
behavior with more work.
* IN
PRISON...You can watch TV and play games.
* AT WORK....You get fired for watching TV and
playing games.
* IN
PRISON...You get your own toilet.
* AT WORK....You have to share.
* IN
PRISON...All expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required.
* AT WORK....You get to pay all the expenses
to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.
Prison might
be better than some work places but I still don’t want to go there!
Peter was
imprisoned for doing something good.
Most of the
time people go to prison for doing bad things.
Peter was
spreading the gospel of Christ and was imprisoned for it, but apparently, he
took it in stride, knowing that anyone who would follow Jesus would also be
persecuted.
John 15:19-20 "If you belonged to the world,
it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I
have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the
words I spoke to you: ’No servant is greater than his master.’ If they
persecuted me, they will persecute you also."
We should
expect there to be opposition to the Gospel because Jesus warned us that this
would happen.
In our text
today we will see the leaders of the will take their stand against the Church.
This morning
we will see the text name Herod the King as the antagonizer.
Herod is
actually Herod Agrippa I that was the grandson of Herod the great that we read
about in the story of the Birth of Christ.
Herod
Agrippa the 1st had been in Rome for a long time and was friends
with some of the mightiest in the Roman Empire.
He was
friends with the Emperor and returned to Palestine in 41 AD to rule Judea.
He was a
friend to the Sadducees and the ruling party of the Temple and was eager to
keep Pax Romana.
Rome was
very peaceful at this time and he would do whatever it took to keep the peace.
The Church
would be viewed as a threat to upset that balance of peace in the Empire.
So as we
look at this passage this morning keep all of this in mind- James the brother
of John had recently been put to death and now it seems like Peter will be
killed.
This morning
let us turn to our text.
Earlier in
the chapter James the brother of John had been arrested and beheaded.
Now the
authorities have arrested Peter.
It seems
that things are bleak for Peter – already on of the Lord’s closest disciples –
one of the inner circle had been martyred and killed for his faith.
It seems
like the same is true for Peter.
Lets look at
Acts 12: 1-19
1Now about
that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order
to mistreat them. 2 And he had James the brother of John put to death with a
sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter
also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 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. 5So Peter was
kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church
to God. 6 On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter
was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front
of the door were watching over the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord
suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell ; and he struck Peter's side
and woke him up, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off
his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your
sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around
you and follow me." 9 And he went out and continued to follow, and he did
not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was
seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and second guard, they came
to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself ;
and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed
from him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure
that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod
and from all that the Jewish people were expecting." 12 And when he
realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also
called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 When he
knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14
When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy she did not open the
gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. 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." 16 But Peter
continued knocking ; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were
amazed. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to
them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, "Report
these things to James and the brethren." Then he left and went to another
place. 18Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers
as to what could have become of Peter. 19 When Herod had searched for him and
had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to
execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time
there.
The one
thing that I want to really emphasize this morning is the power of the Church’s
prayer.
1)
Prayer is a weapon that we must use
Prayer is a
powerful weapon that we don’t use:
The Church
in Acts 12 verse 5 makes use of the power of prayer:
“but prayer
for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”
In continuous (the verb construction indicates
duration)
In Acts we
have seen that this is normal activity for the Church.
The Church
prays and God acts mightily.
In a
seminary mission’s class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was
assigned a car that would not start without a push.
After pondering his problem, he devised a
plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children
out of class, and had them push his car off.
As he made his rounds, he would either park on
a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two
years.
Ill health
forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station.
When Jackson
proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new
man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new
missionary interrupted,
"Why,
Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable."
He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the
car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to
life. For two years needless trouble had become routine.
The power
was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that
power to work.
Relying upon
human strength is tiring and difficult.
In today’s
story we see the Church relying on prayer to help them.
In the book
of Acts, we see a common sight – the church at prayer.
Not a few disciples, but the whole community of believers
praying together
This was a unique sight, because in the Gospel we hardly read
of the disciples gathering to pray.
We saw Jesus praying alone, most of the time. And even when
they supposed to be praying together as a group – in the garden of Gethsemane,
they were sleeping.
But now, in
the book of Acts, they were praying.
Not just a
few of them, but most of the believers, gathering together to pray.
They have
come to understand the need to pray. When they pray, God acts.
In the
Gospels we witness the incarnate Son of God pray – Jesus of Nazareth prays and
now in Acts we see the Body of Christ – the Church praying.
WE CANT DO IT ON OUR OWN:
One day the
minister visited a hard-working farmer who was in his congregation.
The minister marveled at the change in the
farm, from dilapidated buildings and poor, worn-out land to modern,
brightly-painted buildings and rich, abundant cropland.
“My, Bill,” said the minister, “the Lord and
you have certainly worked wonders with this farm.”
“Yes,”
replied the farmer laconically, “but you should have seen the place when the
Lord had it by Himself.”
Sometimes in
life we humans think we are pretty good at what we do.
In fact, we
might even wonder what the Lord could do without us.
That is a WRONG way to think.
It’s the reverse of what we should be
thinking. It should be: what would we do without the Lord’s help in life?
We don’t get
anywhere in life that is good without the Lord’s help and blessing! Some people
don’t believe this but I am convinced of it.
Therefore, it seems only natural that we need
His help every time we turn around.
We shouldn’t
open our eyes without offering a prayer of thanks to Him.
We shouldn’t
take a drink of water to our lips without saying "thank you, Lord."
We shouldn’t ingest one bite of food without
giving thanks.
We shouldn’t receive one paycheck from anyone
without praising God for it. IF IT’S
GOOD, IT’S FROM THE LORD!
Now
likewise, when life gets tough we need to seek Him, seek His will, His
blessing, His help, His grace.
I’m saying that we should be a praying people!
The church should be praying. We should be
praying privately and congregationally
. In church
and out of the church. Anywhere and everywhere. Driving, etc.
Here are
some interesting passages from the New Testament on Prayer
Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to
you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
God wants us
to ASK
II Cor. 1:10-11 "He has delivered us from such
a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he
will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers."
WE HELP EACH
OTHER BY OUR PRAYERS- INTERCESSION FOR EACH OTHER
Eph. 6:18 "And pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the saints."
PRAY ON ALL
OCCASIONS- PRAY FOR THE ENTIRE CHURCH
Phil. 1:19 "Yes, and I will continue to
rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit
of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my
deliverance."
WE REJOICE
WHEN OTHERS ARE PRAYING FOR US
Phil. 4:6 "Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God."
DON’T BE
ANXIOUS FOR ANYTING BUT GIVE YOUR PETITION TO GOD
Col. 4:2-3 "Devote yourselves to prayer,
being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for
our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in
chains."
PRAY FOR THE
SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
It sounds to me like we should be a praying
people!
Whenever a
brother or a sister is burdened or is in trouble, etc. we should be praying for
them!
That’s what
the church did for Peter.
And knowing that people are praying for you
can make a big difference in life.
This is
probably one of the best things, if not THE best thing that we could ask of
others.
How does God
do His work, and manifest His power? When believers gather and pray.
Peter had
been placed in the custody of 16 soldiers, 4 squads of 4 men each.
Four shifts
to take turns guarding him. The guards ought to be more alert than the
prisoners.
He was bound
with chains to 2 soldiers, one on either side of him.
The double
guard on him around the clock was to make doubly sure that he would not escape.
We know for
ancient Roman sources and Flavius Josephus that one chain was the normal method
of binding a prisoner.
They were
taking extra precautions with Peter.
And then
verse 10 says there were the first and second guards, and an iron gate.
No work of
man can stop the work of God.
Man’s
attempts or even the devil’s attempts, are all futile when it comes against the
will of God.
Rom 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be
against us?”
And so the
church gathers to pray. The situation was critical.
King Herod
had already killed one of the church leaders James.
And verse 3 says, “When he saw that this pleased the
Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.”
He wanted to
make them happy, so Peter was next.
Just imagine
- two of the church’s foremost leaders – one was dead, the other likely to be
killed - at such an early stage of their ministry.
It was a
critical moment, but they had a window of opportunity.
There was
still some time – because it was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Herod
decided to deal with Peter after the Passover.
The Feast
lasted a week, so they might have about 7 days, more or less.
This was
their only chance they had to pray for God’s deliverance
Sometimes
Prayer can Transform us:
Sometimes
prayer seems like it does nothing – you may think that you are praying into the
void.
But have you
ever considered that prayer may be transforming you.
In a scene
from Shadowlands, a film based on the life of C.S. Lewis,
Lewis has returned to Oxford from London,
where he has just been married to Joy Gresham,
an American
woman, in a private Anglican ceremony performed at her hospital bedside.
She is dying
from cancer, and, through the struggle with her illness,
she and Lewis have been discovering the depth
of their love for each other.
As Lewis
arrives at the college where he teaches, he is met by Harry Harrington, an Anglican
priest, who asks what news there is.
Lewis hesitates; then, deciding to speak of the
marriage and not the cancer, he says,
"Ah,
good news, I think, Harry. Yes, good news."
Harrington,
not aware of the marriage and thinking that Lewis is referring to Joy’s medical
situation, replies,
"I know
how hard you’ve been praying .... Now, God is answering your prayer."
"That’s
not why I pray, Harry," Lewis responds.
"I pray
because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless.
I pray
because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping.
It doesn’t change God; it changes me."
Our
communication before the throne of God changes us.
When we go
before God’s throne we can’t help but be transformed.
So many
times we see prayer from the perspective that I am going to get God’s attention
– I am going to change the mind of God.
But we
forget that we are transformed by prayer.
We see a
Church in Acts that had been transformed by prayer.
WE see that
they are constantly together and they are constantly praying.
2)
God’s answers should not surprise us
Peter
proceeds to the home of Mary, the mother of John
From the
description of the home's entryway, "door of the gate, gateway, or
vestibule,"
we learn that the house was spacious.
Its layout
included at least a main building separated from a gatehouse or vestibule by an
open court.
It was
probably the gathering place of the house church to which Peter belonged
At the
moment it was serving as the venue for extended fervent prayer for Peter, which
evidently included all-night sessions.
In a playful
touch of comic irony, which lends realism to the account,
Luke relates how a maidservant named Rhoda
("rosebud"),
charged with
answering the door, is so overcome with joy at the sound of Peter's voice that
she leaves him standing there while she rushes in to announce his arrival.
the church members
argue over the truthfulness of her report
Peter is left knocking and calling at the
door.
The very
answer to their prayers is knocking, and they do not believe it!
They declare
Rhoda crazy. When she sticks to her story, they conclude that Peter's guardian
angel—who according to their Jewish tradition would take on his attributes
—has arrived
either to bring good news or to announce Peter's death.
Going to investigate, they are "beside
themselves in astonishment" when they open the door and see Peter standing
there
God answers
prayers in different ways too.
In this case
He answered them so fast they didn’t believe it was true.
There are
times when we think that God just hasn’t answered our prayers at all.
There was
once a preacher who had a little five year old daughter.
Now the
little girl notice that every time her dad stood behind the pulpit, and was
getting ready to preach he would bow his head for moment before he began to
preach.
The little
girl noticed that he did this every time.
So one day
after the service the little girl when to her dad and asked him, “Why do you
bow your head right before you preach your sermon?”
“Well Honey”
the preacher answered, “ I asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon.”
The little
girl looked up at her father and asked, “Then how come he doesn’t do it?”
Sometime we
might feel like this little girl – like God has heard us – we are screaming
across a void and no one hears us.
Sometimes
our prayers are answered in ways that we just don’t realize God answered and he
answered It in ways we could never imagine.
Sometimes we
just missed His answer.
Maybe the
answer is yes but wait.
Sometimes
the answer is no – or we already know the answer.
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