ACTS CHAPTER 12, “Peter’s
Arrest And Deliverance”
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last three studies we
saw how in the church in Jerusalem that the Lord had been breaking down all of
the barriers that the Jews had towards the Gentiles and that the Lord was
causing the church to grow in the love of God
1.1.1.
We saw how that the Lord led
Peter to preach the gospel to the household of Cornelius the Gentile who was
the first Gentile convert to Christianity
1.1.2.
We saw how that the church
which had been dispersed from Jerusalem finally began going straight to the
Gentiles and preaching the gospel and that the Lord finally planted the first
Gentile church in the city of Antioch, which then became a missionary hub for
planting churches throughout the world
1.1.3.
Then last week we saw that
some prophets in the church had come down to Antioch and prophesied that there
would be a major famine in the land of Judea, and that as a result of that
prophesy that the Gentile church there was moved by the love of God to
reciprocate that love they had received from the Jewish church in Jerusalem,
and thus they sent a gift through Paul and Barnabas to the church for relief
1.1.4.
I also quoted 1 Timothy 1:5
where Paul had written to Timothy that the goal of their instruction was
‘love’, and that maturity in Christ comes as a result of growing in the love of
God
1.1.5.
In Ephesians 3:14-19, we
read the apostle Paul’s prayer for the saints in the church in Ephesus, and in
this prayer, which really is a model prayer that we all ought to pray for our
brothers and sisters in Christ, we read that Paul prayed that they would become
rooted and grounded in the love of God as they were comprehending what is the ‘breadth
and length and height and depth’ of the love of Christ for them, “14 For
this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in
heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to
the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in
the inner man; 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and
that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with
all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to
know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to
all the fullness of God.”
1.1.6.
Pastor Chuck Smith who
pastored the first Calvary Chapel church has noted that because in the Calvary
Chapels we teach verse by verse through the scriptures, the emphasis of our
teaching is primarily on what God has done for us, whereas in the churches that
teach topically the emphasis tends to be primarily upon what we ought to do for
the Lord
1.1.7.
By teaching verse by verse
through the scriptures we are able to grow in our understanding of the love of
God for us, which of course causes us to grow in our expression of the love of
God, for as John wrote in 1 John 4:19, “…we love because He first loved us.”
1.2.
In our teaching today, we
are going to observe and learn the following lessons about prayer:
1.2.1.
The importance that the
early church put upon prayer
1.2.2.
What constitutes prayers
that God will answer
1.2.3.
How prayer is to be offered
in faith to God, believing Him to be faithful to keep the promises that He has
given to us, and thus it involves ‘expectation’ that He will answer
1.2.4.
We will see how the
‘sovereignty of God’ comes into play in our life as Christians
2.
VS 12:1-3 - “12:1
Now 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 And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded
to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread.”
- Herod began to persecute the church in
2.1.
Let’s look at this man named Herod who is mentioned here in this chapter:
2.1.1.
There was a
succession of the line of the Herods during this time period. They were all wicked and profane in the sight
of the Lord. The Herod of this chapter
is actually Herod Agrippa, The First.
2.1.2.
He was the
grandson of Herod the Great who was the man who ordered all of the male
children under the age of two to be murdered after Jesus was born.
2.1.3.
This Herod
was also the nephew of Herod Antipas, the man who murdered John the Baptist.
2.1.4.
Luke records
that Herod was the King of Israel at this time.
There is a sad irony here because this wicked Herod was the last earthly
king that
2.1.4.1.God Himself had called
2.1.4.2.The people had constantly fallen away from the Lord
spiritually throughout all of their history, and this was due to a large extent
because of being led astray by the kings which they appointed.
2.1.4.3.Herod was this last king, and he led them terribly
astray.
2.1.5.
Herod was a
Roman, although in order to try to win the Jews approval he tried to live under
their law and observe all of their sacrifices and customs.
2.2.
Herod was
quite a politician. He was constantly
trying to do everything that he could to win the favor of the Jews. He thought that if he killed James, the
brother of John the other Son of Thunder, that since the Jews were so vexed by
the Christians and their constant proclaiming the gospel, that he would win
their approval.
2.2.1.1.He seemed to gain the Jew’s favor when he had James
murdered, therefore he thought he would try to do more wickedness against the Christians,
so he arrested their ring-leader, Peter, whom he also intended to slay.
2.2.2.
Herod seemed
to be pleased, or amused, to vex the church by murdering the saints.
2.3.
It was during
the time of the Passover that Herod arrested Peter.
2.4.
During His
earthly ministry, Jesus had prophetically foretold that James would be martyred
as recorded in Mark 10:35-40: “35
And James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, *came up to Him, saying to Him,
“Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He said to
them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 And they said to Him, “Grant that
we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right, and one on Your left.” 38 But
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to
drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am
baptized?” 39 And they said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The
cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism
with which I am baptized. 40 “But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not
Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.””
2.4.1.
James drank
Jesus’ cup and was baptized with His baptism by suffering as the first martyr
amongst the twelve apostles.
2.4.2.
James’
brother John (the only apostle not to die as a martyr) died at a ripe old age
and yet he drank Jesus’ cup and was baptized with His baptism by continually
walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and living a long life of faithful
obedience and service for Christ.
2.5.
We in the
church need to realize that there will always be on this earth those who seek
to persecute Christians in order to meet some temporal and selfish goal.
2.5.1.
It is
Christians alone who are the real threat to any non-Christian nation that is
not governed by principles taken from God’s word.
2.5.2.
There will
always be some who will meet their wicked and self-serving needs by persecuting
Christians.
3.
VS 12:4 - “4
And 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.” - Herod stationed four
squads of soldiers to guard Peter after arresting him
3.1.
Herod and the
Jewish leaders had become leery of this group of Christians because they just
kept on performing disappearing acts.
3.1.1.
Jesus had
disappeared out of His tomb
3.1.2.
The apostles
had been let out of prison by an angel.
3.1.3.
Saul had been
delivered out of the city of
3.2.
Herod wanted
to make absolutely sure that this time Peter would not be able to escape.
3.3.
There were
four squads of four soldiers charged with guarding Peter, one squad for each
watch, two were chained to him, one on either side, and two watched the door of
the jail.
3.4.
Herod had
intended to murder Peter after the week of the Passover was over, when he
brought him out before the Jews so that they would determine his fate.
4.
VS 12:5 - “5
So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by
the church to God.” - The church prayed
for Peter while he was in prison
4.1.
The early
church was a praying church and thus here the church was doing what it should
have been doing, it was gathered together and praying fervently for Peter. It appears that the church had a constant
prayer vigil going for Peter and others bothered by the general persecution of
Christians that was beginning to be mounted by Herod.
4.2.
The early
church had no Moral Majority or Religious Right in that day, and no
sympathizers in high places. Their only
source of hope was to be found in the Lord through prayer.
4.3.
If we in the
church today would take advantage of the resources in prayer which the Lord
wants to provide us, then we would be blessed and also used mightily by Him.
4.3.1.
When the
church today is a praying church, it is being led by the Holy Spirit, and when
the Holy Spirit is leading the church, it will be a praying church.
4.3.2.
Many people
become fatalistic and don’t pray because they feel their prayer won’t change
what God is already going to do, however there are many things which the Lord
will not do for us apart from prayer, thus James wrote the following in Ja.
4:2, “You do not have because you do not ask”.
4.3.3.
We tend to
turn to every other resource for help, and then finally we come to the Lord
when He is the only place left where we may turn. However, if we would turn to Him first, we
would be blessed and we would also not needlessly suffer many of the things
that we go through.
4.3.4.
When we in
the church today realize that we are over our heads and our ability to fix
things and that the only place that we can turn to get the help that we need is
the Lord, then we are really in the very best place of all.
4.3.5.
Have you
noticed lately that it seems that with our economy faltering that it seems that
the Lord is beginning to knock out from under us everything that we try to use
as a crutch to lean on to get through things.
He wants us to look to Him for all of our help.
4.3.6.
We should
look to Him in prayer for strength, guidance, and wisdom to handle every
situation.
4.3.7.
The reason
that the church today is not being used mightily by the Lord is due more than
anything to a lack of prayer.
4.3.8.
Jesus said
that He can open up a door that no one can close for ministry in the church,
and thus the church needs to be praying for that open effective door of
ministry that the Lord can open up.
5.
VS 12:6-7 - “6
And 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 roused him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.”
- An angel appeared to Peter and woke
him and told him to get up
5.1.
Though the
church had been praying constantly for Peter the whole week since he went into
prison, the Lord did not answer the prayers for Peter until the very night
before he was to be killed for his faith.
5.1.1.
In our lives,
have you noticed that the Lord often waits until the very last moment before we
have to have an answer before He delivers us or answers our prayers? He does this so that His people will not be
able to attribute what the Lord has done for them to anyone else.
5.1.2.
Spurgeon once said in his preaching, “God never is
before his time; nor is he ever too late; he comes just when he is needed.”
5.2.
Notice here
that after a trying week of being held in the prison and now on the very night
before he is to be executed that Peter is resting and is in a deep sleep:
5.2.1.
Even though
Peter knew what these wicked men had planned for him, especially since Herod
had just murdered the apostle James, nevertheless he was sleeping being chained
between these two Roman guards.
5.2.2.
Peter was
actually sleeping so soundly that the angel of the Lord had to strike him in
order to get him to wake up.
5.2.3.
Peter must
have remembered Jesus and the many lessons He had taught the disciples
regarding trusting God completely.
5.2.3.1.Peter probably remembered the time when Jesus and His
disciples were crossing the
5.2.3.2.Jesus always had faith that the Father had all things
in control and that He would protect His own unto the uttermost.
5.2.4.
Peter had
learned the lesson that all of his times were in the Lord’s hands. If the Lord wanted to take him home at this
time, Peter was at rest knowing that the Lord would take Him and that there he
would forever be in perfect peace.
5.2.5.
Peter knew
that according to Herod’s plan, he was supposed to die the very next day, just
as James had likewise been martyred by Herod, however Peter also knew that if
the Lord was willing to deliver him, nothing on earth could stop the Lord’s
deliverance.
5.3.
Let me ask you the question, “Had Peter remained awake worrying and fretting what
would happen to him, what good would that have done in his situation?”
5.3.1.
Spurgeon once said, “When the case is taken into God’s hands, and you and I feel that we can
do nothing for ourselves, we may take sleep in perfect quietude, for so he
giveth his beloved sleep. While we sleep, his watchful eyes do keep their ceaseless
guard…God sleepeth never;
he is ever on the watch for his people.”
5.4.
Let’s see if
we can apply these truths to your life:
5.4.1.
Would you be
sleeping the night before the day when you knew that you were probably going to
die?
5.4.1.1.Peter had that inward tranquility of heart that came
straight from the Lord Himself. He was
resting in the Lord to the extent that He could sleep through the night before
his execution was to take place.
5.4.1.2.He did not worry and fret, for that would be to not
trust Jesus Himself.
5.4.2.
Do you lose
the peace of God in your heart often?
5.4.2.1.God wants us to trust Him with all of our life and not
to worry at all.
5.5.
The
‘sovereignty of God is seen here in this story in that the Lord allowed James
to be put to death and then in the next instant He miraculously delivered Peter
through an angel. You see, the Lord
intends us to understand that He is in control and though we don’t always
understand why He allows what He allows to occur in our life, He has a purpose
for everything that occurs.
5.5.1.
The Lord
could have just as easily delivered James through an angel, however for reasons
that we do not know the Lord allowed James to suffer greatly and then be taken
to heaven, and He rescued Peter miraculously.
5.5.2.
We Christians
are called to trust the Lord even when it seems that the Lord is not in control
and that things are occurring randomly.
5.5.3.
Someone once
said that each of God’s people are invincible until the day that the Lord
chooses to allow us to suffer or to take us home.
5.5.4.
God has not
told us as Christians that we are always going to be happy and that difficult
things are not going to occur, He has simply told us that we must be obedient
to Him in everything in our life, whether or not we understand why things are
occurring or not.
5.5.5.
The only evil
that ever occurs in life He has allowed to occur.
5.5.5.1.I’m sure that James and perhaps those with him had
prayed that if it was the Lord’s will that He would keep James from being
harmed or murdered by Herod, however all things are being worked according to
His good plan and therefore when we pray sometimes the Lord’s answer is,
‘Yes’, and sometimes it is ‘No’, and
sometimes the answer is, ‘Yes, but not right now.’
6.
VS 12:8 - “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.””
- The angel told Peter to get dressed
and follow him
6.1.
The Lord is
miraculously delivering Peter and yet He tells Peter that it is his
responsibility to take care of a practical matter: he must put on his sandals and put his coat
on himself.
6.1.1.
The Lord has
given us many practical responsibilities which He expects us to carry out, even
when we are being mightily led by Him.
We must never over-spiritualize our walk with the Lord.
6.2.
Peter is not
told what the Lord is doing or where the Lord is leading him. Peter is told to simply follow the Lord
wherever He leads.
6.2.1.
We as
Christians often do not know what the Lord is doing in our lives or where He is
leading us, however we must be careful simply to be a good follower of the
Lord.
6.2.2.
We must not
balk at following the Lord because we do not understand what it is that the
Lord is doing or how every situation is going to work out in our life and
everyone else around us.
7.
VS 12:9-11 - “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 And
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 And
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.”” -
Peter followed the angel out of the prison
7.1.
The Lord
placed some sort of a spell over the entire jail and all of the people in
it.
7.1.1.
Peter’s
chains dropped right off and then the angel walked him right past the guard at
the door.
7.1.2.
When Peter
and the angel got to the huge iron gate of the city, it opened by itself (with
divine assistance), and Peter and the angel walked out of the city down one
street, and then the angel departed from Peter.
7.1.3.
It was at
this time that Peter suddenly realized that what he had been seeing was not a
vision but reality, he had actually been delivered from the prison by the
angel.
8.
VS 12:12 - “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.”
- Peter went to the house of Mary the
mother of John
8.1.
Peter decided
that now that the Lord had delivered him from Herod and the Jews, that he would
go to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where the church often
met.
8.2.
Many from the
church were at Mary’s house where they had been praying continually since James
was murdered and Peter had been imprisoned.
9.
VS 12:13-15 - “13
And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to
answer. 14 And 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 And 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.”” - Peter knocked at the door of Mary’s house
9.1.
It is ironic
that Peter had a harder time getting through the gate and into a prayer meeting
than he had getting out of prison.
9.1.1.
Rhoda came to
the gate when Peter knocked, however instead of letting him in, she had such
great joy that she ran into the prayer meeting to announce that Peter was at
the gate.
9.1.2.
The people at
the prayer meeting must have had little faith in their praying because they
told Rhoda that she must be out of her mind because Peter was in prison.
9.2.
Perhaps the
servant girl, Rhoda, had more faith than the rest of those praying in the house
that night.
9.3.
The church praying for Peter did not believe that God could have answered
their prayers and delivered him:
9.3.1.
The people
said that instead of it being Peter, it must have been ‘his angel’.
9.3.1.1.Some believe that by this that the people thought that
it was his guardian angel that was at the gate.
9.3.1.1.1.The Bible definitely teaches that there is such a
thing as a guardian angel which all people have.
9.3.1.2.Others believe that in saying it was ‘his angel’ that
they misspoke, and that what they were really saying was that it was ‘his
spirit’, since he must have already been executed.
9.4.
There are
at least four principles that we can learn from these verses:
9.4.1.
The Lord
honors the weakest faith that we have when we pray.
9.4.2.
Even in the
most fervent and sincere prayer there is a measure of unbelief.
9.4.3.
We know that
there must be some unbelief when we pray and later we are surprised when the
Lord answers our prayer.
9.4.4.
Nothing is
impossible to the Lord when we pray.
9.4.4.1.Notice that neither the prison, 16 soldiers, chains on
feet and hands, locked cell doors, locked huge iron gate to the city, nothing
is able to stop the Lord from delivering Peter.
9.4.4.1.1.In our lives, the Lord is able to deliver us from
anything by which we are bound, for He is our deliverer and what a deliverer He
is!
9.4.4.2.If the disciples had organized an attack upon the
prison that night and tried to overcome the soldiers and guard over Peter they
would not have been able to do what the Lord did in rescuing Peter. The only hope of the church was that of
prayer to the Lord.
9.4.4.2.1.Maybe you are in a situation that seems hopeless and
it seems that there is no way that you will overcome or get victory? If so, take heart to boldly bring yourself to
the throne of grace where as Paul writes in Eph. 3:11-12, we have
boldness and confident access, “This was in accordance with the eternal
purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness
and confident access through faith in Him.”
9.5.
I think that we should see further that ‘prayer that
is prayed in faith in God, believing Him to be faithful to keep His promises,
must have an ‘expectation’ that the Lord will answer’
10.
VS 12:16-18 - “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.” And he departed and went to
another place.” - Peter entered and
told everyone how the Lord had delivered him from the prison
10.1.
Finally,
someone opened the door after Peter continued knocking and knocking.
10.2.
Everyone was
amazed that he had gotten out of prison.
10.3.
Then, Peter
told everyone how that the Lord had rescued him from the prison, and then he
told them to report the story to James, the pastor of the church in
11.
VS 12:18-19 - “18
Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what
could have become of Peter. 19 And when Herod had searched for him and had not
found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to
execution. And he went down from Judea to
11.1.
The guards
probably continued sleeping until the morning shift of guards came to replace
them. Then, when Peter could not be
found, there was ‘no small disturbance’.
11.2.
Herod
probably felt that the guards had been bribed or had somehow consented to
allowing Peter to leave.
11.2.1.Sadly, Herod would not consider that the Lord Himself
might actually have delivered Peter Himself.
11.3.
Showing the
wicked character of Herod, he had the soldiers who were to be guarding Peter
put to death.
11.4.
Herod next
went to the area of
12.
VS 12:20-23 - “20
Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord
they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were
asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country. 21 And
on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on
the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 And 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.” - God struck
Herod Agrippa dead
12.1.
Herod had a
contention with the people of the cities of
12.1.1.On the day that Herod had set aside to have a public
hearing and decide their case he gave them an address that was probably very
eloquent and favorable.
12.1.2.The people of those cities began to praise him and cry
out to him that he was not a man, but a god.
12.1.3.Herod was the last king of
12.1.3.1.However, Herod enjoyed the flattery and encouraged
them to continue in this manner.
12.1.4.The Lord “will not give His glory to another”, and
thus He caused an angel (perhaps the same angel that had delivered Peter) to
strike Herod ‘because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms
and died’.
12.2.
Josephus, the
Jewish historian under Roman employment during that day recorded this
incident. He wrote that Herod came down
with an ailment in his bowels, collapsed, and died a couple of days later.
12.3.
We Christians
must realize that we need to always (and in all ways) give God the honor,
glory, and reverence with which He is deserving. None is worthy but the Lord alone, He alone
is worthy of all of our worship and praise.
12.3.1.The man who refuses to give God the glory He deserves
should realize that in the end he will be found to be a fool, and, he will not
escape the judgment of hell.
12.4.
When we take
the throne of our lives, then just as Herod did we begin to act like and think
that we are God. You see, either we are
making Him to be God in our lives, or we are making ourselves out to be God.
13.
VS 12:24 - “24
But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.” - God’s Word continued to grow
13.1.
Herod was not
able to stop the Lord’s work.
13.1.1.When the chapter began, Herod was in charge and it
looked as if there was no hope for Peter and the Christian movement due to the
persecution which he intended.
13.1.2.At the end of the chapter it is written, ‘the word of
the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied’.
13.1.3.The Lord had the final victory, and as has happened
all throughout history no one was able to stop Christ’s church and the
proclamation of the gospel.
14.
VS 12:25 - “25
And Barnabas and Saul returned from
14.1.
This story ends
the recording of the work of Peter in the early church. From this point on the focus of the church
is