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We'll turn with me in your Bibles 
to Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12, as we continue 
our exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 12, I'll begin reading in 
verse 1. Now, about that time, Herod the 
king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 
Then he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And 
because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further 
to seize Peter also. Now, it was during the days of 
unleavened bread. So when he had arrested him, 
he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers 
to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. 
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered 
to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring 
him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains 
between two soldiers, and the guards before the door were keeping 
the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him and 
a light shone in the prison. And he struck Peter on the side 
and raised him up saying, arise quickly. And his chains fell 
off his hands. Then the angel said to him, gird 
yourself and tie on your sandals. And so he did. And he said to 
him, put on your garment and follow me. So he went out and 
followed him and did not know that what was done by the angel 
was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were 
past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the 
iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own 
accord. And they went out and went down one street, and immediately 
the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, 
he said, Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel 
and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the 
expectation of the Jewish people. So when he had considered this, 
he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname 
was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter 
knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice, 
because of her gladness, she did not open the gate, but ran 
in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said 
to her, you are beside yourself. Yet she kept insisting that it 
was so, so they said, it is his angel. Now Peter continued knocking, 
and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But motioning to them with his 
hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought 
him out of the prison. And he said, Go tell these things 
to James and to the brethren. And he departed and went to another 
place. Then as soon as it was day, there 
was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. 
But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined 
the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. 
And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. Now 
Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, 
but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus, 
the king's personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace, 
because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. So on a set day, Herod, arrayed 
in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to 
them. And the people kept shouting, 
the voice of a god and not of a man. Then immediately an angel 
of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God, 
and he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew 
and multiplied. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word of the living 
and true God. We thank you that it's given by inspiration of 
God and that it's profitable to us for for correction, for 
instruction, for reproof, for all the things that You have 
purposed. And God, I pray that Your Holy Spirit would be at 
work now, that You would guide us as we consider this passage 
of Scripture, that You would encourage us to pray for those 
who are persecuted, those who suffer for the cause of God and 
truth. And Lord, as well, equip us as 
we see increasing secularization, increasing opposition to the 
church in our own country, I pray, Father, that you would gird us 
up, that you would cause us to be faithful, cause us to be persevering, 
cause us to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation, 
and give us boldness to hold forth the word of truth. And 
even now, forgive us for our sins and our transgression, cleanse 
us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and again, 
fill us with your Spirit as we consider Holy Scripture now. 
And we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, 
last Sunday we considered Jesus' statement in Matthew chapter 
16, when he said, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades 
shall not prevail against it. And with that statement, he does 
two things. He confirms the triumph of the 
church, but then affirms the continual opposition of Satan 
against the church. Now, today is called the International 
Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, and interestingly, we 
find ourselves here in Acts chapter 12. This is a wonderful illustration 
of civil or state opposition to the Church of our Lord Jesus. 
Up to this particular point in the book of Acts, the opposition 
to Christ and his people had been led by the Jews. Now certainly 
they appreciate what Herod Agrippa does in this passage, but it's 
led by him. We don't know why he does this, 
we don't know what is motivating this, but this is state opposition 
of the church. Now at the time of Jesus. Certainly 
Pilate, Pontius Pilate, was a civil authority who gave the authorization 
to execute our Lord Jesus. But as you read the narrative, 
he was simply a puppet. He functioned at the behest of 
the Jews. Again, that was a religious persecution. So we're sort of changing direction 
now, not saying there is no more religious opposition, but seeing 
now this new element in terms of state opposition to the rising 
Christian cause. And I wanna look first at the 
persecution of the church by Herod in verses one to four. 
Secondly, the escape from prison by Peter in verses five to 19. 
And then the judgment of Herod by God in verses 19 to 23, and 
then finally the progress of the word by the power of God. But as we look at this persecution, 
we ought to notice first the persecutor. In verse one, it 
tells us, now about that time, Herod the king stretched out 
his hand to harass some from the church. Now about that time 
probably links up with 1130 when Saul or Paul and Barnabas went 
from Antioch into Judea on that famine relief visit. Now, it 
had been about 10 years at this point since the martyrdom of 
Stephen. And if we ask the question, why 
does Herod do this? It might simply be the case that 
there were a multitude of Gentile converts being added to the church. And this was perceived by both 
the Jews, the religious Jews, and the civil state as a threat. They wanted to oppose this. They 
wanted to crush this. Now, this particular Herod, his 
name is Herod Agrippa I. He was the grandson of Herod 
the Great, who ruled at the time of our Lord Jesus Christ. It 
was Herod the Great who murdered the innocents in Matthew chapter 
2. It was Herod the Great that Jesus went to see in Luke chapter 
23. And this particular Herod, the 
grandson of that Herod the Great, is Agrippa I. He reigned from 
37 to 44, which helps us to date the specific details in the book 
of Acts. So when God kills him, It's AD 
44. Now, he had a bit of a colored 
past himself and wasn't always looked upon favorably. I think 
he spent a little time in prison for having insulted one of the 
Caesars at that time. But he was good friends with 
Caligula and with Claudius, and through their influence in his 
life, he became the man that sort of governed that same region 
that his grandfather Herod the Great was over. Later on in the 
book of Acts, a couple of his children are going to be mentioned. 
Drusilla in chapter 24 and then Agrippa II and Bernice in chapter 
25. When you get to chapter 25 and 
you have Agrippa II and Bernice, it's often assumed that they 
were husband and wife because they sort of function like that. 
They were actually brother and sister, which is extremely sinful 
and wicked. And I think there was an incestual 
relationship that obtained between them. So certainly this man was 
no wonderful person. He was raised as a Roman, but 
he had Edomite ancestry. And so he got along pretty well 
with the Jews overall. Certainly when he launches this 
persecution against the church, the Jews are thrilled with this, 
so he continues to make concessions to them. And then in terms of 
the actual persecution, it's twofold. He first murders James, 
and then secondly, he imprisons Peter. Now, I think he wants 
to murder Peter as well, but because the feast time was at 
hand, he didn't want to do that, just like at the time of our 
Lord Jesus. Remember, they didn't want to 
out him and kill him during the feast. They wanted to get that 
over. While they may have craved his 
blood, they did not want to do it at the time of the feast to 
demonstrate their hypocrisy, this idea that we can't engage 
in this moral travesty so that we can maintain sort of ceremonial 
fidelity. But once the feast is over, it's 
okay, we can murder him. But in terms of the martyrdom 
of James, notice what the text says. It says in verse 1, he 
stretched out his hand to harass some from the church, then he 
killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. This is 
James, the son of Zebedee, the sons of Thunder, the sons of 
Boanerges. These are James and John. Remember 
some weeks ago, we considered Matthew chapter 20 when James 
and John were jockeying for position at the right and the left hand 
of our Lord Jesus, and he says to them, you don't know what 
you're asking. You are not, or have you been baptized with the 
baptism that I'm going to undergo or drink the cup that I'm going 
to drink? Well, this is what Jesus was talking about when 
he said to them that they would suffer. Now, certainly James 
loses his head at the sword of Herod in this instance, and John 
ends up on the island of Patmos for the Word of God and for the 
testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, which indicates and which ought 
to illustrate for us that service to the Lord God in this world 
does not always ensure great things. Earthly speaking. Always 
we know that we have glory laid up for us in heaven, but the 
greatest servants of God Most High oftentimes meet their end 
in horrible ways, and certainly James does in this instance. 
Now the movement of Herod against the church, as far as we can 
tell, was his own decision. He wasn't instigated, he wasn't 
provoked, it wasn't anything that we can tell that made him 
do this external to him. The movement of Herod against 
the church was specifically against her leaders. Notice who Herod 
goes after. He goes after James, the son 
of Zebedee. He goes after Peter, both men 
who were apostles in the Church of Christ. The idea being strike 
the shepherd and then the sheep will scatter. He goes right for 
the throat of the Christian movement by highlighting or targeting 
their leaders. The killing of James with the 
sword likely meant that he was beheaded. And thus Jesus' words, 
you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism 
that I am baptized with comes to fruition or fulfillment. Now 
notice secondly, in terms of the persecution, the imprisonment 
of Peter. Look at the text in verse two, 
it says, then he killed James, the brother of John with the 
sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded 
further to seize Peter also. Now think about that statement 
for just a moment. It pleased the Jews. Matthew 
Poole says, the perverseness of the Jews is very remarkable, 
who were mad with rage against Christ and against his apostles 
at such times in which they pretended to serve the God of love and 
peace. You see, all those who claim 
to be religious aren't necessarily so when they engage in this kind 
of gross immorality. It pleased the Jews when Herod 
stretched out his hand and cut the head off of James, the son 
of Zebedee. That's a bloodthirsty, wretched 
lot, and we see they didn't change much from the time of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. This is the same group that said, 
away with him, away with him, crucify him. And so when Herod 
sees that it pleases the Jews, he then seizes Peter. Again, 
I think that he wants to execute him immediately, but because 
the feast is upon him, that would have been untoward. So he's going 
to put him in prison for that period. It's about a week. And 
then after that, he's going to collect him. He's going to bring 
him back out in front of the people, not for a public trial, 
but for a public execution. So Peter is on his way to death, 
as far as he knows, at this particular juncture as well. Now note the 
details given concerning Peter's imprisonment. The text is very 
heavy with this. Verse 4 indicates it, and then 
we see it sort of supposed or assumed as we move through the 
narrative. Why do you think Luke is doing 
this? I think he's doing it for two reasons. In the first place, 
he wants to highlight that this wasn't an inside job. It wasn't 
a guard sympathetic to Peter that broke him out. He wants 
to highlight that it was in fact divine in its origin, that it 
was in fact an angel of the Lord. But secondly, it's almost as 
if the narrative stacks the deck against God. Just like in 1 Kings 
chapter 18, that battle between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. 
I mean, Elijah takes water and pours it on the sacrifice. That 
is stacking the deck against Yahweh. And yet, Yahweh sends 
fire down from heaven and consumes that. Well, the same thing obtains 
here. You have four squads of four soldiers. That means 16 
soldiers so that they can watch the four watches of the night. 
There are three hour shifts that each one would take. So Peter 
would be chained to two of them in his prison cell. Some suggest 
that he was chained this way. They'd put his right hand to 
the guard here, and they'd put his left hand to the guard there, 
really at a position of disadvantage. And then you had two guards at 
the door. So there was no possible way 
a person could escape apart from divine aid, apart from that angelic 
intervention. So the deck is stacked to highlight 
that it is divine in terms of its origin and as well to bring 
glory and praise and honor to our great God who tells us that 
there is no prison that can hold his people if he purposes to 
break them out. The Lord Most High is great. 
Now, probably Herod is motivated by the fact that Peter had previously 
broken out of a jail. Peter had escaped from prison 
in Acts chapter 5 when there was that religious targeting 
against him. So perhaps Herod heard that and he wanted to make 
sure that didn't happen on his watch. And that brings us secondly 
to consider the escape from prison by Peter. Note the escape, we'll 
look at the escape in verses 5 to 11 and then the report concerning 
the escape in verses 12 to 19. Verse 5 is greatly encouraging, 
and it ought to be for the people of God, and it ought to be somewhat 
convicting for us that don't pray this way. Brethren, we have 
a prayer meeting every Sunday morning at 9.30. Well, we alternate 
every other week, and then alternating weeks, we study our confession 
of faith. We meet for prayer on Wednesday evening. And one 
of the things that we often pray for is the persecuted church. And look at what the church is 
doing according to verse five. Peter was therefore kept in prison, 
but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. The first response of the church 
at the imprisonment of Peter, having heard of the beheading 
of James, and it's the requirement for the church today, is to pray, 
to intercede, to call upon the Lord Most High for those who 
suffer. The apostle Paul in Hebrews 13.3 tells us, remember the prisoners 
as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you 
yourselves are in the body also. That's not a suggestion. It's 
not an addition. It's not something that you do 
if you have time. But as the people of God Almighty, 
we are not alone in this world. We are not mavericks. We are 
not individuals. And there's some poor soul out 
there dependent upon the prayers of the people of God in this 
church. Why is it that when we come to pray, we aren't more 
vociferous with these calls to God? I've often said it's not 
a pause meeting, it's a prayer meeting. We gather together to 
voice the concerns of God's people to the Lord on behalf of God's 
people. We make this available. It's 
not by invitation only. Everybody here is welcome to 
come at 9.30. Everybody here is welcome to 
come on Wednesday at 7.30. Everybody here is welcome to 
hear what we read concerning the various torments going on 
to the people of God. I mean, the very thing that Herod 
does here starts this sort of domino effect. You know what 
we read of in the last hour? State oppression of the church 
in various countries out there. There is no new thing under the 
sun. The same sorts of things, the 
beheading of James, the imprisonment of Peter, those sorts of things 
are going on right now as we gather together in the blessed 
peace and tranquility that we enjoy. We have been given much, 
brethren. We have been given peace. We 
have been given a building to meet. We have been given opportunities. We have been given something 
of a consciousness to want to bring these things before the 
Lord God Most High. Are we going to neglect that? 
Are we going to resist that? Are we going to hesitate about 
that? Are we going to be too lazy or apathetic to actually 
call upon God for brothers and sisters that are suffering with 
the sorts of things that are horrific and horrendous? Look 
at what it says. Peter was therefore kept in prison, 
but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Matthew Poole says there are 
no squads of soldiers can keep the passage shut that is towards 
heaven. There is no, there are no squads 
of soldiers can keep the passage shut that is towards heaven. 
I think that's beautiful. They can't stop us from praying. 
They can't stop us from calling upon the Lord God Almighty. They 
can rip our tax status away. They can threaten imprisonment. 
They can do all of that, but they can never stop the people 
of God from praying. What did Mary Queen of Scots 
say? I fear the prayers of John Knox, 
more than an army of 10,000 soldiers. Why is that? Because John Knox 
was a man bought by sovereign grace, imputed righteousness. 
He goes to the throne of grace and prays for the various things 
affecting the kingdom. I love the Geneva Bible in its 
commentary here in Acts 12. It says, the prayers of the godly 
overturn the counsel of tyrants, obtain angels of God, break the 
prison, unloose chains, put Satan to flight, and preserve the church. 
A far different response than what we often hear. Well, all 
we can do now is pray. What do you mean all we can do 
now is pray? That's the first response. That's 
the middle response. That's the end response. That 
is a weapon of our warfare that Christ has given. Our weapons 
are not carnal, but they are mighty for the pulling down of 
strongholds. They are blessed of God, and we ought to be privileged 
to use them. And then after we see the activity 
of the prayers of the church, notice the activity of Peter. 
This is how I know Peter was a Calvinist. This is how I know 
Peter was Reformed. What's Peter doing? He's sleeping. 
Sovereign grace makes a soft pillow. Sovereign grace, even 
if you're chained to wicked soldiers, is nevertheless a great incitement 
to sleep and repose in the kindness and mercy and sovereignty of 
God. He knows what's happening. He knows that Herod's not gonna 
bring him out before the people and say, what is it that you 
want me to do with him? He knows that if Herod even did 
that, They might suggest with the others before them at the 
crucifixion of Jesus, away with him, away with him, crucify him. 
He knows what he's meeting. He knows what's in his future. 
And yet he's asleep. Isn't that beautiful? That's 
what grace does in the lives of God's people. We may not be 
able to control everything, and hopefully we readily and happily 
acknowledge that, but we serve the God who is in absolute control 
of everything. And we are able to sleep, we 
are able to rest, we are able to find that blessed repose that 
God gives to his beloved. There's no mistake that Luke 
is including in this stuff for our encouragement. He submitted 
to providence. And then notice, in terms of 
the escape, we see the power of God in verses 7 to 11. The angel raised him up. The 
light shone in the prison, I think for two reasons. One, to show 
the divine origin of the angel. Oftentimes these supernatural 
appearances are associated with light. But he also need light 
in order to put on his shoes and put on his outfit and get 
out of the prison while he followed the angel. And if you look at 
this particular passage, it seems to be the passage that Charles 
Wesley had in mind when he penned And Can It Be. In And Can It 
Be, there's a stanza that says, Long my imprisoned spirit lay, 
fast bound in sin in nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening 
ray, I woke the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, 
my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee." I'm 
not suggesting Peter is converted here, but I'm suggesting that 
when Wesley penned that hymn, this was a great illustration 
of God's effectual call, a great illustration of God's mercy in 
the lives of His people, a great illustration of what happens 
when, by grace, sinners believe that gospel, and those chains 
fall off, that imprisoned spirit is freed. We follow after Jesus, 
and life is most blessed as a result. And so the angel then instructs 
him according to verse 8, and then the angel led him according 
to verses 9 to 11. Peter wondered if it was a vision. 
Now, we shouldn't be quick to judge Peter here, because he 
just recently had a great vision in Acts chapter 10. Remember 
that vision that God used to bring Peter to Cornelius to preach 
to him and his household the great gospel of Jesus Christ. 
So he wondered if it was a vision, but Peter dutifully follows the 
angel past the first and second guard posts to the iron gate. 
And the iron gate itself was opened up by God. Peter went 
out to the street and the angel departed from him. So you see, 
the very nature of the explanation indicates the divine origin. He is shackled to guards. Guards are on the door. This 
angel comes and strikes him. It's an interesting verb because 
it's the same verb used when the angel strikes Herod. It doesn't 
mean that he struck him as hard, but it's a pretty good strike. 
Maybe it indicates that Peter was quite the heavy sleeper. 
You know, some of those people I was able to sleep through the 
cries of my children when my beloved wife wasn't. I don't 
know if that was just a gift given to me by by God as a man, 
or if other men share that as well, but there's those who can 
just sleep through anything. They could sleep through earthquakes. 
So the strike that the angel gives to Peter, again, it's not 
lethal in terms of what he does with Herod, but it's nevertheless, 
it's not a little love tap. He hits him, gets him up. Come 
on, let's go. It's time to get out. We're moving 
you from this place. We're getting you into freedom 
and into liberty. Peter knew for certain, ultimately, 
if you look at verse 11, that God had delivered him from Herod 
and from the bloody expectation of the Jewish people. This is 
his conclusion in verse 11. Now I know for certain that the 
Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me from the hand of 
Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people. That's 
a wonderful thing, isn't it? He consciously reflects on this. 
He realizes, no, it wasn't an inside job. No, it wasn't a vision. 
No, it wasn't something that was just the power of suggestion. 
I'm actually now outside, smelling the sweet, free air that God 
gives to creation, and I am no longer bound to these two soldiers, 
and I am no longer bound in that prison. He gives glory and praise 
and adoration and acknowledgement to the true and living God. And 
that brings us to the report concerning the escape. And in 
verse 12, we see the gathering of the disciples. Now the church 
in Jerusalem at this time was probably pretty big. In verse 
17, he's going to tell them to go and tell James and the brethren. James in verse 17 is the half-brother 
of our Lord. He is the one that wrote the 
epistle of James. He was a leader in the Jerusalem 
church. And so this house that Peter 
instinctively goes to is not the main meeting place, but there 
were many disciples gathered there. Now she's identified as 
Mary, the mother of Mark. That is, she's identified by 
her more famous son. This Mark is gonna be seen in 
verse 25 in our chapter, and this Mark is gonna be seen in 
chapter 13 when he goes on the first missionary journey with 
Barnabas and Paul, but he's gonna leave from them. This is gonna 
be the reason why Barnabas and Paul have some sort of a contention 
in chapter 15, but he's spoken of favorably later in the epistles 
written by Paul. So he was a young servant of 
the church, likely the one who wrote the gospel according to 
Mark. He was a close friend and close associate of the Apostle 
Peter. But in this instance, the owner 
of the house is identified by her relationship to her more 
famous son. But again, look at what they're 
doing. Where many were gathered together, praying. See, that's 
what the church does. They pray. The church, not just 
pastors, not just elders, not just deacons, but the church, 
the blood-bought children of God, pray to their God. They pray for themselves, to 
be sure. They pray for their families. They pray for civil 
society. But they pray for the church. They pray for the church 
that they are a part of. They pray for churches outside. 
They pray for churches throughout the earth. And in the exhortation 
in Hebrews 13, 3, we pray for the church that is persecuted 
for the cause of God and truth. It ought not to be, wow, I can't 
believe we prayed for the person. It ought to be part of the fabric 
of a church. It ought to be what we do. It 
ought to be defining. In other words, it ought to be 
the exception when you have a church gathered that doesn't remember 
other churches. That's the anomaly. And another 
practical benefit for praying like this is it gets your eyes 
off of yourself. Now, I'm not suggesting you're 
not wonderful human beings, but I am suggesting that one of the 
things that continues to cleave to our souls is this inwardness, 
is this introspection, this relationship of me to everything else. In 
other words, one is well said, if they ever find the center 
of the universe, there's going to be a whole lot of people upset 
that they're not there. This idea of praying for others 
gets your eyes off of yourself. There are times, brethren, when 
being too consumed with yourself is going to be toxic. Yourself 
isn't as great as you probably think it is. And it's a wonderful 
thing for us to lift up our eyes, to behold the fields white unto 
harvest, as well to read and understand and hear what's happening 
in Algeria, what's happening in India, what's happening in 
Pakistan, what's happening in these various nations, what's 
happening in China with beloved missionaries that we've prayed 
for for 20 years. Brethren, these are good things 
to lift up our eyes off of ourself and to think about others. Now, 
Peter comes to this house. Again, look where he goes. He 
goes to the people of God. He goes to the praying brethren. 
He goes to the church. He goes to those with whom he 
has the most affinity. He appears to this girl, Rhoda, 
a servant girl, which is intriguing because if Mary owns this house 
and it's big enough for many disciples and she has servants, 
it indicates something of her wealth. As well, if she owns 
the house, it demonstrates something that what we see in Acts 2 and 
4, where everybody sold everything and shared it in one common sort 
of pool, didn't last or wasn't the norm throughout church history. She had a place, people gathered 
together, and there they prayed. So Peter comes, he appears to 
this girl named Rhoda, and then verse 14, when she recognized 
Peter's voice, Think about that for just a moment. She's a servant 
girl and she recognized Peter's voice. Why? Because no doubt 
Peter had been in that home and preached. No doubt Peter had 
been in that home and he prayed. No doubt Peter had been in that 
home and he knew this girl Rhoda. He wasn't this far removed pontiff 
that didn't mix with the rabble. But the servant girl recognized 
his voice. The servant girl knew who it 
was. And the servant girl is so glad that she doesn't open 
the door and she runs to tell the rest of the believers. You 
think, well, why would she do that? Brethren, in confusing 
times, oftentimes, we don't always do the thing we should do. She's 
in a bit of a glad panic. I hear his voice. He's outside 
the door. She runs to the others and says, 
it's Peter. And then what do they say? You're 
mad. You're out of your mind. Now, 
this is suggested to some to ask the question, well, what 
were they praying for? Right? Doesn't Jesus tell us 
to pray in faith? Why are they so blown away at 
the thought that God answered their prayer and that Simon Peter 
is now standing at the door? If you pray this, you ought to 
be confident in God that if it comes to pass, he's heard and 
he's blessed and that's his providence and you rejoice in it. But they 
are absolutely shocked. They say as much. Later, this 
same phrase is gonna be used by Festus with Paul, much learning 
is driving you mad. It's the same phrase we see in 
verse 15. But they said to her, you are 
beside yourself. Now, the answer is this. Maybe 
they didn't pray specifically for Peter's release. Maybe they 
prayed for an extended imprisonment versus execution. Maybe they 
prayed what we were encouraged, I think it was many, many, many 
years ago when I first got here, by some brother in China. The 
brother in China wrote and he said to us, when you pray for 
us, don't ask that God will take away the persecution. Ask that 
God will give us the grace to be able to deal with the persecution. 
That's a wonderful perspective, isn't it? That's a wonderful 
and glorious perspective. We need to be sensitive to and 
mindful of the providence and sovereignty of God. Why does 
James in this passage lose his head and Peter is gloriously 
delivered by an angel? I don't know. It's the sovereign 
pleasure and purpose of God Most High. As I was reflecting upon 
this, I thought of another reason why what we call the health, 
wealth and prosperity gospel is so pernicious and so heretical 
and so contra all that is good and holy. Because in the first 
place, it does disservice to who God is. In other words, the 
health-wealth-prosperity emphasis is that if we have enough faith, 
then God is duty-bound to give us health, wealth, and prosperity. It is to pull God down from His 
throne and to make Him bail. See, in ancient bail worship, 
that was the rationale. If me and this particular person 
fornicate, then Baal and one of his consorts will fornicate, 
and then they will rain upon the earth and will benefit from 
that fertilization or from that watering of our crop. That is 
to treat God in a formulaic manner. He is not us. He is not creature. We do not tame him. It's not 
the measure of our faith that makes God work. Thanks be to 
God. It is not anything that we can 
do to put him in a box. In this instance, James gets 
his head chopped off and Peter is gloriously delivered. You 
see, the prayer of the upright, if it was the case, in this instance, 
Lord God, give Peter the grace that he needs to be able to deal 
with what he is facing. That's a legitimate, consistent, 
and excellent prayer that is according to the will of God. 
Not to suggest that we can't pray, Lord, we pray for this 
brother that's in prison right now, that he would be released. 
We pray for so-and-so that they would be able. But we always 
ought to punctuate or end our prayers with, nevertheless, not 
our will, but thine be done. Why is it the case that providence 
unfolds the way that it does? I don't know. We just sang. God 
moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. Why do some 
people have a great deal of suffering and others don't? I don't know. 
It's the free, good pleasure of God Almighty. It's about grace. It's about sovereignty. It's 
not about us putting God in a box and making him deliver what it 
is that we ask for. So the problem with the health, 
wealth, prosperity gospel is that it lies to people, first 
and foremost, about who God is. God is not Baal. God is not formulaic. God does not deliver based on 
the coins that you put into the machine. You push the particular 
button and out pops the drink that you want. That is a pagan 
conception of God, and that is rife among those who confess 
faith in this health, wealth, and prosperity, garbage, not 
gospel. The servant girl told the others 
that it was Peter and they said, you are beside yourself. Now 
know what Peter does in verses 16 and 17. Now Peter continued 
knocking. Why? Because he wanted in. And when he says or motions to 
them to keep silence, why? Because he didn't want the authorities 
to catch him. He's not a fool. He knows that 
when the angel miraculously breaks him out of prison, Herod is going 
to do what Herod does. There's a stir among the soldiers. 
Herod examines the the environment to try and find him, and then 
Herod deals with his guards the way that Roman officers did. So Peter continues to knock, 
he attempts to silence them, and then notice specifically 
in verse 17, he gives glory to God. But motioning to them with 
his hand to keep silent, he declared to them, how the Lord had brought 
him out of the prison. It was God. It wasn't an inside 
job. You see, there are those who 
are opposed to the supernatural in Scripture, and they would 
come to a passage like this and say, well, it wasn't an angel 
of the Lord. It was a benevolent guard. It wasn't an angel of 
the Lord. It was, you know, bad locks. It wasn't an angel of 
the Lord. It was some lucky breaks, no? Peter knows, Peter understands, 
Peter lives in a theistic universe, and he understands who this good 
God is, and he says it was the Lord who had brought him out 
of the prison. And then he tells them in verse 
17, go tell these things to James and to the brethren. Again, report 
it to the church. Now, this is a prayer meeting 
of sorts, probably a place where many were accustomed to gathering, 
but it doesn't seem like it was the main meeting place, and so 
he says, go tell James and the brethren. Why is that? Well, 
on the one hand, to give glory to God for the release of Peter. 
On the other hand, James and the brethren need to understand 
this civil attack on the Church of Jesus Christ. Brethren, we 
are to be responsible agents under God. We are to ape Cromwell 
who said, pray and keep your powder dry. We are, if there 
is a sense where there is persecution in one city, to flee to another 
city. That's Jesus' instruction in 
Matthew chapter 10. Brethren, we need to be responsible 
agents, and this would be data or information that James and 
the other brethren would desperately need to hear, such that they 
wouldn't likewise have their heads chopped off or end up in 
prison. Now, I'm not suggesting we ever 
compromise our faith. I am not suggesting we ever shrink 
back from declaring the truth that we love, believe, and worship 
Jesus. But I am suggesting that if we 
have opportunity, as Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10, to flee 
the persecution in one city and go to another, that's legit. The Apostle Paul escaped out 
of the city of Damascus in a basket down the wall. Why does he do 
that? Shouldn't he just trust in the sovereignty of God? Brethren, 
that is hyper-Calvinism. God doesn't call us to suspend 
the use of means and to trust in His sovereignty. He tells 
us to trust in His sovereignty and to use the means. You know 
this instinctively because every time you get into your car, you 
put your seatbelt on. Of course God is sovereign. Of 
course God can keep you from jettisoning out the windshield. But a means is a seatbelt. It's a blessed thing. Now, you 
might say, well, the state makes me wear a seatbelt. You know 
what? In that one, there's enough data and empirical evidence to 
suggest that's a good call on their part. That's a good call. 
Now, should they penalize us? That's another debate, and I'm 
willing to get into it elsewhere. But the bottom line is, God is 
not opposed to means. And so Peter says, go tell James 
and the brethren. And then he departed and went 
to another place. We don't know where. Some speculate 
this is when he went to Rome, but there's no evidence that 
Peter ever went to Rome. much to the chagrin of Romanism. 
There's no evidence that Peter went to Rome. If Peter was in 
Rome and was the presiding bishop, it is very odd that when Paul 
writes Romans, he never once mentions Peter. I mean, that's 
odd, wouldn't it be? That'd be crazy. I mean, at the 
end of Romans 16, he has all these names, all these persons. 
He couldn't have said to the first Pope, hey, by the way, 
Peter, you know, we pray for you and hope everything's good. 
He doesn't mention that at all. Did Peter go to Antioch? We don't 
know. Did he go to Caesarea? We don't know. We know he's back 
in Jerusalem in Acts 15 for the Jerusalem council. And that brings 
us in terms of this report to the discovery by Herod in verses 
18 to 19. And Herod did what Roman leaders 
did. Verse 18, then as soon as it 
was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what 
had become of Peter. As you might imagine, right? 
Imagine that, you're chained or shackled to a fellow who's 
now gone. I can imagine the scene, what happened to him? Where did 
he go? I don't know. And so what does 
Herod do? Verse 19 tells us, when Herod 
had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards 
and commanded that they should be put to death. Now, the reason 
for this is twofold. One, he may have suspected or 
it may have been the case that it was an inside job. A guard 
sympathetic to Peter took his file and, you know, cut the shackles 
off and led Peter out. Or secondly, a real simple answer, 
it was dereliction of duty. They fell asleep and Peter was 
able to escape, which doesn't answer the shackles, the gate, 
and all that other stuff, but that's why a Roman magistrate 
would have the guards executed. There were times when the Roman 
guard would actually execute himself to avoid that eventuality. We see that in Acts chapter 16. 
That Philippian jailer, what's he going to do? He's going to 
kill himself when Paul and Silas say, don't do that. And he says, 
sirs, what must I do to be saved? And then the shipwreck in Acts 
chapter 27, the guards want to kill all of the prisoners. Again, 
this is because they knew what they would get if they were found 
negligent in their duty. So that's the scene that brings 
us thirdly to the judgment of Herod by God. This is a very 
intriguing passage in Holy Scripture. It demonstrates the power of 
God, the glory of God, and the majesty of God. It tells us in 
19b that he returned to headquarters. Caesarea was his headquarters. It was the place where sort of 
government would be located, and here he is in Jerusalem doing 
these misdeeds. So he returns back to Jerusalem, 
and then it tells us that he was angry with Tyre and Sidon. 
The text doesn't specify why he was angry with Tyre and Sidon, 
but it tells us why he had a relationship with Tyre and Sidon. Now, Tyre 
and Sidon were two coastal cities along the Mediterranean, and 
they were port cities and they engaged in trade and all that 
sort of stuff, but they didn't have land. They didn't have property, 
so they were dependent upon Galilean farmers in order to eat. It would 
have been the interior. Those on the coastal edge would 
need a Kelowna. They would need a Kamloops. They 
would need a place where there was farmland, where there were 
crops, and that could be sent over to them. So that was the 
particular relationship born between Herod Agrippa I and Tyre 
and Sidon. They were dependent. They needed 
nourishment. They needed food. That's what the text specifies. 
They make friends with this fellow called Blastus, probably by money, 
by way of bribery, and Blastus sort of paves the way for a reproachment, 
a good grace is restored between Herod the, Grip of the First 
and Tyre and Sidon. So that's what we see there in 
verse 20. And then in verse 21, we see 
in this statement. So, on a set day, Herod, arrayed 
in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to 
them. And the people kept shouting, the voice of a god and not of 
a man. Again, this particular passage shows us something of 
the supernatural origin of Herod's destruction. And as a result, 
there are those who say, well, then it didn't happen because 
everything supernatural doesn't happen. It is intriguing that 
the Jewish historian Josephus records the same event. Herod 
did die this way in AD 44. Herod did die in this way in 
AD 44. So there are a bit of differences 
between Josephus' account and Luke's account, but there's no 
contradiction. And so essentially what happens is that the people 
are praising Herod and they say the voice of a God and not of 
a man. Dennis Johnson points out, the 
mingling of political and economic motivations with religious veneration 
was typical of ancient ruler cults. In fact, when the New 
Testament, especially the book of Acts, identifies Jesus as 
Lord and Savior, the emperor was called that. The civil emperor 
was called Lord and Savior. There was a religious cult that 
obtained around the governing authority at that particular 
time. And the same is true here. And then Matthew Poole makes 
this observation with reference to their statement, the voice 
of a God and not of a man. He says, these impious flatterers 
destroy whom they exalt, for God will pull down his rivals. They didn't know what they were 
doing at this particular point. But what's his fault or what's 
his problem or what does Herod Agrippa I do in this instance? He doesn't stop them. He receives 
it. Remember when Peter meets with 
Cornelius and Cornelius wants to render homage to Peter? Peter 
says, don't do that. Later on in Acts chapter 14, 
the Apostle Paul and Barnabas, someone is going to want to do 
homage to them and they're going to say, no, we're men of like 
passions as yourselves. Don't worship us. Worship the 
true and living God. But Herod Agrippa I takes this. Herod Agrippa I receives this. Herod Agrippa I is probably quite 
happy about this proclamation in his honor. Now notice the 
judgment of Herod by God in verse 23. Then immediately an angel 
of the Lord struck him. This is the instance. He was 
struck by God most high. Think about this passage. Think 
about how it perfectly captivates or captures Matthew 16. I will 
build my church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against 
it. There is opposition proffered by the devil through his civil 
government or through the civil government at this point, but 
he can't extinguish it. He can't terminate it. He can't 
stop it. The Lord Christ crushes him. The Lord Christ destroys him. And the reason is, is because 
he did not give glory to God. It's a great lesson here on blasphemy. 
Do not blaspheme. And if you're ever the object 
of blasphemy, repudiate it, reject it, and resist it, because God 
does not take any rivals seriously. He brings that judgment to bear. 
And then that last statement is very intriguing. According 
to Josephus, this was an internal situation, some sort of a digestive 
thing. It took him five days to die, 
and that the worms inside ate him. According to the way Luke 
specifies, I mean, that's not inconsistent or contradictory, 
but the way that Luke writes, it's as if they saw it before 
their very eyes. They saw this happen. God struck 
him and then he's eaten by worms. And I realize this is not the 
most savory image that you want prior to your lunch, but there 
is some biblical warrant for what we see in this instance. 
In Isaiah 1411, there's a prophecy concerning the fall of the king 
of Babylon. And the prophet says, your pomp 
is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments, 
the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you. It's a gross 
picture of judgment, a gross sort of judgment. depiction of 
God's judgment. And Johnson makes this observation. 
He says, whereas Isaiah contrasted the Babylonian king's splendor 
in life with his worm-eaten corpse after death, in the case of Herod, 
God initiated the wormy decomposition even before the king had expired. It is judgment, brethren. That's 
what happens. And that brings us finally to 
the progress of the Word by the power of God. This is not a mistake. This is not just something Luke 
does, though Luke does do this in several places in the book 
of Acts. He gives us a progress report. 
He tells us about what's happening in terms of the advancement of 
the church, the advancement of the kingdom. And in verse 24, 
he says, but the Word of God grew and multiplied. So you see 
that tension. I will build my church and the 
gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. There is triumph, 
but there will be this continual opposition. But the continual 
opposition will never stamp out the church. The continual opposition 
will never stop the church. Christ died to save a great multitude 
that no man can number. And I think in terms of exposition 
here, the best I can do is read a quote by John Stott on this 
particular section. Listen to what the brother says. 
He says, the chapter opens with James dead, Peter in prison, 
and Herod triumphing. It closes with Herod dead, Peter 
free, and the word of God triumphing. Such is the power of God to overthrow 
hostile human plans and to establish his own in their place. Tyrants 
may be permitted for a time to boast and blunder, oppressing 
the church and hindering the spread of the gospel, but they 
will not last. In the end, their empire will 
be broken and their pride abased. I think he nailed it. The chapter 
completely turns around. Just like in Acts 9, Saul of 
Tarsus receives his marching orders to go to the city of Damascus 
and to lay hands on men and women, to seize them and bring them 
back to Jerusalem for further punishment. How does chapter 
9 end? With Saul of Tarsus preaching 
Jesus as the Christ in the synagogue of the Jews, such that he is 
threatened with death and he has to escape from the city. 
You see, there is that tension that we live in right now. The 
church is promised to triumph. But along the way, there will 
be opposition. Along the way, there will be 
heartache. Along the way, there will be hardship. And the response 
of the church in the midst of it is to be faithful to God, 
to persevere by his grace, to never shrink back from declaring 
the truth of God, and to never stop praying for the persecuted 
people of God. That's what I want to bring by 
way of application. In the first place, in terms 
of persecution, it's announced by Jesus in John chapter 15. If the world hates me, Jesus 
says it's going to hate you as well. In the Sermon on the Mount, 
he pronounces a beatitude on those who are persecuted for 
his namesake. They're not persecuted because 
they're irritating. They're not persecuted because 
they're gossips. They're not persecuted because 
they're slanderers. They're not persecuted for all 
those reasons that Peter highlights in 1 Peter chapter 4. They're 
persecuted for Jesus' name. He pronounces beatitude and blessing 
upon them. We see persecution demonstrated 
in the book of Acts. The religious persecution launched 
by the Jews and then the civil opposition launched here by Herod 
Agrippa I and ultimately and consistently carried on by further 
Roman emperors. What happened when the city of 
Rome burns down? Who's the scapegoat for Nero? 
It isn't his own foolish countrymen. It isn't the infrastructure. 
It's the Christians who brought this demise upon our blessed 
empire. You see, they learned how to 
target the people of God. And this is happening today, 
brethren. If it's not happening in spades 
here, it may in the not-too-distant future. This sort of thing is 
not new in the history of the church, and the people of God, 
while we have peace, ought to be about girding ourselves up 
such that in the case they want to strip that peace from us, 
we don't fall, we don't crumble, we don't dissolve. In other words, 
we need a manly Christianity. We need to be full of the Spirit. We need to be vibrant. We need 
to be lively. Our prayer meetings ought not 
to be pause meetings. We ought to be a people interceding 
at the throne of God's grace. This whole theme of persecution 
is confirmed by Paul, 2 Timothy 3.12. All who desire to live 
godly in Christ Jesus will what? They'll suffer persecution. So 
it's not the case that Acts 12 is odd or strange or anything 
like that. It's not the case that what's 
going on in India or Algeria or China is odd. We live in a world that is opposed 
to our God and His Christ. We live in a world where there 
is a mutinous rage on the part of sinners against Yahweh and 
against His anointed. Psalm 2 tells us that. And so 
we need to be prepared for that. Secondly, as far as our responsibility, 
that we prayerfully remember persecuted believers as we are 
commanded. If you can't make it here on 
a Wednesday night or on a Sunday morning at 9.30, that doesn't 
mean you can't pray for the persecuted church. Is this something that 
you do? Is Hebrews 13.3 a reality? Do 
you remember the prisoners? Do you see it? I mean, we don't 
even have to subscribe to one of these agencies that tell us 
what's going on anymore. I mean, for the most part, not 
the real whacked out mainstream media, but in some aspects, we 
even get this stuff through mainstream media. The persecution of God's 
people is taking place all over the world today. Are we praying? I mean, I love the fact that 
in chapter 12 at verse 5, and then again in chapter 12 at verse 
12, we have these people of God praying for Peter. I'd like to 
know that if our church ever fell into some grievous persecution 
by the civil state, there'd be other churches that would pray 
for us. There'd be other people that would be concerned about 
us. So again, God never designed us to be in this on our own. 
God never designed this to be, you know, isolation and maverick 
and individualism. No, God loves the gates of Zion 
more than the dwelling places of Jacob. He loves the corporate 
people of God most high. Thirdly, we ought to appreciate 
the triumph of the church. Verse 24 highlights this, but 
the word of God grew and multiplied. I'll quote John Stott one more 
time. He says, the destructive power of Herod and the saving 
power of God are contrasted. Indeed, throughout church history, 
the pendulum has swung between expansion and opposition, growth 
and shrinkage, advance and retreat, although with the assurance that 
even the powers of death and hell will never prevail against 
Christ's church since it is built securely on the rock. What a 
glorious illustration of what we considered just last Sunday 
morning. I will build my church and the 
gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it. And then finally 
consider the supremacy of Jesus Christ. What happens when the 
civil state launches an offensive against the people of God? Jesus 
wipes out Herod. Now tonight, we're gonna look 
at Psalm 110. We have looked at that Psalm in the past, but 
I think it goes along with our study here in Acts 12 today, 
and the idea of the international day of prayer for the persecuted 
church. For those who may not be back 
tonight, I want to say one thing, just to give a little bit away 
about tonight, is that Psalm 110 speaks about Christ conquering. And it speaks in terminology 
that's a lot more physical and literal than I think the church 
is really into. And oftentimes that section is 
interpreted, and not altogether incorrectly, to emphasize that 
it's through the power of the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit, 
the power of the prayers of God's people, that that's how Jesus 
subdues his enemies. And that's true, and that's why 
I said it's not altogether incorrect. But there are times when our 
Christ stomps the life out of his enemies. And this is what 
he does with Herod Agrippa I. This is what he did with the 
Roman Empire. This is what he does with every 
enemy that rises up ultimately against him. I'm not saying you 
and I go arm to the teeth, put C4 vests on, march into Ottawa 
and say, see you on the other side. That is not what I am suggesting. The weapons of our warfare are 
not carnal, they are mighty for the pulling down of stronghold. 
That weaponry is prayer and preaching. But Jesus at the right hand of 
God Most High must reign till all of his enemies are made his 
footstool. And certainly as he is lowering that foot upon his 
enemies, it is through the preaching of his gospel, it is through 
the power of the Holy Spirit, it is in response to the prayers 
of the upright, but it's also through sheer force. sheer power. He has a rod of iron with which 
he breaks the nations. Our Christ is often, or he's 
not, what is often depicted to us today. As Davis says, he's 
not the Jesus reeking of hand cream, this super effeminate 
one, this one who would never ever cause any hardship to anybody. Just think, Herod Agrippa I, 
he receives this adulation, and then he receives the direct judgment 
of God Most High, and he is eaten by worms. Well, I don't want 
to end on that note. I want to end on the note of 
happiness and positivity. Christ not only lowers the foot 
on his enemies in a display of destructive power, but he lowers 
the foot on his enemies, again, by sovereign grace, by the preaching 
of the gospel. He makes enemies his friends. He has that power by the Spirit 
and by the Word preached to transfer people from the kingdom of darkness 
into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. And so for those 
of you today who are not saved, those of you who today are intriguingly 
on the side of Herod Agrippa I, you may not be killing James, 
you may not be imprisoning Peter, there's only two places to be. 
You're either with Christ or against Him. So you're either 
with James, you're with Peter, you're with the praying disciples 
in this passage, or you're on Herod Agrippa, the first side, 
and the bloodthirsty Jews. And again, I'm not suggesting 
you're all going to go out there and target Christian believers. 
There's only two places to be, and the only means by which we 
traverse from the one end to the other is God's grace through 
faith in Jesus Christ alone. Believe on Him, and you will 
be saved. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank 
You for Your Word, and we thank You for Your grace, and we thank 
You for the power displayed in this passage of Scripture, not 
only in the destruction of Herod, that persecutor of the church, 
but that Word of God that grew, that was multiplying, that Word 
of God that was going forth, conquering and to conquer. And 
Father, we know that to be the case today, and we pray that 
this gospel would run swiftly and be glorified. And we pray 
today for those who are persecuted, those who are in chains, those 
who are suffering for the cause of God and truth. I pray, Father, 
that you would be merciful, that you would be their portion and 
their lot, that you would strengthen them with might in the inner 
man so that Christ may dwell richly in their hearts through 
faith. And God, help us, help us to 
be prayerful, Help us, Father, to prize and treasure and bless 
you for the good things that you have given us in terms of 
peace and tranquility and the ability to meet together today. 
And God, help us to realize that if these things go away, these 
things are taken away, we need to be faithful. We need to go 
forward. We need to be persevering. And grant us the grace to this 
end. We ask now that you would bless this day and help us to 
worship and to glorify you. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. Well, let's close by singing 
in our Trinity hymn book.