Acts 12:5-17

morning church. Open your Bibles to Acts chapter 12. As we continue through the book of Acts, our text today is going to be Acts chapter 12. I'm in a beginning verse five and we're going to go down through verse 17. Acts 12, five through 17. Are you ready to hear the word of the Lord? 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 shown 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 passed the first and the second guard post 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 sinned 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 into the brethren and he departed and went to another place this is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Father as we open your word today it is our prayer that you open our hearts that you open our minds that you open our ears to hear and our eyes to see Lord would you allow your word to find entrance into our hearts and would you take your word by your spirit that you have filled us with would you mold us and would you shape us would you indeed conform us to the glorious image of the dear son Jesus Christ that we would be a people to give glorious witness to be salt and light in this dark earth. But Lord we are a hopeful people a faithful people we believe your gospel is working we believe it truly is the power of God to salvation and so we preach it and we teach it and we know that you will take your gospel and you will fill this earth with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord even as the waters cover the sea. Thank you for allowing us this our time of visitation on your earth thank you for allowing us to be part of that glorious witness and glorious plan we pray all of this in Jesus name amen so we see here in Peter and in this story this account by Luke that God intervenes in Peter's life intervention God's intervention your salvation is no less than God's holy interruption of your life and thank God he interrupts our life if you belong to Jesus God has gracefully intervened in your life to make you his own and unless God intervenes in our life we will not become his in the midst of our spiritual warfare we must pray and expect that the Lord will intervene on behalf of his church oftentimes the blood of the martyrs is the seed God chooses to grow and to multiply his church the intervention God has used in church history has often involved persecution to spread and to grow his church you might ask well why would God do that well it's not for us to wonder why but for us to do or die God has his plans God has his purposes and really if you think about it and we should think about it we are extremely blessed to even breathe air an oxygen on this earth God did not have to create any one of us God did not have to give life to any one of us but he has and if God has chosen you to be his then you are even more supremely blessed than you could ever ever imagine God uses persecution to grow his church however God may choose to move we must pray and we must believe that he will and he does intervene on our behalf that intervention has also come in the form of great deliverance and great salvation our greatest example of this being the cross of Jesus Christ throughout history God has brought great salvation for his people including you and me we see it right here in acts in the life of the apostle Peter God intervenes through constant prayer in verse five Luke writes Peter was therefore kept in prison but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church what draws my attention to this verse is the phrase constant prayer constant prayer was offered to God it doesn't say occasional prayer it doesn't even say spontaneous prayer it says constant prayer and to me this speaks of purposeful organized intentional prayer on Peter's behalf offered up to God by the church the corporate body assembled together for days for the purpose of offering up constant prayer to God for Peter today is pinnacost Sunday when we mark the day of pinnacost in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit those days following the resurrection of Jesus we must not mark that day without remembering it was constant prayer by the church that preceded the outpouring of God's spirit prayer preceding the outpouring of the spirit was not accidental it was not coincidental Christ sent his disciples to wait in prayer until the spirit came intervention by God proceeded by the prayers of God's people the intervention of God at pinnacost was the outpouring of his spirit but that intervention did not come until God's people tarried in prayer and that uproar in obedience to Jesus Christ we are shown this example throughout scripture if we want God to intervene in our situation or our circumstance indeed if we want God to intervene in our nation and in the church it will not happen apart from constant prayer offered to God verse 6 and when Herod was about to bring him out that night Peter was sleeping bound with two chains between two soldiers with two guards before the door keeping the prison there in that verse there are at least four guards mentioned Peter is inside the prison chained with two chains look tells us between two guards you think Herod was a little paranoid about Peter getting out of prison you think just putting in a cell and taking the key with the guard would be enough how's he going to break out of a prison well Herod had good reason to be paranoid Luke records that Peter was arrested around the time of unleavened bread unleavened bread is the feast immediately following the Passover we're told in verse 6 that Herod was about to bring Peter out indicating that the feast was at its end and Herod was prepared to bring Peter out of prison after the feast was over to make a public spectacle of him and his plan was to gain more approval from the Jews through the execution of Peter because when Herod executed James the Bible says Luke tells us that the Jews approved and then after he saw that the Jews approved of James's execution he arrested Peter with the intent of executing Peter but before Herod can carry out his plan God intervened in verse 6 Luke presents an amazing picture of what was happening Peter has been in prison for some days awaiting what Herod planned to be his execution and Peter knew that James had already been beheaded and Peter knew this pleased the Jews and that Herod planned his arrest and execution to further appease those Jews the church that was praying constantly also understood that Peter's arrest like James meant his execution this is why they were offering up God to God constant prayer on Peter's behalf yet in the midst of impending death we see Peter sleeping soundly between two guards Peter was secured between two guards with two chains two other guards from that squad of four soldiers were outside the door keeping the prison Luke gives us all this detail and then outside the prison there was the heavy iron gate designed to make sure that no one went in no one went out without the approval of the authorities and in the midst of all of this there is Peter at peace sleeping soundly between these guards who are literally guarding his life until Herod can take it Peter was at peace sleeping soundly the night before his planned execution verse 7 now behold an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shown in the prison and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up saying arise quickly and his chains fell off his hands the angel shown a light in the prison and struck Peter on the side and raised him up this is a death in resurrection scene like Christ who was raised up from death so Peter was as good as dead as he slept there between those two guards and the angel strikes him on the side and raises him up and he says to him arise quickly and what this said Luke tells us the chains on Peter's hands fell off God did hear the prayers of the church and God chose to deliver Peter from his chains and from that prison the angel instructs Peter verse 8 and says to him, guard yourself and tie on your sandals and so he did and he said to him put on your garment and follow me the preparation required for Peter to leave the prison is reminiscent of the Exodus he had to gird himself which was to fasten his belt or his girdle that's why it says gird yourself it was a belt or a girdle to hold his inner garment it was loose and flowing and there would be a belt or a girdle that they would put around them and gird up that inner garment so they wouldn't tangled as they ran or as they walked so the angel tells him he says, gird yourself and put on your garment and put on your sandals so he put on his outer garment that he had taken off while chained and sleeping and finally he put on his sandals and had to tie them to his legs like you and I do when we wake in the morning Peter had to get dressed and get ready to go and the angel instructs Peter to guard himself tie on his sandals and then the angel instructs and put on your garment and follow me and Peter did Peter obeyed the angel verse 9 and 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 passed the first and the second guard post they came to the arm gate that leads to the city which opened to them on its own accord and they went out went down one street and immediately the angel departed from him. Luke does not tell us exactly what happens to the guards inside the prison when Peter escaped as the angel is leading Peter out there were at least four guards mentioned in Luke's account here we know that Peter was delivered to 16 guards four squads of soldiers those four guards would have probably each taken a watch well whatever happened the angel led Peter out of his chains and out of the prison unhindered by any of the guards and we know that upon examining the guards Herod had them executed for allowing Peter's escape as if they could have prevented it the angel leads Peter past the first and second guard post and when it come to the arm gate that leads to the city Luke tells us the gate opened to them on its own accord and they went out and went down a street in the angel departed and keeping with the Exodus scene the opening of the gate was like the parting of the red scene and once on the other side Peter was safe from his oppressors what had seemed like a dream was actually real this was a real deliverance a real Exodus for Peter being led out of bondage the Lord delivered Peter verse 11 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 from all the expectation of the Jewish people and upon coming to himself he realized that he had not fallen into a trance he was not having a vision but he had actually encountered an angel and that angel had actually led him to safety imagine Peter wakes out of a sound sleep from a sound blow to his side the word there that the angel struck Peter on the side does not hate Peter wake up it wasn't a tap it's the same word used when Peter struck the guard who came to arrest Jesus and cut his ear off this wasn't a light tap the angel struck his side and raised up Peter and led him out as his chains fell off his hands through the gate that opens on its own accord down the street the angel disappears and Peter realizes this is reality he was in shock but now he has come to his senses and realizes what has truly happened and Peter said now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from the expectation of the Jewish people what was the expectation of the Jewish people that at the hands of Herod Peter would be executed and they would be done with this troublemaker just as they were done with his Lord when they crucified him and done with this apostle James when they had Herod be had him God had intervened though and delivered Peter from certain death it was a picture of resurrection and deliverance verse 12 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 when Peter got to his senses in his wits about and he came to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark this is the same John Mark that's going to leave Jerusalem with Saul and Barnabas and go to Antion Peter was right in assuming the church had gathered him was praying thus he goes where he knows he will find his people this is exactly what we should do in good times and in hard times we need to go to the place where we know we will find our people that's why we assemble together every week this is why the scripture commands us do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together where would Peter go if he had no people what would Peter do if he had no one if he was just living life on his own we're not to live life on our own we're called a body we're called a people we're called a family you find and you join your people the people of God many had gathered in Mary's house to pray for Peter this was only one sinner of spiritual warfare taking place on behalf of Peter and behalf of the church it wasn't just Peter's life they were trying to say they understood the future of the church was at stake here because the powers it be the forces of darkness were trying to stamp out the church but here's the good news Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against my church they did not then and they never shall this is exactly why we are people with eternal hope in Christ the joy of answered prayer verse 13 and 14 we see Peter get to Mary's house he knocks on the door of the gate they're inside praying he's outside knocking the servant girl roda here's the knocking she goes to the door she hears Peter's voice and she's so excited that God has answered their prayer she fails to open the door and let Peter in and she runs back and tells everybody Peter's outside still knocking hey let me in Peter knocks on the door the gate roda comes she's so excited she fails to open the door she runs to tell the others there's obvious surprise that Peter was standing at the gate they prayed for that very thing but perhaps they didn't really expect God to answer their prayer and release Peter it is possible that after seeing James executed the church did not have much hope that once Peter was arrested he would be able to avoid the same fate as the apostle James yet they offered up constant prayer to God for Peter but don't we often do the same thing in certain circumstances we say all we can do is pray as if prayer is our final resort when in fact prayer should be our first resort it's not all we can do it is the most powerful thing we can do prayer becomes a default when all else fails when prayer should be our first action to see the power of God intervened and very often when it does we are surprised like we should be we should be surprised that God actually intervened no we shouldn't be surprised we should be thankful and I know though very often we are surprised when God answers us and grants our desired outcome perhaps this is what was happening here we know that those inside the house didn't believe it was actually Peter outside the gate wrote it had to keep insisting that it was actually Peter she believed but the others did not this reminds us of the empty tomb on the morning of Jesus resurrection the women report the truth but the men did not at first believe their report crazy women always coming up with some stories well this is what we see happening with Rota they were skeptical that God had actually answered their prayer even though Peter's release is what they prayed for so we see the skepticism evanted prayer and they said to her you are beside yourself which is a really nice way of saying you're crazy literally yes she kept insisting that Peter was out there they said it is his angel consensus in the house as the king James and the revised standard version translates that you are mad most other versions you are out of your mind yet she kept insisting it's true it's funny how the church was praying for Peter in his release and when God did answer their prayer they did not believe the Lord had actually answered in intervene rather than believing it was actually Peter at the gate they speculated it may be his angel perhaps his guardian angel had come to give them the news of his death the meaning of his angel is not certain but what is certain is that they did not believe Peter was actually outside perhaps they prayed the same way with the same fervor when James was arrested and ultimately put to death though they prayed for Peter's release and prayed and faith knowing that God could release him yet perhaps they did not really believe that God would release him even with their unbelief God did indeed release Peter there he stood at the gate knocking and all those prayer warriors did not actually believe that God had answered their prayer we are guilty of the very same unbelief we pray and ask God to answer yet do we actually expect him to answer in this context there is a fine line between unbelief and faith between actual expectation and skepticism there is often denial associated with answered or unanswered prayer there's sometimes a fine line between denial and actual faith it's not faith to deny that God could answer our prayers differently than what we may desire God may answer your prayer with a no and to deny that possibility is not faith it's just denying that possibility denial is refusing to accept the reality that God may send an answer different than the one you are demanding of him refusing to accept God's sovereignty over all things is not faith it is a denial of the truth praying your will be done is not a lack of faith it is obedient faith and it is obedient prayer according to Jesus for example if we pray for healing and you deny that God would ever will someone not be healed you are operating out of denial not faith you are in denial concerning what the scripture teaches while calling it faith our faith and our will must be tied to and conformed to the sovereignty of God and his will that doesn't mean you have to like his will doesn't mean that his will is always easy to accept here is the fine line I do believe we should pray believing not only that God can answer our scriptural prayers whatever they may be but that he will answer them I qualify that with scriptural prayers we should believe God will answer we pray in faith knowing that it is his will not our own that must be done his will is not always consistent with our own and this is not God's problem this is our problem therefore one of the most important aspects of prayer is bringing our will in alignment with God's will our faith and our will must be bound to the sovereign will of God even Jesus prayed if there is any way for this cup to pass from me Lord then let it pass nevertheless not my will but yours be done the astonishment of answered prayer Peter continued knocking him when they opened the door and saw him they were astonished one thing we often miss here is the fact that Peter's perseverance Peter persevered and kept knocking he did not stop he continued knocking until he got an answer in an opened door it reminds us of the lesson on prayer that Jesus gave his disciples in Luke chapter 11 verse 5 and Luke chapter 18 verse 1 the lesson was to keep knocking on heaven's door until the answer comes that is a lesson for you and for me as well again this is the fine line between faith and denial between answered prayer and what some would call an answered prayer we pray until God sends the answer whatever it may be even if it is not the answer we are praying for all of those praying and faith that Jesus would not be crucified let me ask you church did God not answer their prayer all those praying that James would not be executed did God not answer their prayer or did God answer them in a way different than what they will and what they desired did God answer them in a different way in the execution of his servants those prayers may not have been answered in the way the church prayed they would be but they were answered looking back we see that the answer was exactly what God will his will brought both good and glory the answer resulted in sacrifice but also the seed of the church being multiplied in martyrdom God does not always answer prayer in the way we want it to be answered we pray a yes but sometimes the answer from God is a no even when the answer is yes as in the case of Peter we are oftentimes astonished that God actually answered us however God chooses to answer our prayers we should not be astonished but faithful and thankful that his will is done even if it is different than our own answered prayer requires faithful action Peter motioning to them with this hand to keep silent he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and he said to them go tell these things to James and to the brethren and he departed and went to another place doesn't that remind you of Jesus after his resurrection telling the women go and tell my disciples that I am risen Peter says go and tell James and the brethren and he departed and went to another place after instructing them Peter went to another place he did this for the safety of those in Mary's house as well as his own Peter knew if the authorities found him in that house the whole household would suffer the wrath of Herod so his departure was an act of kindness and compassion for Mary and for the other disciples the Ethiopian version says he went to another house the Catholic church says he went to Rome at this point but there is absolutely no evidence of that in fact we will see Peter again in Acts 15 and he is in Jerusalem it's more than likely he simply went to another home he did not leave the city but his action was faithful and obedient wherever Peter went he continued preaching and teaching God's word he was not intimidated by the anti-Christ who were opposing the gospel neither should we be intimidated by those opposing the gospel whether we be outside or inside whether those composers be outside or inside the church and don't think there are not people inside the church who are opposing the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ there are too many within the church preaching another gospel not the gospel and we need to be wise to recognize it and we should not be intimidated just because they call themselves Christian we must keep preaching and teaching the word of God as Peter did this is why the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church at Pentecost that we would receive power to be witnesses to Christ even to the ends of the earth well guess where we are today we are at the ends of the earth when the gospel was preached at Pentecost some two thousand years ago where Taylor Texas is today literally was the ends of the earth so here we are living at the ends of the earth still preaching the gospel of Christ still giving witness to Christ the gospel continues to traverse the globe and it will do so until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord fills the earth as the waters cover the sea that means you and I keep making his name known keep preaching keep teaching keep living the gospel because there are still men and women and children who need salvation be faithful church be courageous God has given you his spirit to do so in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit here is your charge church today is Pentecost Sunday this day marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church at Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter 2 God is still pouring out his spirit today and you are to be filled with the spirit and so be filled with power from on high that you may have power to be witnesses to Christ in him we live and move and have our being and that animation of living and moving and having our being in him comes from the Holy Spirit that dwells in you to fill you and you are to walk in the spirit as you are filled with the spirit it is your flesh that wars against the spirit crucify your flesh daily as you walk filled with the spirit and as you do you give no place to fulfill the lusts of the flesh God has given you his spirit the same spirit and power that raised up Christ dwells in you in Christ you have the same Holy Spirit that Peter, Paul and Jesus walked in under the sovereign hand of our Father in heaven you are commanding to walk in the spirit just as they did God has made away for you as he has washed you in the blood of Christ and filled you with his spirit you can be just as full of the spirit today as those disciples were in the upper room in fact God commands it and if you are not but walking in the lust of your flesh then repent and be filled and walk in the spirit to his glory as you pray and as you work trust his sovereign will in all things just as Peter and his Lord did and amen let's sing our thanks to God the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace the Lord be with you

Acts 12 · chapter mention Acts 12 · chapter mention Luke 11:5 Luke 18:1 Acts 2 · chapter mention