1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:06,520 So Acts, chapter 12. It was about this time that King 2 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:12,000 Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,960 persecute them. He had James, the brother of 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,600 John, put to death with the sword. 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,320 When he saw this, met with approval among the Jews, he 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:29,520 proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the 7 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:34,760 Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him 8 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:40,600 in prison, handing him over to be guarded by 4 squads of four 9 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,680 soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out 10 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:50,240 for public trial after the Passover, so Peter was kept in 11 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:56,240 prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for 12 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,120 him. The night before Herod was to 13 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:05,360 bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers 14 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,440 bound with two chains, and Centrist stood guarding. 15 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,080 Centrist stood guard at the entrance. 16 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,840 Suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in 17 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,000 the cell. He struck Peter on the side and 18 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,680 woke him up. Quick, get up, he said and the 19 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:30,400 chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the Angel said to him, Put 20 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:34,040 on your clothes and sandals and Peter did so. 21 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,920 Wrap your cloak around you and follow me, the Angel said. 22 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,560 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that 23 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,440 what the Angel was doing was really happening. 24 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:48,920 He thought he was seeing a vision. 25 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:55,480 They passed the 1st and 2nd guards and came to the iron gate 26 00:01:55,480 --> 00:02:00,400 leading to the city. It opened for them by itself and 27 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,920 they went through it. When they had walked the length 28 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,840 of One St. suddenly the Angel left him. 29 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:14,720 Then Peter came to himself and said, Now I know without a doubt 30 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:19,080 that the Lord has sent his Angel and rescued me from Herod's 31 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:24,160 clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would 32 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,240 happen. When this had dawned on him, he 33 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,680 went to the House of Mary, the mother of John, also called 34 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,480 Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 35 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,480 Peter knocked at the outer entrance and a servant named 36 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,600 Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognised Peter's 37 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,120 voice, she was so overjoyed that she ran back without opening it 38 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,680 and exclaimed, Peter's at the door. 39 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:54,640 You're out of your mind, they told her. 40 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,000 When she kept insisting that it was so, they said it must be his 41 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,360 Angel. But Peter kept on knocking, and 42 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,680 when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 43 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,880 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described 44 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,200 how the Lord had brought him out of prison. 45 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,800 Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this, 46 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,200 he said, and then he left for another place. 47 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,080 In the morning there was no small commotion among the 48 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,000 soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 49 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,800 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not 50 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:43,440 find him, he cross examined the guards and ordered they be 51 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,640 executed. Then Herod went from Judea to 52 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,120 Caesarea and stayed there. He'd been quarrelling with the 53 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,280 people of Tyre and Sidon. Now they joined together and 54 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,520 sought an audience with him. After securing the support of 55 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,880 Blastus, A trusted personal servant of the king, they asked 56 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,520 for peace because they depended on the King's country for their 57 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,800 food. On the appointed day, Herod, 58 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,600 wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a 59 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,440 public address to the people. They shouted, This is the voice 60 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:24,320 of a God, not a man. Immediately, because Herod did 61 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:29,880 not give praise to God, an Angel of the Lord struck him down, and 62 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:35,840 he was eaten by worms and died. But the Word of God continued to 63 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,960 spread and flourish. So, yeah, we have been walking 64 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:44,480 our way through the book of Acts for some time now, and I think 65 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,000 we've seen a big part of the message of Acts. 66 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,520 Well, this right, the writer, a man called Luke, he wants to 67 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,800 show us the priorities of the New Testament church, what the 68 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,200 New Testament church commits itself to. 69 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,000 How did the first Christians proclaim and live out the gospel 70 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,960 of Jesus to the people around them? 71 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:12,520 And what can we learn from them? And it doesn't take long to see 72 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,080 as you read the book of Acts, that one of the key priorities 73 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,440 of the New Testament church was praying together. 74 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,640 The New Testament church was a church that prayed together. 75 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,360 Across 28 chapters of Acts. Luke repeatedly describes the 76 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,840 Christians praying together. It's mentioned explicitly 20 77 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:37,040 times in 28 chapters, and it's implied many more times. 78 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,320 I believe in Acts. They pray together regularly and 79 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,040 intentionally. Just a few examples on the 80 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:44,160 screen. They pray when they act 81 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,600 together, when they worship together, when they were 82 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,320 proclaiming the gospel, when they were facing persecution, 83 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,400 when they were appointing elders in churches they were planting, 84 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,200 when they were sending out missionaries into the Roman 85 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,920 worlds. They prayed for the Spirit to 86 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:03,160 help them. They prayed for God's leading on 87 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,360 mission. They prayed for healing when 88 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,160 they needed that. They prayed for courage to keep 89 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,880 living as witnesses for Jesus. A big part of the message of 90 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:17,600 Acts for us today is Acts teaches us how to pray and why 91 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,720 we need to pray. One writer puts it like this. 92 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,320 They say the believers in Acts had plenty to do, but essential 93 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,960 to their gospel proclaiming, bread breaking, widow feeding 94 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,520 and church planting work was praying together. 95 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,600 It wasn't that life was really quiet for the believers in Acts. 96 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,920 They had all this time to kill me, thought, well, let's just 97 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:41,040 pray together. They were. 98 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,280 They were busy. Life was difficult, but they 99 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:47,520 always prioritize praying together, and that is part of 100 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,480 the message of this book to believers in subsequent 101 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,840 generations. So this morning we come to Acts 102 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:57,000 chapter 12, and I think a key part of the message of this 103 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,320 chapter for us today is this. The Lord delights to work 104 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,200 through the prayers of his people, and he's able to do 105 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,880 immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. 106 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,520 The Lord delights to work through the prayers of his 107 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:17,200 people, and he is able to do immeasurably more than all we 108 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:21,240 ask or imagine. A major focus of this passage is 109 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:23,920 Luke's interest in prayer and the prayers of the early church. 110 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:26,200 Look at verse 5 in Acts 12 again. 111 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,200 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying 112 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,840 to God for him. Or look at verse 12 that Peter 113 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,120 went to the House of Mary, the mother of John, also called 114 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,600 Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 115 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:43,840 There's a beautiful truth in this passage. 116 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,480 The Lord works through the prayers of His people, even when 117 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,560 His people can't quite believe that He will. 118 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,760 I hope you saw that when we looked at this passage twice. 119 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,400 In this passage, God's people cry out to God from to act, and 120 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:01,760 then when He does act, they can't quite believe it. 121 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,760 They don't believe he has, he's been Peter. 122 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,000 He can't quite believe that the Lord has set him free from 123 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:09,120 prison. He thinks he's division. 124 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:11,920 And in the church in Jerusalem, they're gathering together 125 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,280 praying for Peter, but when he comes to the door, they can't 126 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:15,600 quite believe it. They say you're out of your 127 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,120 mind. Rhoda, like I think Luke wants 128 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:24,120 to show us here the joy of answered prayer, even when that 129 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,640 is prayer offered. And we don't quite believe that 130 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,240 God is going to work. There's really encouragement 131 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,320 here for every Christian reading this passage to come to God and 132 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:41,240 pray to him and alongside the joy in praying together looks 133 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:43,960 actually really honest with. There will be times of sorrow 134 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,600 when we pray together. Luke wants to see the praying 135 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,080 together as a church doesn't spare us from the pain and 136 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,400 difficulty of living in a fallen world. 137 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,600 And this passage, one apostle is miraculously set free from 138 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:02,760 prison, Peter, but another apostle is executed, loses his 139 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:04,640 life. That's James. 140 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,040 And in both instances, God's people prayed together and God 141 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:14,120 was working out his saving purposes for this world. 142 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,720 To the message of this chapter, the Lord delights to work 143 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:20,400 through the prayers of his people. 144 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,000 He will not always answer our prayers the way we expect Him 145 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,280 to, maybe even the way we want him to, but the Lord can be 146 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,160 trusted with whatever is going on with His people. 147 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:35,000 He wants us to come to Him to pray to Him. 148 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,280 As we learn to do that, we trust Him to do what is right and to 149 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,600 bring about His saving purposes in this world. 150 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:45,040 Let's look at this chapter together. 151 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,840 Now Acts 12 wants to look at it in sort of three different 152 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,040 movements. So the first bit, King Herod 153 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,000 attacks the church, verses 1 to 5. 154 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,000 Then the Lord rescues Peter in unexpected ways, verses 6 to 19, 155 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,960 and then finally the Lord judges King Herod, verses 20 to 23. 156 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:03,880 First of all, then King Herod attacks the church. 157 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,280 That's verse one in Acts 12. It was about this time that King 158 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,360 Herod arrested some. He belonged to the church 159 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,600 intending to persecute them. Now the first question you got 160 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,800 asked is, well, who is this king Herod? 161 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,240 If you're if you've ever heard the Bible story, you will know 162 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,960 that name Herod and it's meant to trigger things in US. 163 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,960 OK, so his technical title is Herod Agrippa the 1st and he 164 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:31,440 ruled 8041 to 44 ruled over most of Judea, the Roman emperors 165 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,040 Caligula and Claudius gave him plenty of territory to rule 166 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,160 over. But actually it's his family 167 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:38,720 tree. That's really significant 168 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,840 because he's the grandson of Herod the Great and that's the 169 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,760 Herod in the Christmas story. So that's the Herod. 170 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,280 He hears about Jesus birth and tries to kill Jesus when he's 171 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:52,520 still an infant. He massacres the infants in 172 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,040 Bethlehem when the wise men escape him. 173 00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:01,680 So that is Herod's grandfather, and then he's the nephew of 174 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:05,600 Herod Antipas, who's the Herod in the Easter story. 175 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,080 He's the Herod who's around when Jesus was travelling round 176 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:11,120 Judea. He's the Herod who had John the 177 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:15,000 Baptist arrested and beheaded. He's the Herod who who made 178 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,000 Jesus stand trial before him at the invitation of Pontius 179 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,520 Pilate. So we hear that King Herod is 180 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:26,440 attacking the church those other Herods are meant to be. 181 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,680 In our mind, this Herod is a powerful ruler. 182 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:34,120 His family is always opposed to Jesus and his people, and it's a 183 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:38,080 real threat to the church that King Herod has them in his 184 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,800 sights. And in case we get any 185 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,960 convincing in verses 2 to 3, Luke just records very quickly 186 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,600 the impact that Herod's attacks has on the church. 187 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:54,280 Verses 2 and three, Herod had James, the brother of John, put 188 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,480 to death with the sword. When he saw this, met with 189 00:11:57,480 --> 00:11:59,920 approval among the Jews, he proceeded to cease Peter. 190 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,560 Also, this happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 191 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:09,680 Here Luke records the second martyrdom of a Christian leader 192 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:13,560 in Jerusalem after the death of Stephen back in Chapter 7. 193 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,000 And what strikes me verse 2 is just so brief. 194 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,760 It's a sudden, so casual. It's like in a moment James was 195 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,000 dead. I need to remember who is James? 196 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,360 James was one of the 12. He was an apostle. 197 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,160 He was part of the inner circle of Jesus disciples. 198 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,240 He was one of Jesus closest friends. 199 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,680 Those moments in the gospels where where Jesus wants to do 200 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:40,680 something like raising Jairus's daughter, he doesn't want to 201 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,400 crowd around. He just has Peter, James and 202 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,320 John with him. This James saw just about every 203 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:48,560 remarkable miracle Jesus performed. 204 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,920 He followed Jesus through thick and thin, right through Jesus 205 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,360 ascension, through Pentecost up to this point. 206 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,640 And suddenly and brutally, Herod kills him. 207 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,480 We're meant to sense the shock of that, because if the apostle 208 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,560 James can be killed, no one is safe. 209 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,680 Every believer in Jerusalem is vulnerable. 210 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:17,560 If Herod can get James, he can get anyone. 211 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:21,840 The James of death would have had a huge impact on the early 212 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:23,640 church. It would have had a huge impact 213 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,080 personally on Peter. Again, James is one of Peter's 214 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,120 closest friends. We're told in the Gospel that 215 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,400 that Peter and his brother Andrew are business partners 216 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,080 with James and John even before they follow Jesus. 217 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,520 They travel with Jesus right the way through Jesus ministry. 218 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:40,440 They've been through so much together and now James is dead, 219 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:43,120 but Peter doesn't even have time to mourn that because Herod 220 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:45,680 goes, well, that went down well. I'm going to arrest Peter now 221 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:47,920 too. And Peter is arrested and thrown 222 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:52,320 into prison. This attack is hurting the 223 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,440 church. Luke wants us to see that. 224 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:57,440 And so Peter is arrested, verse 3. 225 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:00,400 And King Harrod's taking no chances with him yet, if you 226 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:02,960 know the book of Acts. So back in chapter 5, Peter has 227 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,680 a tendency of escaping prison at night. 228 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,600 So Acts chapter 5, the Jewish religious leaders lock up Peter 229 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,000 and the other apostles, presumably including James back 230 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,040 then, and an Angel of the Lord comes and sets them free so they 231 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,680 can keep preaching. But not this time, says Herod 232 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,520 verse 4. After arresting Peter, he put 233 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,840 him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by 4 squads of 234 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,200 four soldiers each. Herod says I am not letting this 235 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,800 guy escape. It is going to be impossible for 236 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,560 him to escape and impossible for anyone to rescue him. 237 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,080 Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the 238 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,960 Passover, when you're meant to see by the end of verse 4, 239 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:45,320 things look hopeless for Peter and for the church in Jerusalem. 240 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,920 One leader dead, 1 leader in prison, very quickly to be 241 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,280 executed. And in comparison with King 242 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,840 Herod, they look vulnerable, they look fragile, they look 243 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:01,520 weak and powerless. What can they do in the face of 244 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,320 a King Herod? What can they do in the face of 245 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:11,080 such an attack from him? Well, Luke tells us in verse 5 S 246 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:16,480 Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying 247 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:21,840 to God for him. What can ordinary fragile 248 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,760 believers do in the face of attack from the world, the 249 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:29,920 flesh, and the devil? Luke says we can pray together. 250 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,560 What can ordinary believers do when we see suffering across the 251 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,960 world that is beyond our control or power to stop? 252 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,280 We can pray together. What can ordinary believers do 253 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,640 when they see people being persecuted for their faith in 254 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,200 Jesus? We can pray together for them 255 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,400 again, we said a bit earlier we're going to be praying 256 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,920 together for the Wallace family in the Cherry classroom after 257 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:58,720 the service. We want to pray for Matt and 258 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:00,560 Lisa. They're a long way away. 259 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:02,400 Practically. There feels like very little we 260 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,040 can do. But we can pray because that is 261 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,520 what powerless, weak Christians have always done. 262 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,480 We've acknowledged our limits and we've said this is beyond 263 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:14,640 me, but it's not beyond the living God. 264 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,040 Luke urges us to do in the face of any attacks, any suffering, 265 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:23,840 any struggle, pray together, cry out to the Lord together, ask 266 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,680 him boldly for his help and trust him completely to do what 267 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,320 is right. Actually, verse 5, the the the 268 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:35,000 word there to earnestly pray and you could actually translate 269 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:40,080 that praying at full stretch. It's just it involves efforts. 270 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,680 And actually, it's the same words Luke used to describe 271 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,480 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying the night 272 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:50,360 before the cross. I think back to Jesus. 273 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:54,040 There he cries out, Father, take this cup from me. 274 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,160 Jesus asked boldly for his Father to help him. 275 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,160 He didn't hold back. He didn't pretend everything was 276 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:01,000 OK. He didn't turn to someone else 277 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,240 or try to problem solve. He asked his Father boldly to 278 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,800 help him. And then what did he pray? 279 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,200 He said, Yet not my will, but yours be done. 280 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,359 Jesus trusted his Father completely. 281 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,079 That's what Jesus models for us here. 282 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:23,560 Ask boldly and trust completely. Ask boldly because Jesus is 283 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:27,240 able, the Lord, the living God is able to help us trust 284 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,760 completely because his purposes might be different than what we 285 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,520 think they are. But you can't trust Him. 286 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:36,640 And the best thing you can do is to come to him, cry out to him, 287 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:42,560 pray in earnest at full stretch for Him to help, and then see 288 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:48,200 what he does. So back to Peter in prison in 289 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,840 Acts 12. Humanly speaking, escape looks 290 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:54,320 impossible for Peter. But both Peter and the church in 291 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:59,080 Jerusalem are learning something this evening that the Lord is 292 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,240 able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. 293 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,280 When his people turn to him and cry out to him. 294 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,640 It's such a beautiful passage of how the Lord rescues Peter in 295 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:15,440 unexpected ways. Now I, I have a have a love of 296 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,000 the Mission Impossible movies. My family don't always share 297 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:20,960 that love, so I have to watch them on my own. 298 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:23,480 If anyone likes Mission Impossible, come I've I've got 299 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:27,280 them on DVD. Yes, I I own DVDs and I love 300 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,560 them. There's these long shots of 301 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,200 little Tom Cruise running and it just stays on them. 302 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:35,280 It's brilliant and I was struck actually verse 6, when you look 303 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,800 at this passage, it's a bit like those scenes in Mission 304 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,600 Impossible where they're talking about we have to break into this 305 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,880 bank or this fortresses underwater vault and we just 306 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,400 list all the reasons why humanly speaking, it is impossible. 307 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,480 It cannot work. It is just unbreakable, 308 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:51,800 unbroachable. You can't get in there. 309 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,840 Verse 6, Luke sets the scene the night before Herod was to bring 310 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,440 him to trial. Peter was sleeping between two 311 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,960 soldiers bound with two chains and sentry stood guard at the 312 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,720 entrance. Most imagine Simon Pegg is is 313 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,280 saying all this. We can't do it, Ethan. 314 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:12,520 So Peter, he's got a soldier on each side of him. 315 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,840 Both his wrists are bound by chains. 316 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,080 The other two soldiers are on duty outside and they're 317 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:19,360 soldiers all the way around the palace. 318 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,680 Humanly speaking, escape is impossible for Peter. 319 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,400 But Luke wants us to see that nothing is impossible for God. 320 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,560 And the Angel of the Lord appears, verse 7, and everything 321 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,480 changes. Verse 7. 322 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,640 Suddenly an Angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in 323 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,800 the cell. He struck Peter on the side, 324 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,600 woke him up. Quick, get up, he said, and the 325 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:44,960 chains fell off Peter's wrist. Now we need to say something. 326 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,800 Peter contributes nothing to his rescue. 327 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,000 He's asleep. He's not chiseling behind a 328 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,400 poster, another film reference. He's not trying to plan his 329 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,280 escape. The Angel has to wake him up. 330 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,160 It's the aims of the Lord that does the rescuing here. 331 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:06,480 All Peter has to do is receive that rescue and follow the 332 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,320 angels lead. This is all taking place during 333 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:11,840 the Passover festival, Luke tells us. 334 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,640 And Luke may be drawing some parallels here with God rescuing 335 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,960 his people at the first Passover in Egypt and God rescuing Peter 336 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,080 here. Both rescues take place at night 337 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,200 time. Both involve an aims of the 338 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,280 Lord. In both instances, God's people 339 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,280 have to move quickly and leave in the night. 340 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,840 Verse 8 the Angel said to him, put on your clothes and sandals 341 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,520 and Peter did so wrap your cloak around you and follow me. 342 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:40,280 The Angel told him. You notice again the care the 343 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:42,880 Angel takes with Peter. Peter is half asleep. 344 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:44,960 He thinks he's dreaming. He thinks he's seeing a vision, 345 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,560 but the Angel knows a night time in Jerusalem. 346 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,040 It's cold. Bring your cloak, Peter. 347 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:53,360 Night time in Jerusalem, there's stuff on the ground. 348 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:57,720 Wear your sandals, Peter. All the detail points to God's 349 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:01,280 care and control. Even of the little things. 350 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,680 Nothing escapes God's attention here. 351 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,800 And then verses 9 to 10. There's so much eyewitness 352 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:09,920 detail here. I can imagine Peter, an older 353 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,320 man, reminiscing about this to the other Christians. 354 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:13,840 Peter followed him out of the prison. 355 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,240 He had no idea what the Angel was doing was really happening. 356 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:17,800 He thought he was seeing a vision. 357 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,200 They passed the 1st and 2nd guards but no one wakes up. 358 00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:23,440 They came to the iron gate leading to the city. 359 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:24,560 How do you get through the iron gate? 360 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,880 It opened for them by itself and they went through it. 361 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:29,920 It's amazing. When they had walked the length 362 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,600 of one St. suddenly the Angel left him. 363 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,360 You feel that's a story Peter tells a lot later in his life? 364 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,560 And the honesty of Peter's reaction here. 365 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:45,160 He had no idea what the what the Angel was doing was really 366 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,920 happening. A lesser church leader would 367 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,520 have said, Oh yeah, I always trusted that God would rescue 368 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:53,840 me. Angels see them all the time. 369 00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,600 Peter goes, I had no idea. He cannot believe that God has 370 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,200 rescued him by this Angel. And it's only when the Angel 371 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,640 leaves that Peter gets his head around what has happened. 372 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,760 Verse 11. Then Peter came to himself and 373 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:14,520 said, now I know without a doubt the Lord has sent his Angel and 374 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,840 rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish 375 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,360 people were hoping would happen. Peter discovers something 376 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,480 amazing that night that he had forgotten, a truth that every 377 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:27,800 Christian of every generation tends to forget to. 378 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,760 The Lord is able to do immeasurably more than all we 379 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,880 ask or imagine when his people pray to him. 380 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,120 Our God's a saving God. It's not what we contribute. 381 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:41,240 After I contribute a little bit and he'll meet us halfway. 382 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:45,600 He does all the saving work through the power of his Spirit, 383 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,240 through his Son Jesus, through his heavenly forces. 384 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,880 And he does that to bring about his saving purposes in this 385 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,160 world and in our lives. In this instance, to rescue 386 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,600 Peter for the sake of Peter and future ministry, for the sake of 387 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:02,520 the Church, for the sake of their witness together. 388 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,520 It's such an unexpected rescue. And it kind of gets gets better 389 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,200 when Luke tells her verse 12, Peter proceeded to go to the 390 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:11,520 House of Mary, the mother of John. 391 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,160 Mark. It's a well known meeting place 392 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,640 for the Jerusalem believers. Maybe it's where they always 393 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:16,840 met. We have to remember early in 394 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:18,640 Acts they can meet in the temple courts. 395 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,360 Now that's prohibited. This is our house church. 396 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,320 Like so many persecuted Christians around the world, 397 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,800 they can't meet in public. They meet in someone's home and 398 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,920 they're here praying for Peter, when suddenly the man they are 399 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,880 praying for comes knocking at the door. 400 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,720 And again we want to see or the joy of answered prayer when we 401 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,560 cannot quite believe that God has answered prayer. 402 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:45,800 Look at verse 13 again. So Peter knocks at the outer 403 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,840 entrance. I sort of imagine Peter doing it 404 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,920 a little bit frantically. Peter knows he's now a wanted 405 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:52,800 man. There could be soldiers coming 406 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,800 looking for him any moment. He's come to find a place to 407 00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:01,280 hide with his fellow believers. So a servant named Rhoda comes 408 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,040 to answer the door. Rhoda, we're told she's a 409 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,280 servant in Mary and John Mark's home, probably a believer 410 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,400 herself. She certainly recognises Peter's 411 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,560 voice. She knows Peter well enough to 412 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,840 recognise his voice. And I love that Rhoda's name 413 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,320 will always be remembered because of this moment. 414 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,320 This servant girl who would be forgotten by history, She's the 415 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:25,160 one who heard Peter at the door and didn't open the door. 416 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,360 It's such a wonderful moment. She realizes he's at the door. 417 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,920 And she's so overjoyed she forgets to open the door. 418 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:34,400 She runs back. Peter's at the door. 419 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,400 And here is this prayer meeting, praying at full stretch for 420 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,400 Peter, asking God to set him free or to help him face his 421 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,280 death faithfully. And no one believes a word that 422 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:48,120 Rhode is saying verse 15, you're out of your minds. 423 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:51,680 They told her this is the beautiful things that Christians 424 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,360 say to each other. Sometimes this is not like it 425 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:55,600 doesn't feel like a faith filled response. 426 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,280 Just you're out of your mind. Ruda, stop it. 427 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,120 Go back to cleaning. It's it's a terrible thing. 428 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:01,640 But actually she keeps insisting. 429 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:03,680 And actually, I love the way Anne read it. 430 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,000 It must be his Angel. Probably someone very spiritual. 431 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:07,840 Oh, I understand, it's his Angel. 432 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,200 We don't need to open the door because it's not really him, 433 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:12,160 because he's in Herod's palace, because no one gets out of 434 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,760 Herod's palace. And in response to that, verse 435 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,000 16, Peter kept on knocking again. 436 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,440 He's getting nervous. There could be soldiers around. 437 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,160 Let me in. And when they do, they were 438 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:29,480 astonished. Verse 16, They were astonished. 439 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,360 We were praying, but we didn't. We didn't actually think God was 440 00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:35,920 going to do anything. So you pray because you're 441 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,760 supposed to, aren't you? They're astonished. 442 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:40,680 Peter has to tell them to be quiet. 443 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,640 They're just shouts of amazement or disbelief of joy. 444 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,080 But he says quiet, please, partly might be soldiers 445 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:49,960 outside, let's not cause a big alarm. 446 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,800 But also he's got things to say. He tells them how the Lord has 447 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,600 rescued him from prison. He wants them to know how God 448 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:58,800 did it. Then he says tell the other 449 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,280 leaders in the church. And then he leaves for another 450 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,320 place. Peter's now a wanted man. 451 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,240 He's on the run. We don't hear from Peter again 452 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,640 till about another year later when Galatians chapter 2 tells 453 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,000 us he turns up an Antioch and spending time with with Paul. 454 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,800 And then a few years after that we get to Acts 15. 455 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,520 He does return to Jerusalem for a church council that happens 456 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,960 there. But in one sense, this is Peter 457 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,320 sort of stepping back from the book of Acts. 458 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,520 He's going to pick up far more with Paul the apostle from next 459 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,200 week. How are we meant to respond to 460 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,240 this moment and Peter's life and the life of the early church? 461 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:40,480 I think we're meant to see the Lord's able to do immeasurably 462 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,080 more than all we ask or imagine in response to the prayers of 463 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,640 his people, but beautifully and wonderfully. 464 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:52,680 It's not the size of our faith that matters ultimately, but the 465 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,800 saving power of our God. It's not the size of our faith, 466 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,600 it's the size of our God that makes the difference. 467 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,360 And we need to see that because there are some church traditions 468 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:07,160 today that teach that for God really to answer prayer, we have 469 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,720 to have the right amount of faith in him. 470 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:14,280 So if we pray and really believe God will answer, he will answer. 471 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,320 If we pray and we have any doubt the God will answer, he won't 472 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,040 answer. It's all about us and how much 473 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:24,280 faith we can somehow generate. And I've met Christians who've 474 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,320 taught that over the years. I've met Christians who've been 475 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,880 deeply affected and actually scarred by that over the years. 476 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,960 I think of of an older woman I know who has multiple sclerosis 477 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,240 and she and her husband have prayed for years for healing for 478 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:39,480 that. And they were part of the church 479 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,640 for many years that told them, well, the Lord has healed you, 480 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,880 you just don't have the faith yet to receive that healing 481 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,480 again. They're trying to kind of fit 482 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,480 her sickness in their theology, but but that crushed that 483 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:56,640 couple. They eventually left that 484 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,280 church. I know the son really well. 485 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:02,240 He still is bruised from that. He still can't quite know what 486 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,280 to do with stories like this where God miraculously answers 487 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:10,000 prayer again. We need to see, I think Luke 488 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,680 wants us to see, that even when believers can't quite believe 489 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,000 that God is able to answer, we still pray to him. 490 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,200 Those believers are praying at full stretch. 491 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,520 They're gathered together, but maybe some of them, maybe a good 492 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:25,920 number of them, had sort of given up. 493 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,760 They were praying more that Peter would meet his death 494 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:35,720 faithfully, which is a good prayer to pray, but in a sense, 495 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,880 they just can't believe that God's able to do what they want 496 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:42,440 him to do. But actually, gloriously, Luke 497 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,800 says that didn't matter. It wasn't the size of their 498 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,600 faith that mattered. It was the size of their God. 499 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,800 And how does that apply to us? I guess I think it's just really 500 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,080 precious truth for us. We don't have to have a huge 501 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,200 amount of faith. We don't have to have all the 502 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:57,880 answers. We don't even have to know what 503 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,080 to pray for when someone is suffering or struggling. 504 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:06,160 We might be full of fears and doubts and questions, but Luke 505 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:10,200 tells us here we just need to pray together and leave the rest 506 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:15,400 to God. Ask boldly for what we need and 507 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,960 trust completely and what the Father does in response to that. 508 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,080 Because again, it's important to remember, praying together does 509 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,200 not mean God will always rescue or always heal or always 510 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,880 intervene in the way we might want Him to. 511 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:36,600 Then Acts 12 records the rescue of 1 apostle and the violent 512 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:42,440 death of another. Acts 12 acknowledges the mystery 513 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,240 of God's sovereignty. We can't demand things from God. 514 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:48,800 We can't tell God how to do His job. 515 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,760 We can't ask Him to, to just do what we think is best. 516 00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:57,960 No, like Jesus in Gethsemane, we ask boldly. 517 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,080 We are honest with Him. Then we trust completely with 518 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:06,960 what he wants to do. Again, you look back at 519 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:11,960 Gethsemane, Jesus praying to be spared the horrors of the cross. 520 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,120 He prayed. Father, if there is any other 521 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:18,800 way, let this cup pass from me. And as Christians have known 522 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:23,360 ever since that prayer, remarkably, the answer Jesus 523 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,240 received to that prayer, take this cup from me. 524 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:32,440 It was no God had other purposes to accomplish through His 525 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:37,520 perfect beloved Son that day. Jesus still went to the cross. 526 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,960 He still went on to drink the cup of God's wrath in our place. 527 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,600 He went on to endure the punishment we deserve, but 528 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,160 because of that, Jesus won salvation and forgiveness and 529 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,320 new life forever for everyone who puts their faith in him. 530 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:57,800 And the cross of Jesus looked like a defeat. 531 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,840 It looked like meaningless suffering, but actually it was 532 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:08,160 God saving his people forever. God's ways can be mysterious. 533 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:10,920 God is good. His ways are mysterious. 534 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:12,280 We need to hold on to both those things. 535 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,360 We don't always understand what God is doing. 536 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:20,240 We can rest that He is good and His ways are good, and we can 537 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:24,000 trust Him because He loves us perfectly. 538 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:30,360 Even the beginning of Acts 12 in James's death, it wasn't a 539 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,240 pointless tragedy or a terrible waste. 540 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,000 Just his time had come to go home. 541 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:43,880 James has followed Jesus for so many years, but now the moment 542 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:48,080 that sword ended his life, the Lord Jesus welcomed him home 543 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,040 forever. Your works done James. 544 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,800 Well done, good and faithful servant for every follower of 545 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:57,680 Jesus. Death. 546 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:00,400 It's not the worst thing that can happen. 547 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,960 It's not the end of God's good and loving purposes for us. 548 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,280 Death is to depart and be with Jesus. 549 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:12,600 Which is better by far, and no amount of King Herod's can take 550 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:20,770 that away. King Herod attacks the church. 551 00:32:21,410 --> 00:32:23,890 The Lord rescues Peter in unexpected ways. 552 00:32:23,890 --> 00:32:27,010 The joy of answer prayer. And finally and briefly, the 553 00:32:27,010 --> 00:32:32,570 Lord then judges King Herod. The closing verse of Acts 12. 554 00:32:32,570 --> 00:32:36,450 He sort of act as a trailer or a taster for God's coming 555 00:32:36,450 --> 00:32:39,170 judgement on the pride and the powerful and the arrogant who 556 00:32:39,170 --> 00:32:42,160 reject him. So Luke tells us after Herod 557 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,720 made a thorough search for Peter, cross examining the 558 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,200 guards, having them executed, he then travels back to Caesarea, 559 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,960 which was the capital of ancient Judea, and he makes peace with 560 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,720 the people of Tyre and Sidon. It's amazing, actually. 561 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,360 We've got another account of this from the Jewish historian 562 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,040 Josephus. So we actually know the date all 563 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:01,520 this happened, which always blows my mind. 564 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:06,080 This was in March, AD 44, if you want to make a note of that. 565 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,600 But humanly speaking, this is a great day for King Herod. 566 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:14,280 Verse 21, on the appointed day, Herod, wearing his royal robes, 567 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:18,000 sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 568 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,480 Now, according to Josephus the historian, Herod's royal robes 569 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,520 were made of silver and they shone brightly in the morning 570 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,720 sun. And the crowd is just hugely 571 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:30,040 impressed by what they saw and heard. 572 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,840 They shouted, This is the voice of a God, not of a man, and that 573 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:38,880 must have been music to the ears of a pride man like Herod, 574 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,280 except Herod didn't live long enough to enjoy it. 575 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:49,160 Verse 23 immediately, because Herod did not give praise to 576 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:51,680 God, and the ends of the Lord struck him down, and he was 577 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:58,120 eaten by worms and died again. According to Cephas's account, a 578 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,720 severe pain arose in Herod's belly. 579 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,680 Herod was carried into his palace, and five days later he 580 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:10,400 died. At the beginning of Acts 12, 581 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:14,440 Herod looked untouchable, unstoppable. 582 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:19,360 He had all this power bringing to bear on the early church. 583 00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:22,760 He's had one leader killed. He's got another leader locked 584 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:24,120 up in prison. Who knows what he's going to do 585 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:28,840 next? By the end of Acts 12, Herod is 586 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:33,360 dead. Peter is free and verse 24, the 587 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,760 word of God continued to spread and flourish. 588 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,080 No matter how strong or impressive or unstoppable the 589 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,840 rulers of this world look today, the Lord is the true king, and 590 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,960 it's His Kingdom that will last forever. 591 00:34:49,679 --> 00:34:51,639 See what we meant to make of this today? 592 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,600 Well, I think we all live in a world marked by injustice, where 593 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:00,120 often rich and powerful people seem to do whatever they like 594 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:04,520 and appear to get away with it. There are moments when some of 595 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,760 them are held to account. Think of the recent revelations 596 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:10,280 about Jeffrey Epstein, the arrest of men like Andrew 597 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,000 Mountbatten, Windsor, Peter Mandelson. 598 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:16,160 Even overnight last night there has been this attack on Iran. 599 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:18,800 And the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Hamani, 600 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,600 responsible for the oppression of death of many people, has 601 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,680 been killed in an air strike. Now it is far too early to know 602 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:32,240 what the results of that will be, but sometimes, even here and 603 00:35:32,240 --> 00:35:38,560 now, dictators fall. But it's more the exception than 604 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,560 the rule. Luke knows this. 605 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:43,280 Luke knows that Christians throughout history are going to 606 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:47,000 meet plenty of King Herod's. There will always be people out 607 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:53,360 to attack the church who hate Christians, who rule and attack 608 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:57,160 and do whatever they want, who seem unstoppable in countries 609 00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:00,160 like North Korea and Russia and other countries around the 610 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,600 world. But Luke says Acts 12, the 611 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:08,240 Lord's judgement will come in the end on all his enemies, and 612 00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:11,400 we can trust him to do what is right. 613 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,520 The rich and powerful will be held to account by God. 614 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,280 Every dictator will be judged for what they have done to 615 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:22,320 people made in God's image, And every persecutor of the church 616 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:24,440 will be confronted with the living Lord Jesus. 617 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:28,640 One day the Lord judged King Herod as He will judge all 618 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:32,800 arrogant rulers who reject him. In the meantime, we can trust 619 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,640 God to do what is right. I Even more than that, we can 620 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:40,680 love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. 621 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,080 Romans 12 on the screen, the Apostle Paul writing Do not 622 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,400 repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right 623 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,240 in the eyes of everyone if it's possible. 624 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:54,240 As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 625 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:58,560 And Krish Lee says, do not take revenge, my dear friends, but 626 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,920 leave room for God's wrath. For it's written, it is mine to 627 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,600 avenge. I will repay, says the Lord. 628 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,320 On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. 629 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:09,120 If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. 630 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,200 In doing this, he'll heap burning coals in his head. 631 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:16,680 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 632 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:19,400 Because we know God will judge the wicked. 633 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,000 In the end, we can love our enemies. 634 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:24,680 We can cry out to God to do what is right. 635 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:29,200 And remember some of God's enemies become God's friends 636 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,640 through faith in Jesus. A few chapters earlier saw this 637 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,760 violent persecutor. The church is transformed by 638 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:37,520 Jesus. We can pray that for our 639 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:39,640 enemies. Pray that even for rulers in 640 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:45,800 this world. Acts 12 is an astonishing moment 641 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:49,560 in the book of Acts. It tells us the Lord delights to 642 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,960 work through the prayers of His people, and He's able to do 643 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,520 immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. 644 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,000 There's huge encouragement here for us. 645 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,120 Why should we pray together? Well, there are plenty of King 646 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:04,920 Herod's in our world, so we need to pray against them. 647 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:08,440 The Lord delights to work through the prayers of His 648 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,760 people, so we need to pray knowing that the Father will 649 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:13,920 hear us. The Son is interceding for us. 650 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,840 The Spirit takes our prayers and brings them to God. 651 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:20,400 We need to be encouraged. It's not the size of our faith 652 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:22,600 that matters, it's the size of our God. 653 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:27,520 And we look forward to the day when Jesus will judge the living 654 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,760 and the dead. He will bring rulers to justice 655 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:33,720 and He will wipe every tear from our eyes. 656 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:39,080 The Lord loves to work through the prayers of His people, even 657 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,040 when we can't quite believe that He will. 658 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:47,960 Acts 12 is here to strengthen our faith and call us to pray. 659 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:52,280 Let's do that now. As we finish, let's pray 660 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:59,360 briefly. Some words from Ephesians 3. 661 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:05,520 Now to him, He was able to do immeasurably more than all we 662 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:09,920 ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. 663 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:14,800 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout 664 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:17,720 all generations, forever and ever. 665 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:19,160 Amen.