Our Time is in His hand Acts 12

Our Times are in His Hands

Acts 12:1-19

Introduction:  I told you before the story of my nephew who died of leukemia at the age of 6.  Even back then we were given much hope when he was diagnosed.  The kind of leukemia he had had a 90% cure rate.  Even so, six weeks later he had died. Nine out of ten lived, he was one who did not. Does life at times seem random? Two children with the same disease, one lives, the other is taken at a young age. An IED explodes on a roadside in Afganistan, one soldier is killed instantly, another escapes, unscathed.  There is a car accident, one teenager is killed, another has only a few scratches.  Two healthcare workers giving their time and expertise to help Ebola sufferers in west Africa, seemingly taking the same precautions, yet one contracts the disease, while the other remains healthy.  We’ve heard the stories of missionaries, some who serve 40 or 50 years without incident, others, like Jim Eliot and Nate Saint and their team, martyred seemingly before they get started. All by chance?  Here in Acts 12 we see a similar study in contrast: One leader is put to death, another is miraculously delivered from prison.  Why? And how does God’s sovereign plan relate to His call to His people to pray? We don’t have a lot of details concerning the general persecution that is happening in Acts 12, or the death of James, the emphasis is on the deliverance of Peter and the continued growth of the church as the Lord works out His will in and through the believers.

The Big Idea: God alone numbers our days, and the safest place always is to be at the center of His will.

I. “In the world you will have tribulation…” (1-5). When Jesus made that statement in John 16:33 He was talking to His disciples, his chosen and beloved followers.  The principle applies to every subsequent follower of Jesus: at some level, in some way, we are going to experience suffering in this life. The scene here shows the initiation of yet another period of intense persecution against the believers. This time the apostles are again at the center, specifically two who were part of Jesus’ inner circle. We read in Acts 12:1-5,

About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.  ² He killed James the brother of John with the sword,  ³ and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.  ⁴ And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.  ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

            “About that time…” gives a temporal setting, shifting our attention back to the end of chapter 11 and the offering that was sent by the believers in Antioch to help the church in Jerusalem with famine relief (see also 12:25).  The persecution in Jerusalem makes the willingness of Paul and Barnabas to come to the city with aid all the more impressive, they were risking their own safety it seems to help brothers and sisters in need.  It also tells us that one kind of tribulation, the natural disaster of a famine and drought, is followed by another kind of tribulation, persecution of the Christ followers. 

            Herod is the instigator of this persecution (at a human level at least!). This is one family with a family tree marked by resistance to God! This Herod is the grandson of Herod the Great, who had the innocents slaughtered in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth.  He is the nephew of Herod Antipas, who was king at the time of Jesus’ public ministry, and the Father of Herod Agrippa II before whom Paul would appear later in Acts. I don’t know if its “nature” or “nurture”, but the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with these guys! Hungry for power, disregard for human life, rejection of the sovereign rule of God, failure to recognize the presence of God in Christ, characterized each of them.

            The extent of the persecution isn’t too clear; it was against “some who belonged to the church.” Then we are told bluntly, “He put James the brother of John to death with the sword.” James, one of the three that formed the “inner circle,” closest to Jesus during His earthly ministry.  They were there at the transfiguration, they were there in the garden when Jesus is praying passionately on the eve of his arrest and execution.  Simply stated, no details, only that it was with the sword.  This is not just a story, it’s history.  We’ve seen lately in the news images of ISIS terrorists with swords ready to execute those they deem infidels. This is the kind of barbarism the church was experiencing at this moment as well.  In the story of Acts we see the truth that God’s people will not escape pain and suffering in this life. In fact choosing to follow Jesus may make you a target for the enemy! But we are also assured that Jesus is in control, and that He is building His church. Nothing we face, no obstacle the enemy can put before us, will impede what God is doing. As Jesus said elsewhere, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33b).

            V.5b offers hope in the midst of crisis, Peter was arrested, “…but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church…” In the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts the author, Luke the beloved physician, wants his readers to know the importance and the power of prayer. In Luke we see Jesus teaching his disciples, by word and by example, that prayer is necessary, and a privilege and a resource given us by the Father. So Jesus is found praying before every major step of his public ministry. The lesson is clear: if it was important for Jesus to pray while He was in the world, how much more important is it for us!  In Acts the church follows His example. They learned from the Master the importance of prayer. Have we forgotten that lesson? Do we value prayer for what it is, coming into the presence of the Father in the name of the Son and empowered by the Spirit, opening our hearts to the God who is, the God who loves us, the God who invites us to call Him Abba, “Daddy”?  We can pray in faith in any situation, because God is in control, He alone numbers our days, and the safest place always is to be at the center of His will.

II. God is able to rescue us in our time of deepest need (6-11). God didn’t rescue James, but he did deliver Peter. Why? The point is made that the church was “…praying earnestly to God…” for him. Does this imply that prayer was not made for James? It doesn’t say, it is possible that he had been arrested and executed before it was known to the church. It is also possible that prayer had been offered for James as well, and the answer was not what the believers had hoped and asked, we just don’t know with certainty.  For most of the Old Testament book of Job, Job is crying out to God in his pain and misery, with no idea as to why he was passing through such tribulation. At several points and in several ways he says “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer…” (cf. Job 30:20).  When my nephew was diagnosed with leukemia I remember praying fervently, pleading with God for his healing.  Sometimes God’s purpose is not known to us. After James’ death, perhaps Peter wondered what was coming. The story of Peter’s deliverance is reported simply in 12:6-11,

⁶ Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.  ⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his hands.  ⁸ And the angel said to him, "Dress yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me."  ⁹ And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.  ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.  ¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."

A couple of take aways here:

First, The Lord knows where we are even in our darkest moments (6-7). Notice the timing of the miracle, “When Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night…” God is never in a hurry, but his timing is always perfect. The hour was approaching when Peter would face the executioner’s sword as James had, that very night, but this time it would be different, this time God intervened.  Eventually, tradition tells us, Peter too would be martyred, crucified upside down. Though James is the only apostle killed in the New Testament, history tells us that all of the apostles, except John who spent his later years in exile, were martyred for their faith. We don’t always know why one is delivered and another is not, but we do know that God had an important part for Peter to play in the counsel in Jerusalem in Acts 15.  His testimony about his role in God’s program expanding to include the gentiles was important at that strategic moment.  He promises to be with us always, even in  the darkest valley, or the darkest prison, or the lonely hospital bed, the moments we would be tempted to despair, He is there.

Secondly, no obstacle we face is too difficult for Him (8-11). This was a desperate situation from a human perspective. James had just been killed, so the threat was real. Chained between two soldiers, two more guarding the door. No hope of escape. Had the end come, was his time at hand? It may have looked that way to Peter and to the church. Peter had been miraculously delivered from prison before, but could he expect such a miracle again (cf. Acts 5:19,20)? Such a miracle had not come for James after all!

Remember the story of Daniel’s friends and the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:17,18)? They refused to bow to the image erected by Nebuchadnezzar,

^“…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  ¹⁸ But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

  Our God is able to deliver us. But even if he doesn’t we’ll stay faithful! Ultimately we know God will deliver us. We know that at least if we have an eternal perspective. We don’t live for this life only.  In fact Paul would later write “...If we have hope in this life only we are of all men most to be pitied!” (I Cor 15:19). Whatever trial or tribulation you face, our God is able to deliver. There is no crisis too difficult, no sickness too severe, no tribulation so intense that our God is stymied by it. He is able. And in His way and His time, He will deliver His people. When it serves His purpose and brings Him glory in this life, or ultimately in the resurrection and the New Heaven and the New Earth, we will be delivered.  Jesus is Lord, and He is sovereign, and He alone numbers our days. The safest place always is to be at the center of His will.

III. God is bigger than we know: He is able to do more than we ask or think (11-17).  This part of the story is almost laughable in how it is told, I think Luke must have smiled as he wrote it.  Can you almost picture the scene? 

¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."  ¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.  ¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.  ¹⁴ Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.  ¹⁵ They said to her, "You are out of your mind." But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, "It is his angel!"  ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.  ¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Tell these things to James and to the brothers." Then he departed and went to another place.

Peter goes to the house of Mary the mother of John, expecting to find believers gathered there (v.12). They are praying fervently, based on v.5, for the release of Peter. Rhoda recognizes Peter’s voice, but rather than letting him in, she is so excited that she leaves him locked out and runs back into the meeting to report who is outside! First they think she is crazy, then they think it must be an angel, when they finally look, they are “amazed.” It was impossible, inexplicable, yet there he stood!  Notice something about prayer: they were gathered, they were praying, and then they were shocked by God’s answer! Some theology would say that if we don’t get what we are asking for from God, we mustn’t have enough faith. We don’t need great faith to pray, we have a great God who wants us to come, with our mustard seeds of faith mixed with doubt and struggle, crying out to Him, Abba, Daddy, we need you, we are desperate for you! God is in control, He alone numbers our days, and the safest place always is to be at the center of His will.

IV.  Not everyone gets it: Some will be hardened by the revelation Of God (18-19). We see that hardening here with Herod…

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.  ¹⁹ And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Morning came, and the guards were shocked, what had happened? How could the prisoner be gone?  There was a “disturbance” among the guards, probably one accusing the other, both shock at the seemingly impossible disappearance of Peter, and fear over what this meant to them. They were in trouble and they knew it!

The reaction of Herod illustrates the hardness of his unbelieving heart. Rather than considering all the options of what had happened, including the supernatural, he has the guards put to death, they must be lying, anything else was unthinkable! He could not, he would not believe anything else.

P.S. The final scene in this chapter, 20-24, is a study in contrast.

²⁰ Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food. [Remember, there was a famine] ²¹ On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.  ²² And the people were shouting, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!"  ²³ Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last…

If the best place to be is at the center of God’s will, walking by faith, trusting in His presence, this scene shows the worst place to be: in rebellion against God, in this case committing idolatry by accepting the praise of men, putting yourself in the place of God. Though Herod embodied this kind of rebellion at a profound level, it is really a graphic illustration of all sin. We choose our word or our reason or our way instead of God’s revealed truth, that is sin at its core. Though we don’t always see such immediate and decisive judgment of sinners in this life, we can be assured that everyone one day will give an account before God, and He will judge the world in righteousness.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Jesus is Lord. Nothing and no one can touch us without His permission. He alone numbers our days, and the safest place always is to be at the center of His will.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Have you ever been in the midst of a dark valley, a time of despair or pain or hopelessness, even like Job crying out, “Where are you Lord? Why don’t you answer my prayers?” I’ve been there. Remember Joseph, hated and sold into slavery by his brothers, despite his faithful service falsely accused of sexual assault by the wife of Potiphar and cast into prison, forgotten for a time, but exactly where God wanted him. At the center of his will. And ultimately he was used to save those who had hated and betrayed him.  God was working in Joseph’s life and He is working in yours if you know Him. You will have tribulation in the world, but listen, this is a promise, Jesus has overcome the world, he is, and he will be with you and bring you through whatever valley you experience.  Talk to Him, be honest with Him, trust Him, and believe that His answer is going to be better than you could possibly imagine.  Think about that, AMEN.