Sin, Salvation, and the Church of God Acts 12:19b-25

Sin, Salvation, and the Church of God

Acts 12:19b-25

Introduction: Last week as I preached on the contrasting story of James and Peter I emphasized the big idea that “God alone numbers our days, and the safest place always is to be at the center of His will.” I didn’t expect that on Tuesday night, Wednesday morning my next younger brother would have a stroke and heart attack, and enter eternity.  Surely that is a reminder to me of the urgency of the message we preach and the importance of being certain we are ready. God numbers our days, we don’t know how much time we have. God has made a way for us to have forgiveness and peace.  People have a lot of ideas about “God” and the way to Heaven. Ligonier ministries last week released the results of a poll taken of 3000 people, asking about their thoughts concerning heaven and hell, the Bible, and other biblical doctrines.  The majority of those polled thought it reasonable that there are many paths that lead to heaven.  There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end there of are the ways of death. The only thing that matters is the truth, and the truth is that God has spoken in His Word. We’re going to look at the last scene in Acts 12…

The Big Idea: God is holy and He must punish sin. By His grace He has made a way for sinners to be reconciled to himself in Christ. He continues to use His church, sinners saved by grace, to carry out His program.

I. God is Holy and He will judge sinners (19b-23). The Book of Acts has illustrated the holiness of God from a couple of perspectives. Back in chapter 5 we saw the story of Ananias and Sapphira the question of sin in the church was addressed. We learned that God will not ignore sin in the life of the believer. The writer to the Hebrews says “…He chastens every son whom he receives” (Heb 12:6b). And in extreme cases, as we read in I Corinthians 11, “some sleep” as a result of their sin. Only the death of believers is described as “sleep” in the Bible. The other issue is the question of sin in the life of unbelievers. The story of Herod shows that sinners cannot ignore God with impunity; He will be no means leave the guilty unpunished. We read in 12:19b-23…

Then he [Herod] went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.  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.  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.  ²⁴ But the word of God increased and multiplied.

In Herod’s case judgment was immediate and decisive. 

Herod, like his uncle and grandfather before him, used his position and power to his best advantage, and pity anyone that he thought stood in his way! Do you think we have bad politicians in this country? (Maybe we do, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday!). In some parts of the world things are so bad that corruption is almost considered “normal.”  They say in Brazil the reason that God doesn’t give that country natural disasters is that the politicians are bad enough!  Well the Herodian dynasty illustrates what corruption and abuse of power looked like in one corner of the ancient world.  A few “Herod’s” appear in the New Testament narrative…

-         Herod the Great was King when the magi came to Judea looking for the new born king of the Jews. Herod acted deceptively and then struck out in anger, having all the male children under 2 in Bethlehem put to death.

-         Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great, took the wife of his half brother and had John the Baptist beheaded when he spoke against his sin. This was also the Herod before whom Jesus appeared during his passion.

-         Herod Agrippa the 1^st is the one we see here in Acts 12, he had James put to death and then had Peter arrested.

-         Later in Acts 26 his son, Herod Agrippa II, will hear Paul’s testimony before Paul is sent to Rome.

None of these guys were a model of fairness and impartiality, and they all rejected the notion that Jesus was the Son of God, the King of Kings, and the only hope for sinful humans. In a certain sense they are a caricature of sinful humans: rejecting the Light, choosing darkness, acting as though they were the true sovereign, exalting themselves and putting down others.  The Herods were a power hungry lot, and they would use their power to put down anyone who they deemed as a threat.  Herod Agrippa II will apparently come oh so close when he hears Paul preach, “You almost persuade me to be a Christian!”  What a sad thought: almost persuaded! The gospel is clear, but except for the gracious intervention of God humans refuse the message that is their only hope.

            In the midst of this drought and famine the people of Tyre and Sidon knew they were dependent on Herod’s favor, so they sought reconciliation, reaching out to one of his servants, Blastus.  The mention of the servant’s name is a small detail, but one that reminds us that these were real people and historical events.  The fact that Herod received the words of the crowd with acceptance and favor when they said “the voice of a god and not a man!” is the real point here—and that amounted to idolatry, putting a creature in the place of the Creator. Herod is “struck down by and angel of the Lord,” judged on the spot for accepting their blasphemous words.  Interestingly the Jewish historian Josephus also reports this event, adding the detail that Herod was immediately struck down and died a few days later.

       The message was clear to the witnesses of this event: The voice of a god? Uh oh, maybe not!  Now the truth is we rarely see such swift and unquestionable judgment in the Bible or in the world today. At times it seems that evil flourishes and people not only resist the truth but mock and ridicule the faith. Be sure of this: God will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. They will give an account, and forever is a long time.  Most people don’t believe in a literal hell, but guess what, believe it or not, it is real.

In every case, unrepentant sinners will be judged justly and eternally.

God is patiently working out His plan in history and judgment will certainly come for all who reject Jesus and continue in their unbelief.

*In the Ligonier ministry poll more people believed in Heaven than in Hell. Most people didn’t think that even a small sin leaves a person guilty and deserving of hell. Popular thinking is that people are basically good, and that eternal judgment is only for the worst of the worst.  The Bible says God is holy, “of purer eyes than to look upon initquity,” and any sin is  rebellion against Him, “cosmic treason” as R.C. Sproul would say. What did Adam and Eve do? They only ate a piece of fruit. And they brought sin and death and the curse on all of creation!  Know this:  God is holy and just, and He will judge the world in righteousness. And because God is holy He must punish sin.  Even so, and here is the good news, by His grace He has made a way for sinners to be reconciled to himself in Christ. Amazingly, He continues to use His church, sinners saved by grace, to carry out His program.

II. God is Omnipotent and nothing will impede his plan: Jesus is building the church (24). We read in v.24, “But the word of God increased and multiplied.” We’ve seen a few similar “summary statements” as Luke presents the unfolding story of the church in the Book of Acts:

Acts 2:46-47   ⁴⁶ And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,  ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 6:7   ⁷ And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 9:31  ³¹ So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

The point has been clear enough: nothing the church faces, not the test of success, not trials from within or persecutions from without, nothing is going to impede the work of Christ in building His church. He is all powerful, His plan will be accomplished, He is building His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.

            “The word of God increased…” i.e. more and more the Good News of Jesus was being proclaimed by the Christ followers.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.  Acts of kindness are good but they don’t save anyone. Salvation comes from hearing the gospel and believing it, taking God at His word.

            “…and multiplied…” In 6:7 the same word is used to refer to the number of believers increasing in number.  Remember where Acts started, maybe a couple of hundred believers in Jesus, led by the apostles Jesus had chosen, preaching the message of salvation by grace through faith.  A motley crew entrusted with the task of reaching the world with the Gospel!  There was an explosion of growth and that growth is continuing as the message goes out into every corner of the world.  The world desperately needs to know that God is holy and must punish sin. By His grace He has made a way for sinners to be reconciled to himself in Christ. He continues to use His church, sinners saved by grace, to carry out His program.

III. God is Gracious, and will use redeemed sinners to carry out His program (25). “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.” The ones who are mentioned here are illustrative of some God will use as He carries out His program.

            “Barnabas…” We know little about his past, only that he is described as a good man, full of the Spirit. We know that he was a generous giver, we know the disciples called him “Barnabas,” “Son of encouragement” and we see that character illustrated in the Bible.  We also know that he was from Cyprus, so he may have been viewed as a bit of an outsider, especially by the core of believers in Jerusalem. He was from away, but he didn’t let that impede his willingness to serve. He may have been a foreigner to some, but he loved God and loved people and was available for God use him.

            “Saul” was the zealous rabbi and persecutor of the Christians who came to faith in Christ in Acts 9, on the road to Damascus. So we know that there are some who are converted from an unlikely, un-Christian past, fighting against God when they experience His grace and forgiveness, and who then are used by him in unexpected ways. So you may see someone in your family or your neighborhood who seems like the last person in the world that might get saved, well it could be that He is another Saul of Tarsus, and that God has a wonderful plan for His life.

            “John, who’s other name was Mark…”  John Mark will prove to be an interesting character. He joins Paul and Barnabas for a part of the first missionary journey, but then he abandons the team. A drop out, from a human perspective a failure. When Barnabas wants to welcome him back on the second missionary missionary journey Paul disagrees and they wind up going out separately- Paul didn’t trust him. But God was working in John Mark, and in Paul, and later in his life Paul asked for him to come, saying that he was useful in the ministry.  Forgiveness, grace, restoration, sometimes failure, but as long as God has us in the world He has a plan for us, and God will use us, if we listen, if we confess our sin and our need and come to him, willing and available, He will use us.  Remember the words of Charles Colson: “God doesn’t demand our success, He demands our obedience.”  So these three, a foreigner, a failure, and a fighter against the truth, and God by His grace was able to intervene and use them all. And whatever your background, whatever you have done or become, if you’ll turn to Him in repentance and faith He will use you.

What is God saying to me in this passage? God is holy and must punish sin. By His grace He has made a way for sinners to be reconciled to himself in Christ. He continues to use His church, sinners saved by grace, to carry out His program.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? This transitional moment in the book of Acts, is an excellent lead in to celebrating the Lord’s Table. We see here the desperate need of humans, the powerful truth of the Gospel, and God’s gracious plan for the church. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  The basic prerequisite to participating in this table is trust in Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord. Do you know Him?  Will you trust Him? And believer, the ordinance is a reminder of the seriousness of sin, all sin is cosmic treason against God. He knows your heart. And He promises that “if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I Jn 1:9).     Think about that,   AMEN.