130818 Peter, a Pawn in the Big Battle

Jesus did not promise an easy life for his disciples.  In fact, he said, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” And, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.” (Matthew 10:22 & 24-25)  Of all the known disciples, John is the only one that died of old age.  All the rest were martyred for their faith.  In today’s passage we find Peter, possibly one year after Jesus’ crucifixion, arrested again. This time he was arrested by the soldiers of King Herod Agrippa the 1st.

Let’s look at the scripture passage.

Acts 12:1-11, 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.

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.”

This is not just a story told to fill in the history of the church.  Lots of things happened in that first year in Jerusalem.  It’s interesting that this is one of the few things we’re told about.  Everything in the bible is written for our instruction.  I’ll admit I do not always know what a passage means but when I need it I know it.  That’s why it’s important that we read the whole word of God.  If you do not have it in your mind you cannot know it when you need it.  If you have it in your mind when you need it you will know it.

Obviously, God wants us to know something about this event.  Many things happened in that first year in Jerusalem.  Yet, out of all that has happened we are given this.  First of all, we have King Herod who had a personal, political agenda.  He wanted to limit the growth of the church, or destroy it outright.  He wanted to glorify himself rather than God.  His ego needed the praise of men.

In opposition to Herod we have God, not Peter.  Peter was just a pawn in the big game.  And one thing you need to know, God always wins in the end.  Everything in this story served God’s purpose.  Peter’s arrest had a purpose.  The death of James had a purpose.  And, for sure, the death of Herod glorified God.

Everything here served the purpose of spreading the gospel far and wide.

Remember…

Herod had a personal, political agenda.

Limiting the church’s growth.  This was true of all the religious and political leaders of the time.  Let’s look at, Acts 5:17-18, But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy ¹⁸ they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

 And then again, during the ministry of Paul while on his second missionary journey.  Acts 17:5, But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

From the very beginning of the church there has been, and continues today, opposition to the gospel.  The more active a church becomes the more opposition Satan raises up.  Along with the Jewish religious leaders, King Herod feared the growth of the church and the subsequent loss of influence he would have over the people as the church grew.

He not only wanted to limit the church in its growth at the same time he wanted to glorify himself.  After all he was the king!  An opportunity arrived in the form of a conflict he was having with the people of Tyre and Sidon.  His country provided the food market for the people of Tyre and Sidon.  He created an incident by limiting the amount of food that would be shipped to them.  This caused them to ask for a meeting so they could make peace with him. Herod used this for…

Glorifying himself. Listen to, Acts 12:20-22, 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!”

The people of Tyre and Sidon were simply trying to guarantee the availability of food.  They would do most anything to please King Herod.  Apparently, he met with the leaders of the country and they set up an opportunity for the king to speak to the people.  They just wanted to please him and that’s all he wanted—to be pleased.  Self-centered, egocentric are words that apply to many people in public office.  They apply specially to those who are called “Kings”.  When one becomes a King, unless he honestly submits himself to God, he soon begins to think of himself as a “god”.  Then he needs to continually reinforce that idea and he does that…

By seeking the praise of men.

Some people throw their shoulder out of joint by patting themselves on the back.  At the same time, they look for people who will give them lots of good feelings about themselves.  We all tend to like people who like us.

Paul would later write to the Corinthians, For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.  ^{(2 Corinthians 10:18)} King Herod Agrippa was well respected by the Jews and known for pleasing the Jewish leaders.  He knew the Bible and had been taught that God placed Kings on their thrones and it was God who removed them.  He also knew the commandments.  The first of them is: You shall have no other gods before me.  Herod’s other “god” was himself!

He had his own agenda both personal and political.  He wanted to limit the growth of the church, or destroy it altogether, and he wanted to glorify himself.  He should’ve known that it was impossible for him to replace God.

James Weldon Johnson, an African American poet wrote a book entitled God’s Trombones. He began one poem about the Prodigal Son with these words, “Young Man, Young man–your arm is too short to box with God.” The prophet Isaiah helps us to know that we are too puny to box with God. We are too small to grasp fully God’s greatness.

Let’s look at Isaiah 45:5-7, I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, ⁶that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. ⁷I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Dr. Melvin Banks said, “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator! The LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, and not to be a place of empty chaos. I am the LORD, God says, and there is no other. WOW! Since God is all wise, all-powerful, and loves us so dearly, we can only bow in heartfelt reverence and obedience.”

King Herod Agrippa should have known these things since he was a strong supporter of the Jews.  But obviously he didn’t believe them!  He should have known that…

God’s agenda will always win.

There is never a time when God is caught by surprise.  He knows the end from the beginning.  He never wakes up wondering what’s going to happen, like we often do.  He doesn’t sleep.  He doesn’t slumber.  Our God is always alert knowing the future and remembering the past.  We see things as tragedy that God uses for his own purposes.
James’ martyrdom served God.  For one thing he had been told, by Jesus, what to expect.  Listen while I read, Mark 10:35-39, And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶ And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³⁷ And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” ³⁸ Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” ³⁹ And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,”

John Piper said, “God can release and God can sustain and empower in martyrdom. That is the point of releasing Peter and not James. God is in control over this little Herod in both cases. In fact there is an extraordinary power in martyrdom. Paul said in Philippians 1:14,  And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. In other words the suffering of Christian martyrs has a powerful spiritual effect on those who live. It puts us face to face with eternity. It shows the reality of faith. It strips away the petty pursuits and the trivial anxieties in our lives. And it fires us with the same zeal.”

James’s martyrdom served God and also…

Peter’s arrest served God.  Peter had heard the words of Jesus.  We find them recorded in, Mark 13:9-11, “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. ¹¹ And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

An important part of the process of bringing the gospel to all nations would be, and still is, believers being brought before authorities to answer the charge of being a Christian or that of proclaiming the gospel.  If you were arrested on that charge would there be enough evidence to convict you?  Without a doubt Peter had come to understand that being arrested, beaten and imprisoned, was par for the course.

God had a plan and it included Peter being arrested, again!  God would use this arrest and release to encourage the church to be bold and unafraid.

Herod’s death served God.  Acts 12:23-24, 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.

The angel of the lord shows up twice in this chapter.  Once to release Peter and once to kill Herod! The point is to make clear to everyone who will listen that God and not Herod is to be honored and glorified. If a man lifts himself up against God, he becomes weaker than a worm. It is insane to commit treason against the Creator of the universe. You can't win when you fight against God.  In spite of all opposition God will win…

And will multiply the word of God.

The work of the Holy Spirit.  Let me read two passages from John’s gospel.  John 14:26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. & 16:13, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Yes, the Holy Spirit was not sent to glorify himself.  He was sent to teach believers all things and remind believers of the words of Jesus.  The Spirit of God works to multiply the gospel wherever there’s opposition.  He uses the very work of the enemy against him.  God’s Holy Spirit even uses the death of believers to further the cause. Tertullian, the Christian defender of the faith who died in 225, said to his enemies, "We multiply whenever we are mown down by you; the blood of Christians is [the] seed [of the church]." This has been proven over and over again throughout history.  Wherever public opposition to the gospel leads to the death of believers there is immediate growth in the church.  Humanly speaking this seems to be opposite to what we would expect.  It has been proven true in the past and is proving true today.  There will be growth in the church in Egypt.  Christians are dying there as I speak.

The Apostle James gave his life for the gospel and Peter was arrested but the gospel multiplied as result of these two things, along with the death of Herod.  These events advanced…

The gospel goal.  Among the many passages of scripture that are often quoted in this church are the words of Jesus that we call “The Great Commission’.  Found in, Matthew 28:18-20, And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

That is going on until today.

As we go about our day-to-day lives we should be always ready to defend the gospel to anyone who asks us for the hope that we have.  What Jesus said should be understood as: Since you’re going anyway make disciples along the way of everyone you meet.  We are to do this by bringing them to understand the gospel, baptizing them and continuing to teach them to observe Jesus’ teaching.  We are to speak the truth in love to every person who gives us the opportunity.  Sharing the gospel is the same as throwing a lifeline to a drowning person.  You would do that wouldn’t you?

We must remember when difficulty comes our way that we serve a God who has a plan.  Jesus’ promise to the disciples, and through them to us, was that he would be with us in the end of the age.  There’s never a time when God is not with us.  Peter did not live according to his own strength and we cannot either.  We need to remember the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi.  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.  We are his work and ultimately we cannot fail.  He is faithful even if we remain faithless.  Writing to Thessalonica Paul said, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.  I thank God that success does not depend on me.  If you are a Christian you need to remember, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14:8

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.