Gtcotr/ws111622
History tells us that in AD44, Herod Agrippa died in Caesarea. In Acts 12, the Bible gives us the account of why. Let’s go back one year and one chapter to AD43 and Acts 11, as we begin tonight’s message on the power and the importance of prayer.
At this point a young and very well-known Jewish lawyer had been converted to Christianity and had been brought to join the Church at Antioch by a seasoned and very trusted minister of the Gospel, Barnabas. Saul had spent a whole year proving himself at the Church when some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Acts 11 NKJV
27 ¶ And in these days
prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.
28 Then one of them, named
Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great
famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius
Caesar.
29 Then the disciples, each
according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in
Judea.
30 This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Now let’s go all the way down to:
Acts 12:25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.
This evening we are going to use these two passages as bookends to look and see what we can learn from the things that took place while Barnabas and Saul, (the young Apostle Paul in training), were in Jerusalem in about the year AD43/44.
Acts 12
1 ¶ Now about that time Herod
the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.
·
Herod
Agrippa: Grandson of Herod the Great; Nephew of Herod Antipas who was married
to his niece who was also his former sister-in-law, Herodias; Brother and twice
nephew of Herodias who is responsible for the death of John the Baptist.
·
The
same Herod that got eaten by worms in Caesarea … later …
2 Then he killed James the
brother of John with the sword.
·
James
the elder brother of the Apostle John, both sons of Zebedee, called as the
first disciples of Jesus.
·
A
sword was quick and private and somewhat an insult as opposed to a public
execution with an axe.
3 And because he saw that it
pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during
the Days of Unleavened Bread.
·
Because
it pleased the Jews – It is a difficult trap to be poll driven.
·
He
was emboldened and encouraged to go further in his evil harassment.
·
It
was Passover … family time … everyone who was anyone was in Jerusalem.
4 So when he had arrested
him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of
soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
·
Publicly
arrested and a huge 16 guard assigned to him. 4 at a time for 6-hour watches
each.
·
Didn’t
want to run the risk of having to follow custom and let Peter go, like happened
to Barabbas perhaps.
·
But
wanted a public execution this time … going to bring before the people.
5 ¶ Peter was therefore kept
in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
·
We
see something different than what happened with James.
·
I
don’t think the Church ever expected James to be killed … I think it shocked
them and provoked them to get up and get involved.
·
The
Church called an important prayer meeting to see if they could petition heaven
for help. – Constant Prayer!!!
6 And when Herod was about to
bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two
soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
7 Now behold, an angel of the
Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter
on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off
his hands.
8 Then the angel said to him,
“Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him,
“Put on your garment and follow me.”
9 So he went out and followed
him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he
was seeing a vision.
10 When they were past the
first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the
city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down
one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come to
himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and
has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of
the Jewish people.”
·
When
Peter had come to himself …
12 So, when he had considered
this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was
Mark, where many were gathered together praying.
·
Mary
was the mother of John Mark.
·
Mary
was also the sister of Barnabas.
·
It
was Passover – the most important family gathering of the year.
·
Barnabas
was in town and most likely as shocked as anyone that James had been beheaded
and that Peter was in prison and was going to be executed in a couple of days.
·
It
would be unreasonable to imagine Barnabas was not at his sister’s house and in
that prayer meeting with his young protégé, Saul of Tarsus.
·
Yes,
I have great reason to believe the young Apostle Paul was at that prayer
meeting.
13 And as Peter knocked at
the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer.
14 When she recognized
Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but
ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.
15 But they said to her, “You
are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It
is his angel.”
16 Now Peter continued
knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were
astonished.
17 But motioning to them with
his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out
of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the
brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.
·
James,
pastor of the Church.
·
Peter
is an escaped prisoner on the run.
18 Then, as soon as it was day, there was no
small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.
19 But when Herod had searched for him and not
found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put
to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
20
¶ Now Herod had been very angry with the
people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made
Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because
their country was supplied with food by the king’s country.
21 So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal
apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.
22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a
god and not of a man!”
23 Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck
him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.
24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John whose surname was Mark.
Some
things I find interesting about this narrative:
·
Herod
and Herodias, brother and sister, were responsible for the quick executions of
John the Baptist and of Apostle James.
·
The
young Apostle Paul was most likely at the prayer meeting in Mary’s house.
·
The
intercessors, which probably included some very important people, weren’t
necessarily expecting God to answer their prayers in such a quick and tangible
way.
· Prayer was what made the difference between James being killed and Peter being delivered.
My
Take-Away includes:
·
The
Power and the Importance of Prayer.
