Where is God When You Need Him (Acts 12: 1-25)

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Introduction:

Have you ever faced a situation where you wondered, "Where is God in all of this?" Perhaps you felt like God wasn’t answering, or you questioned why He allowed something to happen. Maybe you've wished for some foresight to prevent a disaster, but it didn’t come. These are tough questions, and today, we’re looking at a passage in Acts that can give us some insight.

Scripture Reading: Acts 13: 1-13

Summary of the Passage:

The story in Acts 12 is dramatic and powerful, showing how God works in unexpected ways. Here’s a brief summary:

1. Persecution and Arrest (Acts 12:1-4): King Herod arrests some believers, kills James (the brother of John), and imprisons Peter during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
2. Prayer and Miraculous Escape (Acts 12:5-17): The church prays earnestly for Peter. An angel rescues him from prison, leading him past the guards and through the gates. Peter goes to the house of Mary, where believers are astonished by his escape.
3. Herod’s Downfall (Acts 12:18-23): Herod, failing to find Peter, executes the guards. Later, Herod gives a public address, accepts praise as a god, and is struck down by an angel, dying a gruesome death.
4. Continued Growth (Acts 12:24-25): Despite the persecution, the word of God spreads and flourishes. Barnabas and Saul complete their mission and return with John Mark.

Key Themes:

1. Persecution and Prayer:
   • James’ Death and Peter’s Imprisonment: Herod’s actions show the reality of persecution faced by early Christians. The church’s response to Peter’s imprisonment was earnest prayer. In times of crisis, turning to God in prayer is crucial.
2. Divine Intervention:
   • Angel’s Rescue of Peter: God’s intervention through the angel demonstrates His power and willingness to deliver His people. The chains falling off, the gates opening by themselves, and the guards remaining unaware highlight the miraculous nature of Peter’s escape.
3. God’s Sovereignty:
   • Herod’s Downfall: Herod’s pride and acceptance of divine praise lead to his downfall, showing that God is in control and will not share His glory. Despite persecution, God’s plan continues to unfold, and the church grows.

Application to Our Lives:

1. Trust in God’s Plan: Even when circumstances seem dire, trust that God is at work. James’ death and Peter’s escape both serve a purpose in God’s overarching plan.
2. The Power of Prayer: The early church’s earnest prayer played a role in Peter’s miraculous escape. In our own lives, we should never underestimate the power of prayer.
3. God’s Timing and Methods: God’s ways are not always our ways. While we may not understand His timing or methods, we can trust that He is always working for our good and His glory.

Conclusion:

The story in Acts 12 teaches us that God is always present, even in the darkest times. His ways may be mysterious, and His timing may not align with ours, but He is always in control. Trust in His plan, rely on the power of prayer, a

Transcript

Where is God When You Need Him.  (Acts 12:1-end)

Transcript:

Have you ever had a situation where you ask yourself where is God in all of ? Have you ever been a place in your life where you thought God wasn’t answering the phone, so to speak. Or perhaps you've been in a situation where you've asked why did God allow that to happen?

Maybe you’ve wondered why the Lord didn’t give me a little foresight on how I could have prevented the thing happening, but he didn't.

So, what do you do in those kind of situations how do you answer those kinds of very tough question?

Well, there is a passage of scripture in the book of acts that illustrates the fact that things do not always go as we anticipate and I think we can gain some insight by looking at that passage and it is that passage we are going to look at today….

Let’s turn together to acts chapter 12 and I'm going to be reading with verse one.

1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.

21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

What an Amazing Story

Let's go back and start at the beginning. The story begins in Acts 12:1: which tells us that at that time Herod the king was harassing the church.

Herod, a name you've probably heard many times. Starting with Herod the Great: he was the king during the Christmas story who, upon hearing from the wise men about the birth of the King of the Jews, ordered the massacre of all boys two years old and younger in Bethlehem to eliminate any potential threat to his throne.

Then, there's Herod Antipas, known for his involvement with John the Baptist. John condemned Herod Antipas for his adulterous relationship with Herodias, his brother's wife, which led to John's arrest and beheading.

Finally the Herod in Acts 12 we find Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great and the nephew of Herod Antipas. 

According to the historian Josephus, Herod Agrippa I meticulously observed Jewish laws and customs to please the Jews. One commentator notes that his desire to gain popularity with the Jewish people led him to attack the Christian church and its leaders.

In Acts 12:2, we read, "He killed James the brother of John with the sword." This brief phrase means he  likely had James was beheaded. This James is part of the inner circle of apostles—Peter, James, and John. He is the brother of the apostle John, who wrote the Gospel of John, and the three epistles of John, and Revelation. 

James, it is believed was the first apostle to be martyred, while John was the last, making these two brothers unique among the apostles.

The story continues in verse 3: saying he seized during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Herod arrested Peter at the start of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but Herod didn’t want to execute Peter during the feast, so he imprisoned him, probably planning to bring him out for execution afterward.

During this time the believers were intensely praying for Peter.

Let's pause and put this in perspective. James has been executed, and Peter is in prison. Naturally, one might expect Peter to be executed next. If they executed James and arrested Peter, both part of the inner circle of apostles, would they stop there?

If you were a Christian in that group, what would you do? You would pray. You might even start asking questions like, "Lord, why did you let them kill James? Why is Peter imprisoned? What are you doing, Lord?" But one thing is clear: they began to pray. 

In times of crisis, what do you do? You pray.

In times of crisis, what do you do? You should pray.

May I Make a Suggestion?

If you prayed before a crisis, you might be in a better position to ask for favors when the crisis comes. 

Nevertheless, there's a big, serious crisis here, and they begin to pray.

The night before Herod planned to execute Peter, Peter was sleeping. Picture this: he's bound by Roman soldiers on either side, with guards stationed between him and the gate. It’s the night before his execution. One of his closest friends, James, has just been executed, yet Peter is sleeping.

Psalm 4:8 says, "I will both lie down in peace and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." When David wrote that, he was being pursued by his son Absalom and the army of Israel. Trusting the Lord allows you to sleep, just as Peter did.

In the middle of the night, an angel appears, keeps the guards asleep, and wakes Peter up. Acts 12:7 says the angel struck Peter on the side to wake him, telling him, "Peter, get up!" The angel then tells Peter to put on his clothes and sandals. Peter's chains fall off, and the angel says, “follow me."

God will do for you what you cannot do for yourself, but He won't do what you can do for yourself. Tie your shoes and follow me, he says. The angel led Peter past all the guards. They reached the gate, and the angel took Peter down the street before disappearing.

At first, Peter thought it was a vision. But in Acts 12:11, he says, "I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and has delivered me from Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people." Peter understood the Lord had delivered him.

Peter goes to the house where the believers are praying. Peter knocks on the door, and a servant girl named Rhoda answers. Recognizing Peter's voice, she gets so excited she runs back inside without opening the door, exclaiming, "Peter is at the door!"

They were praying for Peter’s release, but when Rhoda tells them Peter is there, they say they didn't believe her. She kept insisting it was Peter while he continued knocking. Finally, they opened the door and were astonished to see him.

Interestingly, they said to Rhoda, "It is his angel," implying they believed in guardian angels. 

Peter motions for them to be silent and explains how the Lord brought him out of prison. He instructs them to "Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren." This other James is the half-brother of Jesus, who wrote the Book of James and was the head of the church in Jerusalem.

The next morning, Herod discovers Peter is gone. According to Roman law, if a soldier fell asleep on duty or allowed a prisoner to escape, he would be executed. Herod had all the soldiers executed.

This story shows the power of prayer, the intervention of angels, and God's deliverance in times of crisis.

We also see that Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, a strip of land just north of Palestine. They bribed one of his servants and got an audience with him. Herod came, arrayed in royal apparel, and sat on his throne. The people shouted, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" Roman emperors often claimed deity, and the people were flattering Herod to gain his favour.

In verse 23, it says, "And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God." The angel struck Herod with a death blow. Herod usurped God's authority and position, and the Bible says he died.

Historical sources confirm this event, specifying that Herod was 54 years old and that it happened on August 1st, 44 AD. The phrase "he was eaten by worms" could be a figure of speech or literal. Either way, Herod was killed by an angel.

This story shows that God deals with persecutors. Herod killed James, and then God killed Herod, that’s quite a shock I’m sure for some to hear.

 At the beginning of the story, it seems like everything is out of control, but by the end, it's clear that God is in control. Instead of Peter being killed by Herod, Herod was killed by Peter’s God. It's possible the same angel who delivered Peter also struck Herod.

Peter is now released, and Herod is gone and verse 24 tells us, "But the word of God grew and multiplied." 

Simply put, when a leading Christian was martyred and another was imprisoned, God intervened. He released the prisoner, punished the persecutor, and promoted the spread of the gospel. 

At the beginning of the story, it looks as if God isn’t doing anything. James gets killed, Peter gets put in prison—where is the Lord? Why isn’t He doing something? But it becomes very evident that God is at work. He does some of it through prayer, some through angels, and some through people. That’s how the word of the Lord spread. 

Sometimes when it appears to us that God is not working, that’s not necessarily true. God is working, even if we might not see it at the moment or approve of what He’s doing.

Things happen all the time that we don’t understand. There are financial reverses, and people in our lives die whom we thought should have lived. Bad things happen that we don’t understand then or even now.

However, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, I can say to you on the authority of the Word of God: God is working. That’s the one great truth from this passage. God is doing something. It might not be to your liking or according to your expectations, but God is doing something. 

He is doing something in you and for you. You might ask, how does this explain James being killed? God was doing something for James.

Now, folks, buckle your seat belts because this is going to be a rough ride. Our problem is that we’ve been so indoctrinated in the way the world thinks that we forget how God thinks. This has infected the Church of Jesus Christ in the west like never before in my lifetime. If you listen to some TV preachers, you get the impression that if you just pray and praise God, everything will work out. 

You know what I’m talking about—that seems to be the popular message coming from many pulpits today. When I hear it, I cringe.

I want you to turn your Bibles to Hebrews 11. This is the chapter of faith, the Hall of Fame of faith. It talks about all these people who believed God. Let’s break in at verse 33:

"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again."

That’s the message of many preachers these days: But keep reading. 

"Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise."

These verses show us that faith does not always lead to immediate deliverance or success. Sometimes, faith leads to suffering and even martyrdom. Yet, all these individuals are commended for their faith. Faith means trusting God even when we don’t understand His ways or timing.

A couple of very simple observations: 

Things don’t always work out as if imagine but I believe God watches over us, and we get delivered many more times than we can ever imagine.

But look at verse 35: "that they might obtain a better resurrection." What does that mean? At the resurrection, those who paid the ultimate sacrifice of giving their very life will get a better reward. They are better off.

In John chapter 9, we discussed the man born blind. The text says he was born that way so that the works of God could be revealed in him, so he could glorify God. So, this poor guy was born and had to suffer for 20 or 40 years. We are always inclined to look at things from the temporal point of view. But if he got an extra reward for that, from the viewpoint of eternity, that was a good deal, right?"

Here's my point: We tend to look at life from a human point of view, in terms of time, and we don't see it from an eternal perspective. When you look at things from an eternal perspective, God may have something going on that we have no clue about, something so much beyond what we could ever imagine.

Being part of that plan means we have a better resurrection—it is better for us. I am not suggesting that everything that happens is good, but I am suggesting that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). 

Only if you believe in a just God who will see to it that justice is done in the end can you explain the madness that goes on in our world today.

I'm sure James said, "Lord, I will do whatever you want." And the Lord said,  I’d like to just come home to me now." That's radical, I know, but I think that's what happened. I think this: God was working, even in this, that’s my thesis. 

Go back to Acts 12: He left Peter because He had some other things for Peter to do, like write 1 Peter and 2 Peter; he hadn’t done that yet. As a matter of fact, the end of the text says that Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem and fulfilled their ministry. He wasn’t done with Barnabas yet; He wasn’t done with John Mark yet; He wasn’t done with Paul yet. 

So, it is reasonable to say He worked through these people, not just in them, but through them.

By the way, I don't know this for certain, but there was a historian who lived a couple of hundred years after this all happened. He recorded that when James was arrested and chained to a Roman soldier, he witnessed to that Roman soldier. The Roman soldier became a Christian and was beheaded with James. 

So, God was working through these people to minister to others. Maybe we need to look beyond ourselves and see what God wants to do with somebody else because of what happens to us. God, I submit to you, worked in James and through James.

No matter what happens, you’ve got to remember this. 

I have come to believe that one of the great, great things God wants to teach us is that He loves us. You can never doubt that. If you go to the height of the book of Ephesians, which has been called, One off the New Testament high points," What you find at the highest peak is this: "I want you to understand the height, the breadth, the depth, and the width of the love of God" (Ephesians 3:18-19).

If you study the book of Romans, one of the most profound and maybe the deepest book in all of them, you get to the lowest depths of that profound theological stuff, and the message here is that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). 

I submit to you that one of the great messages of this book is that God loves us and that one of the great temptations of Satan is to get you to doubt the goodness and love of God. He says to Eve, "Did God really say?” Isn’t God just holding out on you? Isn’t God withholding something from you that you really are entitled to?"

Hear me, my friend: Don’t ever doubt the goodness and love of God, no matter what happens. 

You’ve got to remember God knows what He’s doing, and He only allows what comes into our lives for His glory, our good, and perhaps the benefit of others. But you can never doubt that God loves you. No matter what, that is the issue. That’s the bottom, bottom line.