Acts 12:12-19. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 6, 2023.
I have used the term "Fallout" because it features the repercussions or consequences of powerful actions. When God acts, it is more powerful than a nuclear bomb, and yet more controlled than them as well. Thus, it is much better than a nuke. Still, there are powerful consequences to all involved when He gives His help- helpful to some and as devastating as a nuke to others.
The Bible makes it clear that God will eventually do something that sweeps aside all of the great power of man regardless of the period of time in which we live, or the part of the globe in which we live. People have always been born and raised in situations of powerful governments and people that appear unlikely to ever change. You can live your life and die without them changing.
To our limited minds it appears they are immovable. However, take heart. God is doing something that is bigger than you, than a family, than a nation, a republic, or a world. He will step in and judge the wicked at some point in a powerful act of His Sovereignty.
This can be hard on our faith in between the time of suffering and God's help. Yet, in countless many little ways, God helps us even in times when it appears that the wicked are untouchable.
When God sweeps away their power structures and authority, it is a source of rage and frustration for the wicked, but it is simultaneously a source of joyful amazement for the people of God!
Let's look at our passage.
Peter has been freed from prison by an angel of God. As is often the case with prayer, God can astonish us simply by doing the thing for which we are praying. This surprise can be because of the quickness of the answer, or because it is answered at all. There is a level of weak faith in this matter. However, this is not the hardened unbelief of the lost. Rather, it is a remnant of our close connection to a lost world. We grow to expect certain things from God, just as we do from certain people. This doesn't make a person a failure as a Christian, but rather a human in need of God's grace.
The believers of Israel in the first century were not used to angels helping people out of jail. So, in one sense, we can give them grace. God was on the move with powerful works and they were not used to it. However, in another sense, we can see that they have had three and half years of the miraculous ministry of Jesus followed with about ten years of God doing powerful things through the Apostles of Jesus. Perhaps, they should be softly rebuffed with the response, "Ye of little faith!"
The believers who had been praying for Peter would have presumably been praying for God to spare Peter from execution and enable him to be released. We can pray things with our mouths that our heart does not expect to happen, i.e., "It would take a miracle...and God hardly ever does that." Sigh.
Let us always remember that the simple thing and the impossible thing are both easy for God to do. God isn't sparing with miracles because they are hard to do, but because they don't always help our faith. Yet, I think that God enjoys astonishing believers from time to time. He likes to give us surprises from time to time.
Our sanctified minds are not perfect at analyzing God's purpose and plan. With the execution of the Apostle James, it may have appeared to them that God had finally moved them into martyr-mode. Others had been killed, but the apostles had been spared up until now. How quickly our faith meter can rise and fall based upon what we see on the ground. As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:7, "We walk by faith, not by sight."
Finding himself in the street at night, Peter naturally goes to a place where believers would gather. In those days, this would often be the home of a believer that was large enough to accommodate a bigger group. One of those places in Jerusalem was the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark.
By the way, there are a lot of women in the New Testament named Mary. It can be hard to keep them clear. There are at least six or seven with three different Mary's at the cross when Jesus died.
The believers were in the habit of gathering together and praying together, especially when there was trouble like Peter being in jail. It is important for us to develop the discipline of praying for one another, but also to pray with one another. Such a disciplines will serve us well in times of difficulty. If you wait until trouble hits to reach out to others and try to pray, you will be less likely to do so, and do it effectively, when it comes.
Thus, we should have intentionality in our prayer life. I don't want to pray only when I feel like it, or I think I need it. In truth, we always need to pray alone, and to pray with others. God help us to develop a disciplined relationship with Him through prayer.
As Peter knocks on the door of the gate (verse 13), a young girl named Rhoda answers. She is so excited about it being Peter that she neglects to open the door and let him in. She runs into the house and tells everyone that Peter is at the gate. However, they think she is crazy.
When we are not inclined to believe something, we will grasp at every alternate explanation that we think is more believable. However, the only evidence they have is that someone claims that Peter is currently at the door of the gate. Rhoda, who is probably a teenager, claims that Peter is at the door. She has seen him. Yet, they say that she is crazy. The word literally means that she is beside herself. Of course, their only evidence of her being crazy is that she claims to have seen Peter.
Think about it. It is one thing to be skeptical and want to see for yourself. However, if you were not there when Rhoda claims to have seen Peter, you can't use that as evidence of her being crazy. You are the one who doesn't know anything. You have to investigate.
Of course, because she insists that Peter is at the gate, they then change their charge to the idea that she has only seen "his angel." What do they mean by this? It is most likely a reference to his spirit, i.e., he must have been killed at the jail and we are being visited by his spirit. Angels were spiritual beings and the term was sometimes used for all spirit beings by extension. It is also possible that they are thinking it is Peter's guardian angel. But, why would the angel look like Peter, and be at their door?
They have put forward the statement that Rhoda is either crazy or has seen Peter's spirit, but in no way, has she seen Peter. We may not believe everything that everyone says, but we should be careful of making pronouncements about things that we did not see. You should go and check it out yourself, or hold your peace. By the way, this has led many an atheist to Christ (checking it out for themselves).
God is not stuck in your boxes. I am the servant, and He is the master. We should walk more humbly among one another than that.
Peter, of course, is still at the gate and continues knocking. He has escaped from prison, and is now standing in the street in the middle of the night. If the guards come looking, they will find him easily. The believers finally open the door and now they are astonished. There is some irony here. They thought that Rhoda was mad, but now they are "astonished." This word means to stand outside of one's self, but it didn't have the connotation of actually being crazy. It meant something more like being amazed at something that seems incredulous.
No matter how much faith you have, you are still a human being who is mortal and framed in by limitations. However, God isn't. When He moves, it is often mind-blowing even to His people. If you think about it, even just the normal activity of God's creation is amazing. On top of this, He does astonishing things when we are not expecting it. God has made astonishing promises to believers that are easy to talk about, but do we really believe? The general resurrection of believers into immortal bodies seems incredulous to 21st century humans, but it is God's promise to the saints of every age. Prepare to be surprised, and astonished!
Yet, if God could spring Peter with an angel, why not James? That is the question isn't it. Why does God do what He does, and not do what He doesn't do? You will never be satisfied with an answer in that area. Besides, from another perspective, we could say that James has been promoted to the side of Jesus, but Peter has been left on the earth to continue working. James' testimony is that Jesus is worth dying for, and Peter gives the same testimony. Yet, he is spared this time.
It is the privilege of the people of God to be amazed at the grace and mercy of God. It is our privilege to be amazed from time to time as we pray for God's help. We can shout together, "That's our God! That's the One that we've been talking about!" Let us praise our amazing God, and our amazing Savior!
After explaining all that has happened, Peter tells them to let the other apostles know that he has been freed, and then leaves. This is one of those "underground church" lessons. They would be looking for Peter at any time. The first place that the gestapo will look is at the homes of your known associates. We must be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves.
We will now look at how God's activity affects the wicked. Of course, the wicked are always upset when God helps the righteous.
We are told that there is no small stir among the soldiers. When they awakened and saw that their prisoner was gone, they knew this was a matter of life and death, theirs. This was the day that Herod intended to try Peter, and execute him, no doubt. Guards were always under threat of death for losing a prisoner, but especially a prisoner like Peter who "disturbs the Roman Peace." They would have only so much time to look for Peter and then they would have to come clean to Herod. They would not be able to sweep this under the rug.
Herod is finally told. Verse 19 says that Herod searched for Peter and couldn't find him. Of course, this means that he sent people out to search for Peter. When they came up empty handed, Herod interrogates the guards and then has them executed. He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.
Man's military operates much like a machine. It is very methodical and all about function. It is not a place of grace and mercy, but of harsh realities.
Though military language is used of believers in the New Testament (i.e., the armor of God, spiritual battle, etc.), God is not a man trying to act the part of God. Of course, this is what generals, kings, and presidents do. God is not desperate for you to never fail. He can afford to have mercy and grace upon those who are more than His spiritual warriors, but are also His children.
This brings us to a principle. When you are on the wrong side of God, you had better get used to frustration and rage. Herod ends up with egg on his face and doesn't like it. He sends a message to the other soldiers through the execution of the guards, and he sends a message to the people of Jerusalem as well. This is no laughing matter. Herod will not be made into a spectacle! He may suspect that the guards had to have helped Peter escape. Regardless, he is finding out the hard way that it is no fun to be fighting against God.
We are told that Herod then goes down to Caesarea. It was no longer fun and rewarding to go after these Christians in Jerusalem. It was fun for a time, but then God stepped in. Yet, not all of the enemies of God's people are so easily dissuaded. It is not always fun for believers either. Yet, we always have the confidence that our God loves us and is working all things for our good. He fights our battles!
This is the destiny of all the wicked, to be frustrated, and at the mercy of the cruelty of one another. We could even say that Herod is "beside himself" in anger. Yet, there is coming a day of great shame and loss for the powerful people of the earth and their armies.
Believers must once again take hold of the truth that God has not given this world to the wicked. It may appear so, but it is only temporary. They are taking advantage of God's grace and mercy. Yet, they will be judged in the end.
God has particular judgments throughout history in which things changed overnight that people though would never change. On top of this, God has a final day of wrath that will bring this Age of Grace to a close. What will we choose, desperate frustration and shame, or the joy of amazement as our Savior steps in? Those who choose the Lord Jesus will not be put to shame in the end!
Let me end by reminding us of the War of Independence. When the united colonies won their independence from Great Britain, it was a big deal, a judgment of God. But, it is a drop in the bucket to what Christ will do when He comes back to liberate humanity from the usurpers and their sycophants. We must choose which side we will be on. Some will always choose the side of the wicked against God. Yet, in His mercy, He has given us this Age of Grace so that men can choose. Choose this day who you will serve!