The Acts of the Apostles 53

Subtitle: Far from Home

Acts 13:13-32.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 27, 2023.

Today, we are looking at Paul's first missionary journey into Gentile lands.  Of course, there were others with him, but he is the common thread throughout them all.

The very act of leaving the safe place of home and going to unfamiliar places to share Jesus is an act of faith, boldness, and courage.  The disciple Peter before the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a courageous talker.  Yet, he failed when it really mattered.  His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak. 

How do you deal with that?  In truth, this is a picture of every single one of us.  We deal with it by seeing our weakness, accepting it, and then turning to Jesus in faith.  He then fills us with His Holy Spirit, and we partner with the Holy Spirit by being a person of prayer (something Peter failed to do the night of the betrayal of Jesus), being a person of the word, and letting the Spirit show us how to walk out the righteousness of Christ in our life.

After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it wasn't impossible for Peter to make a mistake, but he was a different man.  He had become a man of faith, courage, and boldness in the Lord.

We may not do all of the things that we see written in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, but may we be filled with the faith, boldness, and courage that comes from the Spirit of God.

We should always be thankful for the blessing of home, especially if you had a home that honored Jesus.  When I was a kid, I remember being homesick.  My mother was having a baby, and I stayed at my cousin Terry's house.  We always played together and had a blast, so it was perfect.  Yet, after a certain number of days, I began to be homesick.  The silly thing is that my house was 1 block away at the time.  I am thankful for the home I grew up in.  Christians should be home makers.  No matter what you are starting with, the Lord Jesus will help you to create a safe place for your children, teach them the truth of Jesus, and to do so in love, with loving discipline.  Let your home become a place where there is a sense of belonging, being cared for, and helped in every way.

All of that said, there is a sense in which we are not at home in this world (it is not Jesus enough), and yet we are always at home, no matter where we are, because Jesus is always with us by His Holy Spirit.  Christ is with us, and we will always find brothers and sisters of like precious faith when we reach out.

There is a certain class of great truths in which two seemingly polar opposite realities must be embraced at the same time.  It appears paradoxical to say that we should remember that this world is not our home, and yet, we are always home, no matter where we are in this world.  Another example of this is called the Stockdale Paradox. [Note: in the audio, I was unsure of the name of the paradox, and I surmised it might be called Stockwell.]  Stockdale was a POW during the Vietnam war, and spent years being tortured and held captive.  After he was returned following a treaty, he pointed to this paradox that helped him to survive.  He had to be brutally honest about his true circumstances, but also, never lose hope that he would prevail in the end.  Further, he emphasized that we could confuse these two things, and needed to keep them separate, yet held firmly.

So, we are not home yet, and we know it.  However, when I leave this world and my spirit goes to the Lord, it will not be a complete surprise because I have been at home with him for years now.  It will be more of a sense that says, "Wow!  It is even better than I imagined!"

Let's look at our passage.

The Gospel goes to Anatolia (v. 13-15)

Here's a good map for understanding the places that are talked about in this passage:  map.

Paul and Barnabas had gone from the coast of Syria to the island of Cyprus.  There they shared the Gospel and ended up on the western end of the island in Paphos, the seat of government for the island.

From there, they will sail northwest to what we call Turkey today.  It is sometimes referred to as Asia Minor, but the book of Acts also refers to a region called Asia, which is only a small part of this isthmus.  So these terms can be confused.  Another term used for this area is a name the Greeks gave to the place, Anatolia (Gk. for "east").

The coastal city called Perga is in the area called Pamphylia.  As you go north you quickly hit mountains.  At their divide, you enter a lesser region called Psidia.  At this time, Psidia is administered for Rome under the Galatian region.  Thus, Luke's story jumps pretty quickly to a city of Psidia called Antioch.

Yes, this is another city called Antioch (long story).  This city is either called Antioch of Pisidia, or Pisidian Antioch to distinguish it from other places with the same name.  By the way, Paul and Barnabas started this journey from Antioch of Syria, or Syrian Antioch.  This should help us get a feel for where these things are happening.

When they first land at Perga, there is no mention of preaching there.  They quickly head into the interior of Anatolia.  Some have speculated that Paul may have picked up a sickness like malaria (the area has mosquitos) because of Paul's statement in Galatians 4:13.  He says that he first preached the gospel to the Galatians due to sickness.  The city Pisidian Antioch is in the region of Galatia, and so are the towns that will mentioned later on in this missionary journey.  I take time to mention this particularly because of what happens next.

We are told that John Mark departed from them and went back to Jerusalem.  This wasn't on the agenda.  Mark was brought along to help them on the journey.  We are not told why.  However, we can be fairly certain that it wasn't for a good reason because, in Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas will argue about taking Mark with them on a second missionary journey.  We can talk about their discussions then.

For now, I will focus on John Mark.  He may have left simply out of homesickness.  Even adults can grow weary of being on the road and dealing with the stresses of new territories.  Of course, there could also be a sense of fear.  They had encountered spiritual opposition on the island of Cyprus through Elymas Barjesus, Paul was now sick, and they were headed into the interior of this Gentile place.  Mark may have just hit the end of what he was able to face.  Regardless, Mark finds himself far from home, and chooses to go back to Jerusalem where his mother and family were.  However, he is also quitting on the work that God had given to Paul and Barnabas.  This is important because, even today (more so then), it is important to have a strong group of guys when you travel foreign lands.  He is leaving them in a weaker position, at least, in the natural.

I will say that there is no sense that John Mark is departing from the Lord, and apostatizing.  However, he is quitting on the work that God had made him a part of.  He may be thinking that it was really Barnabas and Paul's calling and not his.  This may not be a salvation issue, but it is serious.  We are volunteers and not hirelings, but the Spirit of God is working in us to fit us for the work that He desires for us to do.

Am I fit for the work that God has for me?  In some ways, natural ways, I am not.  However, trust and faith in God helps us to be fit, and to become even more fit. 

All work sounds good in theory, but it entails a lot of sweat and sore muscles, which aren't so fun.  Imagine someone coming up with this amazing idea.  "I'm tired of foraging every day, but I noticed that grain will grow up out of the ground from places where we drop it.  Why don't we clear about 10 acres of land here and plant it all with grain.  Then, we can harvest it all right here close to home, and we won't have to forage!"  This is a brilliant idea, but it also involves long hours of blood, sweat, and tears, removing stumps, plowing virgin ground, protecting the young plants and then harvest.  It is a lot of work.  Perhaps, you could give up on such a daunting task and simply forage a couple of hours every day.

Work is a good thing even though it is difficult.  There is a joy in the reward that comes from the work.  However, over time as we mature, we begin to gain an appreciation for the work itself.  Like an old, trusted friend, we begin to enjoy the expenditure of strength that is good for us in and of itself.

In life, you will always run into things that are too big, and too hard for you.  You would rather be home, or in an easier place, an easier time.  Perhaps, you can even now smell the cookies that mom used to make for you in the kitchen, and taste the tantalizing swirl of hot cookie and cold milk.  Being fit for service is not a one time deal.  It is not a one and done chance.  In God's economy, if we fall short, the Spirit still works to bring us back around.  Yes, it's bigger than you, and he that is in the world is also bigger than you.  Yet, He that is in you is greater than them both!

After John Mark leaves them, Paul and Barnabas head into the interior on the edge of Galatia to a town called Pisidian Antioch.  There is a synagogue in this town, so they attend on the Sabbath (Saturday).

Synagogues focused on reading the Law and Prophets, with commentary, exhortations, and worship.  It is not mentioned in the Old Testament because this activity did not develop until they came back from Babylon.  They had been there 70 years, and precious few really knew how they were supposed to serve Yahweh.  Synagogues developed as teaching centers. Yet, they also became invaluable in far away Gentile lands where they would have little interaction with Jerusalem and its ceremonies.  The early church meetings were somewhat patterned after these teaching centers.

At some point they ask Paul and Barnabas as visitors to address the group if they wished.  This may be a courtesy knowing that Paul has studied in Jerusalem, but it may simply be a rural area hoping to hear news of things in Jerusalem, etc.  Regardless, Paul will take advantage of this opportunity to speak.

Paul preaches in the synagogue (v. 16-33)

We have an extended sermon from Paul here.  We will look at part of it today and the rest on a subsequent Sunday.  In some ways, Luke is giving us highlights of how the Gospel spread from Jerusalem into Gentile lands, even to Rome, the seat of the empire.  However, at times, Luke does what he does here.  He moves in with a microscope and gives us the notes version of sermons preached by the apostle Peter and the apostle Paul, as well as others (deacon Stephen being one in particular). 

In any address, you are aware of your audience and speak accordingly.  This would be mainly Jewish people, as well as some Gentile God-fearers.  They would be aware of Jewish history, the theology of God, etc.  Thus, Paul quickly runs through things that he would not be able to do if he was speaking to Greek philosophers on Mar's Hill in Athens.

He starts with a basic reminder of Israel's history.  Yet, he emphasizes some important things.  They became a nation when God chose them and exalted them out of a low position in Egypt.  He brought them out of Egypt with an uplifted arm.  The arm of the Lord, as well as the hand of the Lord, is an Old Testament picture that represents God powerfully stepping in and helping you in a time of need.  It connotes acts of power, miracles, and signs and wonders, as well as the closeness of God.  Of course, the New Testament reveals that Jesus is, and has always been, the Hand of God and the Arm of the Lord.

They then spent 40 years in the wilderness.  Paul deftly says that God "put up with their ways."  This is a reminder that, even at their beginning, God extended mercy to them over the top of their resistance, and even rebellion.

God was faithful to bring them to Canaan and give them victory over the seven nation that were there.  They were then given an inheritance in the land.  It is always good in the midst of blessing to remind ourselves that the mercy of God has brought you into it all along the way.  I do not deserve even one of His blessings.  I have come to it by His grace all along the way.

In verses 20 through 23, Paul reminds them of how their governance changed after this.  For the first 450 years, they essentially had a tribal-clan structure.  However, they kept turning to idolatry, and God's judgment would be to let their enemies dominate them, enslave them to a degree.  They would invariably start crying out to God for help.  This brought about the idea of the judges.  The word for judge emphasized that they would give the decision of Lord.  However, as you read the book of Judges, you see that the primary requirement to being a Judge over Israel was to first have been empowered by God's Spirit to help deliver, or save, Israel from their enemies.  The victory over their overlords was proof that God was with a person, and then they would serve as a Spirit-empowered judge over Israel.  This was not a monarchy, and so when the Judge died, the people would without fail end back up in bondage, cry out, and receive another Deliverer who would then judge them for a season.  This went on for 450 years.

At this point, they wanted a king and so God gave them Saul son of Kish.  Their desire for a king was not for noble reason.  They wanted a king because the nations around them had kings.  This was clearly not the reason they continued to be enslaved.  Notice that there is a sense of the rebellion of Israel in both of these governing styles.  Judges 17:6 says, "In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."  In 1 Samuel 8, God tells Samuel that their desire of a king was a rejection of Him. He was not pleased, but gave them their request because He could use it for His purposes.

Saul was a monarch that satisfied their flesh (head and shoulders above the rest).  He was great in the flesh, but weak and small in the spirit.  Paul nicely states that God "removed" Saul and raised up David because David would do His will.  The Messianic promise is given to David who is the perfect man after God's heart who does His perfect will (even better than David).  This Messiah would first deliver, save, Israel and then He would proven the right to Judge Israel.  In fact, Jesus is the Savior and Judge of all the earth and the heavens.  He is the ultimate King.

In verses 24 to25, Paul reminds them of the ministry of John the Baptist.  He emphasizes the testimony of John that Messiah would follow Him.  He preached repentance in preparation of the coming of Messiah.  Thus, Israel should expect Messiah to have shown up by now.

In verses 26 to 29, Paul emphasizes that God has sent them with the Word of Salvation for the people of this synagogue.  He is declaring that the promised Savior has come and that word of this salvation has come to them through Barnabas and him.

Of course, this good news begins with bad news.  The people and rulers of Israel did not recognize the Savior, nor did they understand the message of the prophets that they read every Sabbath.  Because they did not know God and His Word like they should have, they executed the Savior even though they could nothing wrong with him.

We should note that Paul is not pointing the finger at the Jewish people.  He was one of them!  He had rebelled resisted and had believers in Jesus put to death.  This is what we all are without God's help.

Yet, even this execution of Messiah was a fulfillment of all that the prophets foretold concerning Messiah.
It is very important for us to be a people of the Word of God, but it is even more important to know the word along with the Spirit of God.  If we let Church be a matter of the flesh, and not relationship, then we will only follow the same path.  We have to guard our hearts and watch ourselves through prayer.

Even when God is undeniably working through a man, as He did with Jesus, we are able to deny the undeniable.  They did this in the wilderness when they resisted Moses who had clearly proven that God was with Him.  Yes, and, many are doing the same today.

Some may go the other direction.  They may discount the word of God as the moldy word of God, and continually seek a new word from God.  The written word of God keeps us anchored in the true Spirit of God, but it cannot take His place.  If we study the word in exclusion to relationship with the Spirit of God, then we only create an idol.  However, if we neglect the word, then we easily fall prey to the many deceiving spirits out there.

How can I know that I am hearing the Holy Spirit?  You focus on being a person of the Bible, but also a person of prayer seeking God's help to understand. 

Finally, in verses 30 to 33, Paul speaks about the resurrection.  "But God raised Him from the dead!"  Hallelujah.  I praise God that He often overrules the choices and decisions of people to fight His purpose.  He will not control your choice, but neither can you control His choices.  Hallelujah!  If Israel had their way, they would have never entered the promise land.  Yet, God in His mercy took them back out into the desert for 40 years, until a whole generation of unbelievers died.  Then, He led their kids back to the promise land.  "Do you want to go in this time?  Yes, sir!  I'm tired of living out in this desert!" 

May God help us to grow weary of living in the wilderness.  The sooner we die to things of the flesh, and turn to God's Holy Spirit for help, the sooner we will be able to move beyond desert times in our lives (not that they are all bad).

Paul emphasizes the many witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, and Paul and Barnabas are in Pisidian Antioch as witnesses of these things.  God had fulfilled His promise to the fathers of Israel, and thus, to them.

We will pause here on Paul's sermon.

We mentioned how John Mark turned back at a point far from home.  Yet, Paul is a man who is far from home as well.  Yet, he stands faithfully with the Lord Jesus Christ.  When we go in the name of Jesus, he is always with us.  And, if he is with us, then we are never far from home.  It is a matter of your mind.  Far from home is relative.  To some, going to another State is no big deal.  Whereas, to others, going across the street may be very intimidating.

God has a work for us that, in some ways, takes us away from our homes.  Going out from the place of comfort, a place blessed by God, is uncomfortable, but His blessing goes with us wherever we minister.  May God help us to hold on to that sense, "Jesus is with me!"  You don't have to fear, or at least, you don't have to fear for very long.  Who knows what we are going to run into.  Maybe, we will run into a sorcerer who is foaming at the mouth in jealousy.  Whatever it is, God is with us, and we don't have to be afraid.  We can be courageous, bold, and filled with faith because we are filled with His Holy Spirit.

Far from Home audio

The Acts of the Apostles 52

Subtitle: The Gospel Spreads from Antioch

We apologize that the audio for this sermon is not available.

Acts 13:1-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 20, 2023.

As we share the Gospel with people, we will have a variety of responses.  Some will be disinterested.  Others will show interest and may or may not believe.  However, some will not be content to ignore believers.  They may actively work against the Gospel, or even persecute us.

Of course, we cannot control how people are going to respond, and we shouldn't want to do so. Yet, we can make sure that we are a person that is filled with the Holy Spirit and led by God in sharing the Gospel.  This takes time spent in prayer, fasting and seeking God for direction.

Let's look at our passage.

Consecrated to the Lord's ministry (v. 1-4a)

Verse 2 states that there are a group of prophet-teachers who "ministered" unto the Lord at a particular time in Antioch.  The word "ministered" here is also used of priests who serve in the temple.  It can basically point to the things that we do in order to serve the purposes of Jesus.  However, this is more specific than all of the things they could be doing like preaching, and witnessing.  It appears that they are intentionally gathered in prayer and worship of God, perhaps seeking His will regarding something.

The five men who are listed here would not be all of those in Antioch who were prophet-teachers, but they may have represented the ones that were considered the most mature in the Lord.

The Apostle Barnabas is listed first.  When he was first introduced in Acts 4:36, we saw that he was originally from the Island of Cyprus. 

Then, we have Simeon called "Niger."  Niger is Latin for the word black.  It seems most likely that he is of African descent.  Some connect this Simeon with the Simon from Cyrene who was forced to help carry the cross of Jesus (Matthew 27:32).  The name is the same, just a different spelling. 

The third man listed is Lucius of Cyrene.  Nothing else is said of him. 

Fourthly, we have a man named Manaen who was raised with Herod the Tetrarch.  Herod the Tetrarch was the one who married his half-brother's wife, which was condemned by John the Baptist.  He eventually had John's head cut-off to satisfy the anger of his wife.  He also is the Herod that Pilate sent Jesus to during his interrogation of him. 

I would just insert that there is a world of difference between these men who were raised as boys together.  One was an immoral ruler who executed a righteous prophet, and the other (Manaen) is a Jew who has put his faith in Jesus, is filled with the Holy Spirit and is used as a prophet-teacher within the church of Antioch.  You never know where people's choices will take them, whether because of their raising, or regardless of it.

Lastly, Saul of Tarsus is listed.  I believe Luke has listed him last on purpose because this chapter is a pivotal point  in the book of Acts.  From here on, we will see Saul become known as Paul, and the emphasis will become more and more about what God did through the Apostle Paul.

This is quite a list of men who were in the church at Antioch.  God will always be faithful to bring to a church others bearing gifts from Him to help them grow spiritually and in numbers.  Yet, these men grew in the Lord somewhere.  Thus, many in Antioch, who benefitted from the Lord's Spirit in these men, would also be gifted by God to serve His Church.

It is not clear if only these five are praying, or if they are meeting as a church.  Regardless, they are praying, fasting, and seeking God.  In this environment, a word from the Holy Spirit is given.  It is not said who shares this word, but I would guess it is not Barnabas and Saul, since the word is about them.

The Holy Spirit mentions that God is calling Barnabas and Saul to a particular work.  We do know that Saul was told at his conversion that he would "bear My Name[Jesus]" before kings, gentiles, and the children of Israel.  In short, they will become apostolic missionaries.

You will not find the word "missionaries" in the New Testament, but you do find the word mission.  For our purposes, I would describe a missionary as someone who purposefully goes into other cultural areas in order to start and to establish new groups of believers in Jesus.

Of course, we are all called to share the Gospel with others, but the Church had not developed the mentality, at that point, of purposefully going into new areas in order to start churches.   It is the Holy Spirit, God Himself, that stirs up this concept within the church at Antioch.  Whether you are called to share the Gospel generally wherever you are, or God specifically calls you to go to certain places, we should remember that everything we do is to be unto the Lord, for Him.  We should all be filled with God's Spirit and being a witness of Jesus to the world around us.  This should be a matter of prayer for all of us.

The Spirit tells the group to "separate" Barnabas and Saul for the work.  God had a holy work for them that was unique compared to the rest of the group.  Thus, they were to be set apart, consecrated, for this particular work.  All of us have a holy calling on our life as servants of the Lord.  Yet, God has a specific calling upon these two that is going to take them out of the group and into the Gentile lands beyond.  Thus, we do see a distinction in the New Testament between those who lived holy lives and witnessed to the world around them where they were at, and those whom God sent on the road in order to expand the extent of those who had heard about Jesus.

Those who are staying put are to help in the sending of those who are going out.  In a sense, this church in Antioch would be giving them to the work of the Lord.  This is a spiritual sacrifice, but also a spiritual offering.  Thus, the calling of people to ministry has a personal aspect to it, and yet, it also has a group aspect to it.  Churches need to hear from the Spirit and come alongside those that the Spirit is calling into missions, whether to cultural groups within America, or around the world.  This is primarily spiritual.  We pray for them; we fast for them, and we even lay hands upon them as we pray.  This pictures the church participating in the commissioning of these men.  Yet, it is also material.  They will need supplies, and funds to be on the road.  The calling is of God, but it is fulfilled by Barnabas, Saul, and the Antioch church stepping forth and exercising their faith in the leadership of Jesus.

The Gospel goes to the island of Cyprus (v. 4-12)

After praying for Barnabas and Saul, they help to see them off on this missionary journey.  It will become the first official missionary journey, and is often called Paul's First Missionary Journey.  You may want to pull up a map.  Antioch is 20 miles inland on a river, so they travel down to the Mediterranean Sea to a town called Seleucia.  From there, they sail to Cyprus, landing at a coastal town called Salamis.  These men contain a precious message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it has now reached Cyprus.

Why did they go to Cyprus?  It was close, that is for sure, but so were other places.  Barnabas is from Cyprus, and so he may have wanted to share with his homeland.  Regardless, Luke depicts throughout the book of the Acts of the Apostles that the Holy Spirit is really the one who is leading this spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  How we need people who are responding to the leadership of the Holy Spirit rather than worrying about who is the leader and who gets to make the decisions about what is done.

Verse 5 tells us that they go to the synagogues of Salamis and preach to the Jews there.  This becomes the pattern of Barnabas and Saul.  Wherever they go, they make sure the Jews have heard the Gospel first.  This is not about prejudice and racism.  Rather, it has to do with the fact that they were the most interested in the coming of Messiah.  The Gentiles had been cast off, and God had created Israel to be His witnesses to the nations.  Thus, the Jews, who knew the Word of God (but not Messiah), would be given the knowledge that Messiah had come, and was not calling them to take the Gospel of Messiah to the Gentiles.  Paul refers to this in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

We might also note that some synagogues had God-fearing gentiles who were connected to them.  Thus, this is a wise place to start.  They would simply look for believers in Yahweh in an area and then work from there.

The wording in the beginning of verse 6 can be interpreted to mean that they traveled across the island in order to reach the town of Paphos.  However, it can also mean that they traveled around the whole island preaching in the synagogues and telling people about Jesus.  Eventually, they made it to the other side of the island at the administrative headquarters for the island, Paphos.  I think this is the most likely.  Luke doesn't get into the specifics of the response in these towns.  Rather, he wants to hone in on a particular confrontation that happens in Paphos.  Acts is a book of the highlights of the highlights, if you will.  The focus moves quickly to this one place.

It is in Paphos that Barnabas and Saul run into a Jewish false-prophet who also practices sorcery named Bar-Jesus.  This is a patronym, with the name of Elymas being given later.  Of course, his name is quite ironic.  Barnabas and Saul are spiritual sons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Elymas is really a son of the devil.  But, more on that in a bit.

The word used for sorcery here is the same that was used with Simon of Samaria in Acts 8:9.  It is not the "pharmakeia" term of the book of Revelation.  That word focuses on potions that the occultist would create to do their dark arts.  This is the word that refers to the knowledge and rituals that an occultist would do in order to obtain information from the spirits, which we know to be evil spirits.  Thus, this Jewish man is a complete apostate to the Jewish faith, much less someone who will be interested in the fact that Messiah has come. 

He has used his occult arts to weasel his way into the confidence of the proconsul of Cyprus, an administrative position given by Rome.  His name is Sergius Paulus.  Though Sergius Paulus is an intelligent man, he still doesn't know any better than to have an occultist as one of his advisors.  This is the intelligence of a natural man who is willing to get help from any source as long as it "works."

Sergius has clearly heard about these new comers to Cyprus.  He sends for Barnabas and Saul to explain what they are doing probably for two reasons.  As the proconsul, he needs to keep a close eye on anyone going around the island teaching anything new.  He cannot afford for any uprising to jeopardize his position.  Yet, he does seem to be personally interested in hearing what they have to say.

Luke tells us that Elymas "withstood" them in order to keep Sergius from believing.  You had better believe that those spirits Elymas consulted did not like Saul and Barnabas being there.  However, Elymas recognizes a threat to his gravy train as well.  He continues to argue against what Barnabas and Saul state.  This reminds me of 2 Timothy 3:8 where it tells us, "Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these [speaking of false-teachers] also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;..."

Whether Sergius understood it or not, a spiritual battle for his soul was taking place in front of him.  At this point Saul, full of the Holy Spirit, rebukes Elymas.  Notice the wording used.  Elymas was a man full of deceit and fraud.  Though some are able to connect with real spirits through the occult arts, these spirits themselves are deceitful and frauds.  The Bible warns against turning to any spirit, but the Spirit of God, for advice or power.  Those who follow deceitful spirits have already deceived themselves and so become frauds and deceits to all they connect with.  Elymas is clearly leaching off of the power and position of Sergius Paulus.  He is enriching himself through a deceitful practice.

He is also called a son of the devil.  Elymas knows that he is rejecting the One True God of Israel, Yahweh.  His is following his true spiritual father, the devil.  He is also called an enemy of all righteousness.  What Saul and Barnabas are doing is the essence of righteousness.  They are ambassadors of God's Anointed Savior of the world.  They come bearing peace terms for every man, woman, boy and girl in the world from the God of heaven.  Elymas is trying to protect his gig.

Saul also calls him out for perverting the straight ways of the Lord.  Perhaps, Elymas had used his knowledge of the Scriptures to speak against what Saul and Barnabas said.  Of course, he was twisting those Scriptures to say what he wanted, just like the devil did with Christ in the wilderness temptations.

At this point, Saul tells Elymas that he will be blind for a time.  Immediately, a darkness came upon Elymas and he could not see.  I don't believe that Saul just made this up.  I think the Spirit of God reminded Saul of how he too had resisted the Gospel, and God had struck him blind temporarily.  It is not likely that this occultist who has rejected the Scriptures would now believe in Jesus, but it would be the grace of God regardless.  He is not struck dead.  Instead, he is only temporarily blinded.  I doubt that he ever showed his face again in the proconsul's presence.

This act of God's power completely convinces Sergius.  He becomes a believer in this Jesus that they talked about.  Yet, he is astonished at the teaching of the Lord as well.

Luke does not mention how long they stay, or how many become believers, but the favor of the proconsul would go a long way to helping the Gospel put down roots in Cyprus.  Today, Cyprus is about 75% Christian with most being Greek Orthodox.

We will have to deal with all kinds of people in sharing the Gospel.  Such spectacular displays of power by God are usually seen when the Gospel goes into new areas.  They don't always continue because spectacular displays of power do not make great believers, as is witnessed by the generation that was brought out of Egypt by the Lord Jesus and Moses.  Saul's response isn't the normal in Acts or throughout history.  Yet, he was led by the Holy Spirit.

This is what is important for us today.  We can be too focused on praying for God to reduplicate certain powerful works of the past.  Let us pray for healings, for awakenings, and works of power.  However, let us have an ear that is tuned to hearing the Holy Spirit and being led by Him.  This will enable us to be faithful to the Lord Jesus in our generation.  Let's serve the Lord by sharing the Gospel, regardless of how people respond.  May God fill us with boldness to share the truth in the face of those who resist and stand against the Gospel of the Lord Jesus!

The Acts of the Apostles 51

Subtitle: Struck Down by God

Acts 12:20-25.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 13, 2023.

We are going to talk about the judgment of God today.  Judgment is not only about negative things.  It essentially speaks of a decision.  In a courtroom setting, a judge, or jury, will render a decision regarding what actually happened, and what will set it right.  Biblically speaking, we are to give the decision of God, Who is perfect righteousness and not a respecter of people.  He is not swayed by the rich and the powerful, but neither does He automatically give all decisions to poor people.  He renders a decision of truth and righteousness. 

Of course, not all judgments are between two parties.  God makes decisions regarding each of us as individuals.  He works in our lives to offer us a love of the truth.  Our decisions in response to His decisions will bring forth His next decision.

God's decisions can also differ in their permanence.  Some are quick and permanent such as Herod Agrippa's death in our passage today.  Other decisions are slower and less permanent, leaving greater room for repentance (God trying to get my attention), but in the end, they all lead to a permanent and final decision from God, one way or another.

Some struggle with cases where it seems that God allows evil to continue without judgment, and others struggle with situations in which it seems that God does not protect the righteous.  You may have noticed that I used the word "seems" in those sentences.  We don't know all of God's decisions, nor all of what God is doing.  Yet, we can be confident, as the Word of God reveals, that it is God's decision to work for the good of those who love Him and believe on Jesus, and that it is His decision to work for the destruction of those who refuse His mercy.

Only God is able to make decisions that affect the whole sea of humanity in a righteous way.  He deals with us as individuals, but He also deals with us as a part of a group (even many different groups).  Even with Artificial Intelligence, we will not be able to duplicate the wisdom of God.  So, let's not even try to build an AI god that we can bow down to in worship and receive decisions for all of humanity.  What do you think?  Is that a good plan as we go forward?  I think so.

We have already tried artificial gods.  What is the devil and his cohorts, but artificial gods, pretend gods.

In the end, the wicked will not go unpunished, and the righteous will receive the reward of God Himself.  Twice in Isaiah, as he comforts Israel with God's planned mercy, they are warned that there is no peace for the wicked.  In other words, it doesn't matter whether you are in Israel or the Church.  God will not give His peace to the wicked.  So, those who build wicked empires under the umbrella of either cannot claim the promises of God for mercy.  If they want those, they will need to repent of their wickedness and follow Jesus.  To the wicked, God will give no peace, but to the righteous, the repentant, He has peace like a river!

Let's look at our passage.

Herod Agrippa steps over the line (v. 20-23)

If you are trying to figure out where "the line" is, whether as a kid with your parents, an employee with a boss, or a person with God, we can always find the line by continuing to push forward.  You will find the line, but it will be after you have crossed it, after it is too late to help you (at least in that moment).  The repercussions of finding the line of God's grace are devastating, destructive, and often permanent.

Herod Agrippa I came on the scene of Israel relatively quickly from a standpoint of ruling.  Between 38 and 41 AD, he went from ruling over a small area around a city near Damascus to ruling over all of the territories that had been known as Israel.  Since the death of Herod the Great circa 1 BC, Israel had been broken up into at least four different kingdoms, sometimes ruled by Herod's offspring, and sometimes ruled by Roman appointed governors.  Thus, it had been 40 plus years since there was one king over all of Israel.

This caused many of the people to think that God was restoring the kingdom to them.  It helped that Herod Agrippa was very favorable towards the temple, its priests, the annual feasts, and he even would read The Law of Moses (Torah) during the feasts. It also helped that he had begun to deal with the apostles of Jesus.  This would make him a "Defender of the Faith." 

The Christians knew that they were mistaken.  God was not yet restoring the Kingdom.  The leaders of Israel would have to repent and believe on Jesus before "Times of Refreshing" could come from the Lord.

In his arrogance, Herod steps over the line and God removes him quickly (i.e., within three years, so much for the restored kingdom and the Defender of the Faith).  Israel would never again have a king ruling over all Israel.

Our story starts out by mentioning a tiff between Herod and the people of Tyre and Sidon, two cities north of Israel on the coast in what we would call Lebanon today.  We are not told why Agrippa is angry with them.  However, it affects their ability to obtain food, which mainly came from areas within Israel at that time.  Herod had clearly cut them off, and the city leaders are trying to get back into Herod's good graces so that they can have food again.  The first century Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Agrippa had been holding games in honor of Caesar.  During this time, the leaders of Tyre and Sidon talk Blastus, a personal aid to Herod, into helping them get back into his graces.  They put on a festival to celebrate people who are taking vows for the sake of Herod Agrippa's safety (how ironic).

We should notice that we keep running into people trying to curry favor with a higher power: Herod with Caesar, the leaders of Tyre and Sidon with Herod, and later we will see that there are also flatterers of Herod involved.   In this case, the festival is doing something religious to curry favor with a man.  This is a terrible motivation that would never be acceptable to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells us that those who swear before God, making oaths to Him, should not do that at all.  Rather, we should simply let our "‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’"  Vows fit in this category of oaths that people make before God.  Yet, we should note that we cannot control how God blesses.  You should be very wary of the idea of vowing to refrain from something or to do something, while asking God to honor it by giving another person safety.  Yes, we can pray for people, but that is far different than making public vows for the safety of a powerful figure.  There was nothing honorable or godly about what they are doing.

We should do what we can to glorify and to honor God, and how He blesses will be up to Him.  Some groups do this with the concept of indulgences.  They teach that you can give money or do certain acts that will help a loved one be released from "purgatory" sooner.    There are other groups that do the same thing with baptisms.  You can be baptized on behalf of someone who died long ago as an unbeliever.  God doesn't work that way.  We can pray and minister to people while they are alive, but once they have died there is nothing more we can do for them.

So, when you pray for people, you are asking God for grace in their life.  You may even be quite specific about the way in which you want God to help them.  Yet, we are always praying that God's will be done.  It is up to Him in the end.  We can't control it, or manipulate it by great spiritual feats of fasting etc.

In this case, the people of Tyre and Sidon are Gentile pagans.  They do not understand the way of the God of Israel, and their religious vows are before pagan deities.  Do they really care about Herod's safety?  They do so only so much as it turns into food for their cities.

Luke tells us that Agrippa addressed the people from his throne in his royal apparel.  His speech affects the people so much that they keep shouting out that this is the voice of a god and not a man.

We have some extra details from Josephus in his Antiquities.  Apparently, the robe of Herod was made entirely of silver in some kind of textured weave.  As he sat on his throne and addressed them, the morning light shown through to where he sat and shimmered of this silver clothing.  The crowd was actually put off by the display in shock at what they were seeing, almost horrified.  However, some flatterers of Herod began shouting out that he was more than a man.  Crowds can be easy to manipulate if you move at just the right time.  A couple of shouts here and there can get the pausing crowd to join in.  So, the crowd comes out of its shock and joins in declaring Herod a god.  Besides, won't he surely be pleased enough to give us food now?

Herod was clearly a master at the art of "shock and awe."  You flash your great power to intimidate the people.  "Look what I am driving."  "Look how much my suit costs."  "Look how many people are in my entourage."  "Look how hard it would be to get near me without dying."

The flash of power is an age-old technique that is used when the powerful are on the road, or when you come into their domain.  They always have opulent, impressive palaces.  This even happens in the United States of America.  We may not have kings and nobles, but we do have impressive palaces in the capitol cities of our States, and several palaces in Washington D.C.  These granite, domed tributes to power say to everyone who comes near, you are tiny people and we are amazing demi-gods.  Of course, they have these palaces at the expense of the people.

People currying favor from those flashing great power has always been a problem. Christians should be immune to this because of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.  However, we have many of our own religious palaces throughout the world, and many Christians are stuck in systems of currying favor with the powerful.  May God help us to wake up and repent!

We are told that Agrippa is "immediately" "struck" by an angel of the Lord.  It doesn't appear that the angel manifests, but rather operates from the spirit realm.  Josephus basically agrees with this.  He tells us that powerful stomach pains come upon Agrippa and he is taken from the place.  Over the course of the next five days, he endures torturous pains and finally dies.  This may seem to contradict Luke, but it doesn't actually.  Luke says that he is immediately struck by the angel, but then "he was eaten by worms and died."  Notice that being eaten by worms does not happen in a moment.  It is a process.  This is not a true contradiction, only further information.

We are also told that this happens because Herod did not give glory to God.  If everyone who didn't give glory to God had this happen, there would not be very many people on this planet.  This is a particular decision of the Lord.  We really need to be humble as we analyze and talk about the decisions of God.  You will never build a decision grid that help you know exactly what God will choose.  Some who appear to do worse things than Herod are not immediately struck, and others who appear to do less may be struck.  We can become stuck in the quagmire of trying to figure out the why and why not of God.  In this area, we simply need to trust Him and have a healthy Fear of the Lord in His ability to judge.

Now there are two problems here.  The willingness of powerful people to accept the adulations of the desperate people, and the willingness of people to idolize those in power.  There is very little looking to God, and very much looking to powerful people in our Republic.  Who should we blame more?  In Herod's case, he probably has more blame because of his knowledge of the Scriptures of God.  The people of Tyre and Sidon in general are not aware.  What about our Republic?  Are those in power more to blame or are we the people more to blame?  I would say that we are equally guilty because of the witness of God's Word throughout our States.

Give honor to whom honor is due, but there is a line between properly honoring people and giving them honor that should only be given to God.  I know; I know.  No one is bowing down and genuflecting to these people yet.  But, God knows our hearts.  There are far more people giving far more lip service to God than you may realize.  Our true devotion often goes to powerful people, even in the Church.  We must stop looking to governmental servants as if they are the gods that we must appease in order to obtain their good graces.  Rather, we must put our trust in God.

Jesus warned us in Luke 6:26, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."  We need to be far more careful in our activity, whether as a person in authority, or people who are under that authority.

God is able to judge quickly, but even the long-lived are judged.  Don't be deceived.  God is not mocked.  In innumerable ways, there were decisions in the life of the long-lived, wicked person.  You may never have seen them, but they were there.  They then stand before Jesus.  He isn't impressed with all that they were.  God did make a decision, and it is a warning to us all.  Don't think that because you live long that God is saying that you are okay.  In fact, not everyone who dies young does so because God is judging them as wicked.  Sometimes the righteous are removed early in life to spare them from wicked things that are coming.

So, how do I know that I am good with Jesus?  You get on your face before Him and you pray through until His Spirit gives you the confidence that you have truly repented.  You know because you are in a day to day relationship with Him through the Spirit of God.

The Church continues in ministry (v. 24-25)

Well, so much for the restored kingdom, at least in those days.  We know that the kingdom of Israel will be restored at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  He will sit on his father David's throne ruling over Israel and the earth.

Luke now turns from such a gruesome scene to God's work among the believers, a much more wholesome affair.

We are told that the Word of God grew and multiplied, even as the words of Herod Agrippa came to an end.  God's Word is powerful because it comes from Him.  It is the power of God for salvation to those who believe its testimony about Jesus.

Yet, the Word of God does not spread itself.  God calls all believers to be part of His Gospel spreading work.  There are still a few people out there who need to hear God's Words of Life.  We must look for every opportunity to share.  As we do so, some will believe and be saved.  Where the word grows, the Church grows.  However, where the Word dies on the vine, the Church shrivels in true, spiritual power.

The problem is that we can't just take a Bible and memorize all the words to get spiritual power.  Paul said that, "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."  The words of the Bible were given by the Spirit of God.  They are spiritual words, and natural-minded people cannot perceive them properly.

We must never lose sight of this.  These are not just the words of men talking about natural things.

This is part of the problem in Christian academia.  We treat the Bible like it is just the words of men.  Yes, they give lip-service to God's involvement.  Yet, in so many ways, they give the greatest weight to the human element behind it.

I have seen this in Christian groups that wrestle with how to get our Republic back on track politically.  You can be talking about Jesus and someone will complain about it.  "Why are we talking about Jesus?"  Of course, the right answer is that we will not get this Republic back on track by ignoring him.  Yet, they will inevitably say something like this.  "I'm a Christian too, but what we really need to do is get more money in the hands of this political group and vote in more Christians into this office or that."  These are the times that try men's souls, and no amount of claiming you are a Christian can make you think like someone whose faith and hope is in Jesus!

It is good to notice that Luke breaks up the delivering of relief funds to Jerusalem by Barnabas and Saul with the activity of Herod.  At the end of chapter 11, the money is gathered and sent.  At the end of chapter 12, we are told that Barnabas and Saul finish their ministry and return to Antioch with John Mark.   In other words, all the while Herod is doing his thing, the Church is still doing its thing.  They didn't wait for Herod to be removed and then ministered.  The Church keeps marching forward with Jesus.

How many powerful men have tried to stop the Church, Jesus, and the Bible.  They are dead now and buried in the dirt.  But, the Church of Christ marches on.  It doesn't stop.  Their attempts always fail whether they are eaten by worms or not.

Lest we be too proud, let us remember that there is no peace for the wicked.  Regardless of Christ's promises to the Church (I will never leave you; the gates of hell will not prevail against it), if you have a wicked kingdom built up in the Church or in a church, beware!  It will not work.  God will eventually bring judgment down upon your wicked kingdom and destroy it, while the true Church of God marches on.  The Church of the Spirit of God, and not the Church of the flesh, of the letter, of the tradition and trappings of the flesh, will triumph in the end.  There is no peace for the rest.

Let go of all that stuff that you are clinging to saying, "My great name...my great heritage...my great family name..."  If you can get your family name on the altar and let it burn down to ashes to the glory of God, then you be ready to move forward with God.  This doesn't mean that God wants to take your family name away.  It just means that we too easily become too stuck in things.  We become too proud of things in the natural.  We lose sight that it has always been by the Spirit and not by a family name, or even a national name.

So, Barnabas and Saul finished their ministry.  This was definitely a compassionate ministry to the physical need of the Jerusalem Church.  Yet, I am sure they also spiritually ministered to them by telling testimonies of what God was doing among the Gentiles in Antioch.  Physical ministry and spiritual ministry go hand in hand.  We should not ignore physical ministry because the spiritual is more important. 

There is a history in the United States where some people grew indignant that Christians would feed people, but expect them to hear a sermon to receive the food.  Some churches even began to think it was a sign of high morality to feed people and no longer share the gospel.  They would only share the gospel if a person asked them to do so.  Do you know who has that policy today?  Communist China does.  You will get in trouble if you share the Gospel with people unasked.  We may look down on the communists, but some people in the Church of America have had the same policy for nearly a century.

Of course, when would you ever have to choose between sharing the gospel and giving people food.  We should do both.

Believers must keep their eyes upon Jesus and the work that He has given us to do.  If we are always looking at the wicked, questioning why God doesn't deal with them immediately, then we will be sidetracked and weak.

I believe that the prayer in Acts 4 is quite instructive here.  After their release from jail and being threatened by the Sanhedrin, they prayed, "Lord, look on their threats, and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."  They weren't praying for worms to eat the intestines of their tormenters.  They were praying for boldness and the attendant power of God to minister in the face of those threats.  May God help His Church today to quit worrying about the wicked and start praying for boldness to minister in the face of the wicked for His glory, and His glory alone!

Struck Down God audio

The Acts of the Apostles 50

Subtitle: The Fallout of God's Help

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.

The believers are astonished (v. 12-17)

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.

The wicked are frustrated (v. 18-19)

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!

God's Help audio