Sermon Tone Analysis

They jump out of a helicopter into the middle of the ocean.

They plunge down into the water and come up again and they are immediately assaulted with mountains of water crashing down on them, 80-90 mph winds blowing rain and seawater so violently around them that it’s hard to tell whether they’re under the water or on the surface.

Their bodies are so fit that they’re able to swim over 40, 50, maybe even 60-foot waves.

They make their way over to shipwrecked human beings who are frozen and terrified, put them in a metal basket, and travel back with them up into the helicopter.

And they do it again and again, for as many people as are in the water needing rescue.

Of course, I’m talking about swimmers.

I really admire the guys who are professional swimmers for the Navy or the Coast Guard.

I admire their courage, their strength, their profound sense of duty that drives them to rescue people in distress even if it costs them their own life.

I would say that’s my hero profession.

What are some of your hero professions?

EMS? Firefighters?

Law-enforcement?

Doctors and nurses?

Notice what all of those professions have in common - they are life-saving professions.

They are men and women who are called and trained to come to our rescue, even if doing so means they wind needing rescue themselves.

We serve a rescuing God.

And we are made in His image.

We have the instinct to rescue others.

And we profoundly appreciate those people who are in the business of rescuing.

This morning in our text we’re going to see the God of Rescue come to the aid of Peter, rescuing him from the authorities in Jerusalem.

God is a God who rescues His people.

And sometimes the God of rescue…doesn’t rescue.

We’ll see how we should think about God’s rescue — and the times when, for reasons known only to Him, He doesn’t.

#1: When God Rescues: Peter

We’re going to approach this kind of like a movie that starts out ahead in time from the beginning.

You know those movies, or TV shows?

The ones that start out with some scene that we can’t fully understand until the movie or show takes us back in time to what happened before that?

That’s kind of what we’re going to do here.

Even though James is not rescued first, let’s look first at how Peter is rescued, and then come back to James.

Peter’s rescue is the stuff that movies are made out of.

King Herod — not the King Herod from the birth stories of Jesus — not Herod the Great — this is his grandson, Herod Agrippa I.

This King Herod unleashes all hell upon the church in Jerusalem.

Listen to how Luke describes it, the image he uses in verse 1: “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.”

We know that part of that group was James, the brother of John.

He killed James with the sword, Luke says, which probably means James’ head was cut off - how’s that for a pleasant Sunday morning picture?

The Jews were really happy with this, Luke says.

Most likely he means the Jewish leaders, the member of the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was like the Supreme Court of the Jewish people under Roman captivity.

Historical documents outside of the Bible tell us that Herod Agrippa I really tried hard to win the favor of the Jews.

The Jews were happy that James was killed, James was a major player in the church leadership there in Jerusalem.

And Herod said, “Well, killing James was politically expedient for me; why don’t I go ahead and take out Peter too?

Guards, go ahead and arrest Peter and put him in prison and when the time is right, we’ll do to Peter what we did to James.”

We’ll come back to James, though.

Look with me at what happens to Peter.

Peter is arrested, verse 6, and he’s put in prison.

And just look at the security measures the soldiers take to keep Peter in check: Herod assigns 16 soldiers, four squads of soldiers, to manage Peter.

They bind him in chains, put him in prison.

They place two soldiers on either side of him.

They place soldiers at the door, too, to guard Peter.

And Peter?

What is Peter doing as these bulky reminders of Roman power and brutality are placed on either side of him and in front of him by the door?

Peter is sleeping.

Could you sleep?

Kind of reminds me of when Jesus and the disciples were in a boat that was being overwhelmed by the storm on the sea.

They’re terrified and afraid for their lives; and Jesus?

What is Jesus doing?

He’s sleeping.

Complete trust.

Could you sleep?

Could I sleep?

Is Peter sleeping because he knows the Lord will rescue him?

Maybe.

Probably not.

Is he sleeping because people are praying for him?

Look at verse 5 and underline it because it is extremely important: “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”

What is intercessory prayer?

Praying for someone’s specific needs, usually urgent, on their behalf

Going before God in prayer for them and on their behalf

This is what we call intercessory prayer.

To intercede for someone is to pray for them on their behalf.

Moses prayed for the Israelites on their behalf.

Job prayed for his friends on their behalf.

Jesus prayed for Peter on his behalf and He brings us in prayer before God’s throne.

So Peter: He’s sleeping because he probably trusts that all will be well with Him, rescue or no rescue, because Jesus loves Him and is with Him.

But could it also be that he’s sleeping because the church is praying for him — for his deliverance and for peace?

We aren’t promised rescue every time.

We are promised that it will be well with us, rescue or no rescue, because Jesus loves us and is with us.

In this case, Peter is rescued.

And all the security measures Herod imposes on Peter in prison prove not only unnecessary but completely ineffective.

Verse 7 says that while Peter is sleeping and being guarded, “behold” — meaning “look!

what do ya know, right in the nick of time, the Lord shows up” Actually an angel of the Lord shows up.

And tell me, church, if this is not one of the funniest things you’ve seen in the Bible.

Yes, the Bible has humor.

The angel shows up and Peter is about to be rescued.

What do we expect the angel to do? Sing him a wake-up song?

My mom used to sing to me, “Good morning to you, good morning to you! We’re all in our places with sunshiny faces; oh this is the way, to start a new day!”

She still sings that to my kids when they stay at her house.

A violent angel?? verse 7

“he tapped Peter” (NRSV)?

Nope!

“he poked Peter” (CEV)?

Nope!

“he smote Peter” (KJV)?

Yep!

“he struck Peter” (ESV)?

Yep!

Does the angel do that?

Does the angel bend down and move Peter’s hair out of his eyes and rub his cheek and sing to him?

Nope.

He gut punches him.