In the Dark Hour

INTRODUCTION

During World War II, the period of time from mid-1940 to mid-1941 is often referred to as “The Darkest Hour.”

This was a time when Great Britain was facing massive challenges.

England had faced relentless bombing from German raids in England

France has fallen to Nazi Germany in June of 1940, leaving England as the last major European power standing

The United States was not in the war yet, so Britain felt alone with German invasion seeming iminnent

Resources in the country were being rationed

It was during this time that Winston Churchill delivered his famous speech to Parliament in which he said,

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender...”

Winston Churchill

A movie about this period, which tested the mettle of England and Churchill was made in 2017, appropriately titled, “The Darkest Hour.”

This morning, as we open to Acts 12:1-19, we see the church facing a dark hour.

We leave the happy scene of a new mission center in Antioch and we go back to the church in Jerusalem.

And what we find there is a church under fire.

Leaders being killed or sitting on death row.

Persecution abounding from the hands of a prideful, violent puppet king.

And in it, we see what the church needs in a time like that.

We see how the church responds in the dark hour.

And we get a clue about what we will need when our own dark hour comes.

CONTEXT

The last time we were together, we saw what was in the soil of a great move of God.

We saw divinely inspired witness, godly leadership and Christian love.

We saw Antioch rising up as a mission outpost to the Gentiles.

Today, we will see the focus back on Jerusalem—the mission outpost to the Jews.

And we will see that much like Christ before them, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem are being put on trial as if they are criminals.

They are being laid to the sword and bound in chains as if they are political zealots and insurrectionists.

But this morning we will see what is needed for the church’s dark hour:

Devoted instruments.

Diligent intercession.

Divine intervention.

And we will be encouraged to see that God does not abandon His church.

Not then. Not ever.

Acts 12:1–19 ESV

About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place. Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

DEVOTED INSTRUMENTS (v. 1-4, 6, 17-19)

1. In the dark hour, devoted instruments are needed (v. 1-4, 6, 17-19).

JAMES (v. 1-2)

Chapter 12 begins with an account of the persecution of Herod Agrippa upon the early church in Jerusalem.

We were in Antioch, seeing what was happening at the newly found home base for Gentile missions last week.

This morning, we shift back to Jerusalem.

The period of peace described by Luke in Acts 9:31 has come to an end.

Just as it did in the time of Stephen’s death, persecution is kicking up again.

Luke tells us that at “about that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church” (v. 1).

This is Agrippa I.

He is the nephew of Herod Antipas, the one who executed John the Baptist and participated in the trial of Jesus.

The one that Jesus called a fox.

The Herodian dynasty rose to power in the century before the birth of Christ and it was solidified as the line of kings over Judea with Roman support about thirty years before Jesus was born.

While the Herods possessed the title “King of the Jews,” they were truly puppets on the hand of the Roman state.

And they had a track record of brutality and evil.

From Herod I the Great, who ordered the mass killing of all the boys who were two and younger in Bethlehem after the visit from the Wise men...

To Herod Antipas divorcing his wife to marry his brother’s wife, Herodias, and then imprisoning John the Baptist for speaking out about it...

To executing John the Baptist after taking a silly oath...

The Herodian Dynasty was marked with salaciousness and sin and sickening transgressions of God’s law and character.

Agrippa I is a chip off the old Herodian block—something we will see clearly over the next couple of weeks.

Herod’s violence leads to him killing James the brother of John with the sword (v. 2).

This is James, the son of Zebedee.

He was John’s brother.

And he was one of Jesus’ inner circle, along with John and Peter.

Clearly, he was an important leader to the church in Jerusalem.

The fact that he is put to death with the sword hints that he is being killed as an insurrectionist against the Roman Empire.

It hints that Herod is framing this to Rome as a justified execution because James and these Christians are a political threat to the emperor.

Regardless of the reason, this death fulfills words that Jesus spoke to James and his brother in Mark 10:36-39

Mark 10:36–39 ESV

And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,

James and John were bold, fiery fellow and they boldly ask to sit at Jesus’ right and left hand in the Kingdom.

Jesus informs them that they don’t realize what they are asking.

They do not realize that the Kingdom will be won through suffering.

And when He asks them if they can drink His cup or be baptized with His baptism—He is asking if they can endure the pain He will endure as the Suffering Servant who dies on the Cross.

James and John could never bear that divine judgment.

Only the God-Man could.

And yet, these brothers will suffer. Jesus tells them that they will indeed drink from His cup and be baptized with His baptism.

He isn’t saying they will die on a cross and bear the sins of God’s people.

Instead, He is saying that they will also obtain glory through suffering.

In the case of John, he will end up exiled on Patmos and live a life where he receives persecution due to his faith.

In the case of James, he will die by the sword—which we are seeing in Acts 12.

PETER (v. 3-4)

Verse 3 tells us that all of this is happening at Passover and that it pleased the Jews that this took place.

In light of that, Herod also arrests Peter and throws him in jail.

When verse 4 says that Peter is put in prison, he is likely in the praetorium in Herod’s palace on the West side of Jerusalem.

He is guarded by four squads of soldiers during the 7 day festival.

Verse 6 tells us how they were arranged.

He slept between two of them and two of them were guarding the door.

Each squad would have taken three hour shifts.

And make no mistake—seeing the pleasure in the people over James’ death has led Herod to arrest Peter with the intent of putting him to death.

He will be brought before the people for a trial with a predetermined outcome and then Peter will be killed just like his Christian brother, James.

This is indeed a dark hour for the church in Jerusalem, is it not?

They have already seen one of the Apostles killed unjustly.

Now their senior leader, Peter, is in chains—on death row.

This is enough to cause anyone to despair.

JAMES AND PETER ARE DEVOTED INSTRUMENTS

And yet, in this dark hour, we must recognize the sort of devoted instruments that we see in James and Peter.

First of all, in the case of James, the tradition of early church history tells us an amazing story about his death.

Clement of Alexandria, who lived only a couple of generations after the Apostles, tells us that as James was led to the execution block, he actually converted his captor.

And that man was so convinced of James’ Christian witness that he was put to death with James.

Faithful to the end.

Now I will caution and say that church history is not inspired and inerrant and infallible.

And we should not put as much stock in it as we put in Luke’s account in Acts, which is indeed the Word of God.

But nonetheless, what a tale of devotion in the dark hour.

Secondly, we have Peter in verse 6, sleeping between the two guards.

It is certainly possible that Peter is a man who is just so exhausted from the whole trial that he fell asleep against his will.

But it is also just as possible, and given what we know of Peter, more likely, that he has a peaceful tranquility in the dark hour that allows him to sleep.

It is reminiscent of Jesus napping in the boat in the midst of a storm in Matthew 8.

It displays an immense amount of trust in the God that Peter serves.

He is devoted to the Lord and in his devotion, he has come to know a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Furthermore, in verses 17-19, after Peter is delivered and he crashed the church prayer meeting at the home of John-Mark’s mother, Luke tells us that while Peter changes course in his ministry, he does not shrivel back.

Acts 12:17–19 ESV

But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place. Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Peter shifts from leading the church in Jerusalem to mimicking the itinerant ministry of Christ.

He goes on the road and Herod cannot find him.

Sadly for the squads of soldiers involved, they are put to death for allowing Peter to escape.

And Peter disappears into the mission field.

Though he stared down death in the dark hour—he is still a devoted instrument.

He is the embodiment of his own teaching in his first epistle:

1 Peter 3:14 ESV

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,

Peter fearlessly strikes out into wilderness of the world to proclaim the risen Jesus.

We will not see him again until Acts 15.

JAMES AND THE BROTHERS ARE DEVOTED INSTRUMENTS

And then there is one more group of devoted instruments in the passage that cannot be ignored.

It is James and the brothers in Jerusalem.

Obviously this is not James, the son of Zebedee.

Instead, this is James, the half-brother of Jesus—author of the epistle of James.

Verse 17 represents a transition in leadership in Jerusalem.

Peter is handing things over to James.

How easy would it have been for James and the men in leadership with him in Jerusalem to scatter? How easy would it have been for them to turn and run as well?

But they don’t.

Instead, they take the baton from Peter and continue to run their race with faithfulness.

APPLICATION

There is not a Christian in this room who reads this passage and doesn’t want to be the sort of fearless servant that James and Peter and James and the other brothers are in this passage.

No one wants to think of the dark hour and conclude:

“I am probably to much of a coward to stand strong in a situation like that.”

But if we are going to be these sorts of servants, we must have our priorities straight in the here and now.

James and Peter’s devotion did not begin in the dark hour.

It already existed in them as men who had sold out for Christ.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, and the brothers in Jerusalem did not suddenly grow in devotion and step up to the plate because there was no one else to do the work.

They were standing on deck, bat in hand, with their heart focused on honoring Christ, whether the sun shines or not.

If I could switch analogies and talk about this like a dinner, think about when you go out to eat.

If you are in the mood for a steak, you prioritize it.

You might eat bread or an appetizer or a dessert, but you came for the steak.

You are happy about the baked potato—but you did not show up to eat a baked potato.

Those are the add-ons—the steak is the main course.

What is the main course of your life?

What do you think about the most? What do you get most anxious about? What do you spend most of your money on?

If your possessions are the main course...

If your politics are the main course...

Even if your family is the main course...

And you treat Christ and His cause as an add-on—your faith is not ready for the dark hour.

We must seek His Kingdom first.

But if your strength is not found in created things, but the Creator, then when the dark hour comes, you will be prepared to take up your sword and shield.

Ephesians 6:10–11 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

The devil wants us to fall in the dark hour—but those devoted to the Lord will not lean on themselves, but on the strength of God’s might.

That’s what leads you to convert your captor.

That’s what puts you to sleep in between prison guards.

And that is what gives you the drive to lead in the face of potential death.

In Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian—the main character, and his believing brother, Faithful, go to Vanity Fair—a place where the world is loved and God is hated.

They know going in that at least one of them will die in that place.

They both secretly hope it might be them, because despite the pain, they know that death means entering the Kingdom.

The people at Vanity Fair scourge Faithful. Then they beat him and lance his flesh with knives.

They stone him and stab him with swords.

Then they burn his body and Faithful comes to his end.

But much like Peter’s escape that we will see in a moment, Christian is delivered by God and as he goes, he sings this song of his friend:

Well, Faithful, you have faithfully professed,

Unto your Lord, with whom you shall be blessed,

When faithless ones, with all their vain delights,

Are crying out under their hellish plights,

Sing, Faithful, sing, and let your name survive;

For though they killed you, you are still alive.

Pilgrim’s Progress

These are the sorts of songs sung about the Lord’s devoted instruments.

May we be found in their company now, and when the dark hour arrives.

DILIGENT INTERCESSION (v. 5, 12, 15)

Let’s move on to our second teaching point this morning.

2. In the dark hour, diligent intercession is needed (v. 5, 12, 15).

Let’s take a look at verses 5 and 12.

In verse 5, while their leader is kept in prison, the church is praying.

In verse 12, as the miraculously released Peter comes to the believers at the house of Mary, they are gathered together “praying.”

This is intercessory prayer.

Intercession is a word that means “to act or intervene on behalf of another.”

When we speak of intercessory prayer, we have to begin by talking about the intercession of Christ.

God can listen to no prayers without the intercession of Christ.

John Calvin

In saying this, Calvin is making a statement about the effectiveness of the blood of the Lord Jesus.

He is making a statement about Christ’s atonement and what it has accomplished.

Christ was the offering without sin that was laid down on the Cross for our sake.

He was judged in our place.

A great and scandalous exchange was made where He gifts us His righteousness and He receives our gavel.

We get His perfect righteousness credited to our account and He is judged in our place as if He committed our unrighteous transgressions of God’s law.

His resurrection proved that He is the Son of God who had truly paid for the sins of His people.

By faith, we receive this great gift of grace.

And as the receivers of the gift, we are justified in the eyes of the Father.

He does not look upon us with anger, but adoration.

He does not look upon us as wrath-deserving, but as righteous.

And this enables us to come through the blood of the Son to the Father in prayer.

But if not for the blood of Christ and Christ as our Great High Priest offering Himself as our Intercessor, we would have no hope of our prayers being heard.

This was foretold in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 53:12 ESV

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

This is confirmed in the New Testament:

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus the Intercessor, who died in our place and continues to intercede for us as our High Priest, gives us confidence to come to the throne of grace.

Understanding that, we can turn to another word from old Calvin:

To make intercession for men is the most powerful and practical way in which we can express our love for them.

John Calvin

As those with access to the throne of grace, we are free to boldly approach to the throne to pray for others.

We are beckoned to come and be intercessors for others, knowing that Jesus is an Intercessor for us.

It is one of the greatest ways that we can love our fellow church members—to pray for them.

It is one of the most vital ways that we stand by one another in the dark hour—by getting on our knees and being intercessors.

GOD WILL DO ABUNDANTLY MORE

And here is the thing—God will do abundantly more than you imagine through our prayers.

It is fairly clear that the church was not praying for Peter’s release in this text.

Their reaction when he shows up illustrates that for us.

When Rhoda, the servant girl, tells them that Peter is at the gate of Mary’s home, they tell her she is out of her mind.

They think she has gone loony (v. 15)

And then they think that she must be seeing his angel (v. 15)

This is likely a reference to the Jewish tradition that everyone had a guardian angel and the angel resembled them.

It is hard to imagine they would react in these ways if they were praying for Peter’s release in the moment.

Instead, it is more likely that they were praying for Peter’s strength to stand firm like James did.

They are asking God to give him courage to be a disciple unto death like Faithful in Vanity Fair.

But the fact that God breezes right past that request and He sees to Peter’s release in a miraculous manner—which we will get to in just a moment—shows that God will take our prayers and do more with them than we expect.

It shows how God loves to blow the doors off our hinges and expand our faith through answered prayers.

Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

And this should motivate us to pray with fervency for one another.

Sometimes we pray and our prayers are according to the decreed will of God and God says “Yes.”

John 15:7 ESV

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Sometimes we pray and God says “No,” in order to make His power known through our weakness—as was the case with Paul’s thorn in the flesh.

2 Corinthians 12:8–9 ESV

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

And sometimes, God blows the doors off the hinges of our faith and challenges us to make the frame bigger by answering our prayers in His infinite wisdom in ways we would not have even thought to ask for or had the faith to ask for.

And that is what we are seeing in Acts 12.

APPLICATION

But whether it is the Yes, No or Abundantly More, we should come to the throne of grace again and again in all hours, but especially in the dark hour.

Otherwise, how can we say that God is our trust?

How can we say that are leaning not on our own understanding?

Once again, we are confronted with our priorities.

Do you forget to pray?

Think about what you do not forget to do.

We do not forget to eat.

We do not forget to get dressed.

We do not forget to watch our favorite team.

We do not forget the birthdays of our loved ones.

If we do not forget these things, we cannot forget to pray.

And when we pray, we cannot only pray for ourselves.

We must make intercession for our brothers and sisters, demonstrating that we do indeed love them, because God has first loved us in Christ.

If you are prayerless, don’t despair—repent. Don’t wait another day to pray.

Turn away from your lack of intercession and begin to set aside time for this work of love today.

Because like devotion, we cannot wait until the dark hour to pray.

It must be our habit now, so that when the sun is eclipsed, we will be found doing what has been our habit all along—entreating the throne of grace.

DIVINE INTERVENTION (v. 6-17)

And now our final teaching point for the morning:

3. In the dark hour, divine intervention is needed (v. 6-17).

At the end of the day, when the dark hour comes, there is nothing needed more than the One who sits on the throne of grace to intervene.

And that is exactly what God does in this passage.

Notice how passive Peter is in the deliverance that comes in this text.

It is the Lord who sends an angel (v. 7).

The Lord’s angel strikes him on the side and wakes him up and tells him to get dressed (v. 7-8).

The Lord’s angel gives him the instructions for escape (v. 8).

Verse 9 makes it clear that Peter isn’t even sure the whole thing is real. He thinks it might be a vision.

They pass by the Herodian guards, who are presumably asleep by God’s supernatural intervention (v. 10).

The iron gate opens by itself (v. 10).

The next thing Peter knows, he is one city block away from the palace and it is only then that he truly realizes what has taken place (v. 11):

English Standard Version Chapter 12

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

Peter goes to Mary’s house, the mother of John-Mark.

It seems like Mary is a widow since no husband is mentioned.

And the fact that she has a house large enough for the believers to gather in and that she has an outer gate speaks to her probably being a woman of some wealth (v. 12-13).

When Rhoda hears Peter’s voice, she gets so excited that she leaves him outside the gate and she runs to get the others.

They don’t believe her at first and it is only after Peter’s continued knocking that they let him in and they are amazed (v. 16).

He tells them what happened and encourages them to report it to James.

PASSOVER PARALLEL

I agree with David Peterson, who says that God’s intervention in this passage is meant to make us think of another intervention of the Lord—namely the one that we see in the Passover in Exodus.

First of all, the entire account is taking place as Passover—the feast that was instituted to remember God’s divine intervention and delivery of His people from the hand of Pharaoh.

And then in verse 6, God’s rescue comes at night, just as it does in Exodus 12.

Exodus 12:29 ESV

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

In verses 7-9, Peter is to wake up and make his escape in haste, with a cloak wrapped around him, much like the Israelites who must leave before their bread is leavened with their cloaks on.

Exodus 12:34 ESV

So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders.

And then in verse 11, Peter worshipfully acknowledges what Gos has done for him, not unlike Moses as he and the people lifted their voices to the Lord in Exodus 15.

Exodus 15:1 ESV

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

THE GOD WHO DELIVERS (APPLICATION)

It may seem unnecessary to draw these parallels, but in reality, they show us that God has always been there to intervene for His people in the dark hour.

When Adam and Eve sin and are hiding in shame, God was there to slay an animal and make them skins to cover their sinfulness.

When God’s people cried out in Egypt, God was there to raise up Moses.

When Israel was in need of leadership after the days of Moses, God raised up Joshua and then the judges.

When Israel was trembling before the Philistines, God empowered David to slay Goliath.

When God’s nation was on the brink of apostasy, He gave the the prophets Elijah and Elisha.

When God’s people were in Exile and Daniel’s three friends were thrown in the fiery furnace, He sent the One like the Son of Man and protected them from certain death.

We could go on with the mouth of the lion being shut.

Nebuchadnezzar being brought low.

God raising up the Persians to defeat the Babylonians.

And of course, there is no greater example of divine intervention than when God sent His Son—the Word made flesh—to come and rescue His people.

A humble birth.

A perfect life.

An atoning death.

A victorious resurrection.

A crowning ascension.

An imminent return.

It is God’s greatest act of intervention, when the Bright and Morning Star came and lit up our dark night of sin.

And so, whatever we face now or may face in the future, the church can pray with confidence and serve with devotion, knowing that the Lord intervenes for His people.

He is our help.

Psalm 46:1 ESV

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

CONCLUSION (ASK BAND TO RETURN)

From 1918 to 1939, England experience what is called the “Interwar Period.”

It was a time of relative peace in the nation.

Things were not perfect, but they were pretty good.

The Great Depression impacted the nation less severely than other nations.

The country had strong allies.

The British empire reached its largest territorial expansion.

But no one could have known the evil that was going to enter the world through the Third Reich and Hitler’s invasion of Poland.

No one could have known how dark the hour would be when Churchill took his office in 1940.

Times of peace do not last forever.

It didn’t in England.

It didn’t in the Jerusalem church.

And we would be foolish to think it will last forever in our great nation.

I am not trying to fear-monger—severe difficulties for the church could be generations away.

But we simply do not know when the dark hour may come.

We do not know what the cause of Christ may cost us.

Are you devoted?

Are you praying?

Are you trusting in God to act?

We must prepare for what we will need in the dark hour while the sun is out.