Forward Together In The Sovereignty Of God

Review

Turn to Acts 12.

Message

In the second half of Acts chapter eleven, Luke tells us about some ordinary people that fled to Antioch and told others about an extraordinary Person. Because of their witness, Gentiles in Antioch began to trust Christ and collectively, they and the Jewish believers became known by an extraordinary name: they were called Christians. These Christians were discipled for a whole year by Barnabas and Saul and eventually, they gave an extraordinary gift to the poor saints in Judea. The church at Antioch was an extraordinary church full of ordinary people.

Read Acts 12:1-5.

Read slowly:

There is a universal principle of life that circumstances rarely are exactly what we would like.

All of us know this, but if you’re like me, it’s still easy to get bent out of shape when circumstances are not what we want.

Earlier this week, I was reminded of this principle as I was eating a bowl of honey nut cheerios. Now it had been a long time since I had done this for breakfast but one morning I poured myself a bowl of cheerios and then filled it with milk.

The first bite, the cheerios were too crunchy. I was immediately reminded that I don’t like my cheerios that crunchy. If I liked my cheerios that crunchy, I’d be better off getting a bowl of kettle cooked potato chips and pouring milk over that.

So I set the bowl aside for a minute and decided to make a couple of phone calls. It was mid morning and I wanted to get those calls done.

I came back to my cheerios a few minutes later and took a bite. You’ll never guess what had happened.

They had gotten soggy.

Now that was a problem. You see, I don’t like my cheerios too crunchy and I don’t like them too soggy; I like them right in the middle with a little softness on the outside and then a little crunch on the inside. My cheerios were not exactly the way I liked them. Neither are the circumstances of life usually the way we like it either.

That was true also for the church back at Jerusalem. Another wave of persecution was crashing down upon them and the circumstances were not as they wished. The circumstances were entirely beyond their control.

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The church in Jerusalem believed that God is sovereign - Acts 12:1-19.

Herod the king was persecuting the church in Jerusalem and there was little the Christians could do about it. You’ve probably heard of Herod before, but you may not know that “Herod” was not the name of a person. It was the name of a royal family that ruled the area during the time of Jesus and the apostles. Five different Herods are mentioned in the Bible, but they were all different members of the same family. This was Herod Agrippa I, father of Agrippa II who we’ll meet in Acts 25. Agrippa I was a shrewd politician who did “everything possible to [gain] the favor of the Jews.”

Stanley D. Toussaint, “Acts,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 384.

For Herod, it was a brilliant political move to target the Christian leadership in Jerusalem. He executed James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, and after that went over so well with the religious leaders, he decided to make an example of Peter also after Passover.

Verse four is the one time that you find “Easter” mentioned in the King James version of the Bible.

The Greek word used here is a reference to the Paschal festival, better known to us as Passover. In my opinion, it would be better translated as “Passover”, but the translators of the KJV may have chosen Easter because it falls around the same time of year as the Jewish Passover and because the English audience would understand the timeframe better.

Read verse five.

Though their faith may have been small, they believed that God is sovereign! They believed that the sovereign God could be moved by the prayers of His saints to help Peter. If they did not believe that, they would not have been interceding on Peter’s behalf.

Application: Christian, do you believe that your God is sovereign? Do you believe that He is always in control even when circumstances are spinning out of control? If you say, “yes”, then how is that displayed in your life when circumstances are all wrong? Are you like these Christians that when Peter was imprisoned they immediately, earnestly, unceasingly prayed?

I ask you again, do you believe that God is sovereign?

This belief helped them in several ways:

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It gave them steadiness

In spite of the dark storm clouds, they were not in despair. They were not distraught. They were steadfast, constant, and enduring.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, calls this “patience” in James chapter one.

James 1:3–4 KJV 1900

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The church in Jerusalem was growing in patience and they weren’t the only ones. Peter was growing in patience also.

Read Acts 12:6.

We find Peter sleeping between two guards on what was possibly going to be his last night before his execution.

This wasn’t Peter’s first rodeo in prison. The religious leaders had already imprisoned him with the other apostles back in Acts 5:18 and at that time the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and let them out. Herod wasn’t going to allow that to happen again. Sixteen soldiers rotated in shifts to ensure that Peter was under armed guard by four soldiers at all times. It seemed certain that Peter wasn’t going to escape this time, but still, he remained steady. Chained between two guards, he peacefully slept with a clear conscience before God and man. He truly rested in the sovereignty of God.

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It gave Peter boldness

Read Acts 12:7-19.

Peter is sound asleep between the two guards when God sends an angel to wake him up. The angel does his job and leads Peter out of the prison and down a street. Only then does the angel depart and only then does Peter realize that this is not a dream; this is reality.

Now had I been Peter, I would have found the nearest station on the Christian underground railroad and hunkered down for a bit, but that’s not what Peter does. He thinks for a moment and then heads straight for the house where the Christians would gather. He realized that the sovereign God had delivered him from Herod and from the Jews who were certain that he would soon be dead. Knowing this gave him boldness.

He arrives at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Rhoda is so excited when she realizes that Peter’s at the door, but she has a hard time convincing the folks that were there praying.

Maybe they were praying that God would sustain Peter while he was in prison.

Maybe they were praying that God would help Peter’s death to be swift and painless.

I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem like they were praying for him to show escape, because they didn’t believe it when it happened!

Application: What would you have prayed for? We serve a big God but sometimes we content ourselves with small requests.

William Carey, pioneer missionary to India said, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”

Your prayer life will tell you a lot about your measure of faith. Learn to ask God for big things while always being surrendered to whatever His answer may be.

When the Christians finally do believe Rhoda, they can hardly believe that Peter is standing before them at the door. Peter has a classic “Peter moment.” He doesn’t try to get ushered into the house and get the door bolted like I would have done. No, it seems that he stood outside with the front door open and proceeded to explain what had happened.

He had no fear of being recaptured! He believed that God was in control!

Knowing this gave him boldness.

Application: Christian, why are you fearful? Why do you worry? Could it be that you are not reminding yourself that you serve the Creator of heaven and earth? You serve the sovereign God of Heaven! He is in control!

There’s no need to be fearful about what is happening in your life! God cares about the little sparrows and He cares infinitely more for you.

There’s no need to be fearful about the future of our church! Jesus said, “I will build my church…”

There’s no need to be fearful about the future of our country! God raises up kings to the throne and He brings them back down again! Our country’s problems are not too big for God!

So be bold, Christian! Be bold like Peter! Remind yourself that God is sovereign and you will have no reason to fear about these things.

Isaiah 45:18 KJV 1900

For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.

Remind yourself that God is sovereign, and then go get busy doing what you know is right.

Do what you can about those things that are happening in your life.

Do what you can to serve the Lord here in our local church.

Do what you can to help set the course for the future of our country. Go vote. Go be an active citizen.

Do all of these things, believing that God is sovereign. It will give you steadiness and it will give you boldness.

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The king in his robes blasphemed God’s sovereignty - Acts 12:20-23.

Read Acts 12:20-23.

Peter escapes prison, Herod Agrippa I gets upset because he looks like a fool, so he orders the guards to be executed and then he gets out of town in verse nineteen. That brings us to this unusual story in verses 20-23. Now at first, you might think, “what on earth does this story have to do with Peter’s escape from prison?”

The answer is more than that its just the same king in both stories. I think there’s one clear principle that carries through both stories and it is this: our God is in control! The God that freed Peter from the king’s clutches is the same God that demands glory due to Him alone. The Jewish people could reject the Gospel and attempt to kill God’s preachers, but God would overrule them as He wished. Likewise, he would overrule this proud Herod and require his life.

Josephus, the famous Jewish historian, records that Herod was wearing a royal robe woven with fine silver thread that glittered in the sunlight. I have no doubt it was an impressive sight, but the people worshipped him in an attempt to gain his favor. He accepted the worship, but God did not. This time, God wasn’t going to let this insult pass unchallenged. It wouldn’t happen again. Herod would die a horrible death because he blasphemed God’s sovereignty. He stole the glory that only God deserved.

Application: Christian, do you know and believe that your God is in control? Do you rest in that? Are you surrendered to His control, or do you resist it? Are you content in the fact that He is in control and that often you are not? We love when God is in control as long as His plans line up with ours, but it’s a harder thing when His plans for us are different than our plans for us.

Conclusion

The godless Herod Agrippa could not stop a sovereign God.

Herod killed James, but the church continued to gather.

Herod arrested Peter, but the preacher was set free by an angel.

Herod blasphemed God by stealing His glory, but the word of God grew and multiplied.

The sovereign God would not be stopped. Christian, make certain that you believe in the sovereignty of God today. Let that be manifested in your life by having steadiness and boldness as we move forward together.