Seat Taken…
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Review Last Week: When the Answer Knocks, the power of prayer, and harolding the presence of God.
Review where we are in the text: Peter was arrested just after James the brother of John was killed, and the church went to prayer. Angel rescued Peter and he shows up at the prayer meeting.
Now it’s the next morning, the sun has risen, and the guards realize Peter is missing:
18 Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.
19 When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.
And with that, it seems like the story should be over…
Peter is rescued, the church’s prayers were answered, and Herod is now gone to Caesarea, away from where he was causing the trouble…
But then there’s these five verses that introduce a final chapter in Herod’s life:
20 Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country.
21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.
22 The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”
23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
24 But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.
And I wonder, why was this portion of scripture included with such specific, graphic detail…
Josephus (explain who he is) says Herod’s royal robes were, “Woven completely of silver so that is its texture was wonderous.”
The morning sun had just begun to fill the outdoor amphitheatre in Caesarea not far from the shimmering waters of the Mediterranean.
Herod’s entrance was spectacular:
Acts Herod Agrippa’s Persecution of the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:1–25)
There the silver, illumined by the touch of the first rays of the sun, was wondrously radiant and by its glitter inspired fear and awe in those who gazed intently upon it. Straightway his flatterers raised their voices from various directions—though hardly for his good—addressing him as a god.
But I am reminded of a word given to the prophet Ezekiel, a lament over the king of Tyre…
It’s 19 verses long so I wont read the whole thing, but I want to give you a few verses from the chapter so you get the point:
2 “Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God,
“Because your heart is lifted up
And you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods …
13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering…
17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground…
Now this is a direct lament for the King of Tyre but the supernatural angelic language gives credence to the idea that this is also a typology of Satan’s fall…
Which is exactly what many theologians in the early church believed…
So when we see Herod seat himself onto what Luke calls the “rostrum”
21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.
the word rostrum here is the judgement seat, a lofted place prepared just for Herod…
Reminiscent of the same self-exaltation of the king of Tyre…
A type that reflects the same pride present in the heart of Satan when he sought for the throne of God…
But God’s glory is his own…
8 “I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
So when Luke says:
23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
This is not only an answer to the prayers of the Church, it is also God fulfilling a pattern…
A pattern that we see throughout scripture since the very beginning when the enemy tempts mankind with the same thing he fell to himself:
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
It’s the nature of sin to seek self importance and self empowerment…
That’s why the gospel is completely contrary because it does not seek self empowerment but Spirit Empowerment…
In fact Jesus said,
25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
This life of Christianity is not based on will power, it’s about realizing I need Him every step of the way…
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
This is entirely opposed to the culture of today where everything is about self help, and self empowerment, and looking into one’s self for the answer…
No this walk is about Him, His empowerment, His help and gazing into the illumination of His glory…
3 And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His [the Father’s] glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
When we look on Him, He shapes us…
He made a way for us, not just to heaven, but also to live a life victorious over sin…
It’s helpful to know that this is the pattern of the enemy…
That he would use our own pride and ego to deceive us into thinking that we are strong enough to battle sin on our own…
But when we attempt to stand on our own without the empowerment of the Spirit and the grace offered through Jesus, we put ourselves on the throne, exalted on the judgement seat of our own heart, judging for ourselves what is right and wrong…
Our own sense of justice, our own conscience, and our own feelings are not the standard of God…
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
God’s righteousness is so much higher than our own, we cannot attain it, which is why Jesus had to come and provide the way!
And now we are offered transformation from the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit!
He has given as the seal of our salvation, the pledge of what is to come!
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
How is it that we can have faith for heaven, but not for our own living?
It’s because we have sat on the judgement seat of our own hearts rather than allowing God to lead us and empower us…
Or worse, we want God to lead us in worship, let his anointing flow in service, but don’t carry that leading into every day of our life…
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Worship isn’t just praise or music, but service that happens every day of our life…
Call Worship Team
Worship recognizes God’s position on the judgement seat of our heart…
But worship in here isn’t genuine if it’s not paired with worship out there…
See the thing about Herod is that he played both sides…
Herod would do everything he could to appease the Jewish people as their ruler, but was also a Roman politician as we just read…
But don’t we do the same when we show up to pray and worship on Sunday morning, but don’t carry that same presentation of our bodies throughout the week?
Altar Call
So can we pour our hearts out in worship today and make the commitment that we will carry His Spirit with us…
Allowing Him to guide us and shape us and transform us out there, not just in here?
Will you worship?
