Credit Where Credit is Due

Where Stuff Comes From

I lost 5 lbs in 2 days this week.

Not a diet I would recommend.

Have been sicker in the past year than I was in the previous 10. Flu, upper respiratory, stomach virus.

Might be a coincidence that our granddaughter moved in w/ us a year and a half ago.

3 weeks ago they went to a friends house for an evening and their kids had the virus.

Edris got it. Jason got it. Kristen got it. This week I got it.

Sara hasn’t got it yet.

This is what families do. We share.

I could have picked it up somewhere else. It’s around in the community.

I shake a lot of hands.

Could have been at the gym.

Post office or Walmart in Flag.

Impossible to know for sure. But, most likely from family.

Being sick this week I missed something important. Last night Sara and I had a reservation for our anniversary dinner.

Today is 34 years. Impressive in some rooms.

Not going to go load up on good food if I’m just going to lose it later.

I get so much good from my marriage.

Unconditional love. It has to be b/c I”m an idiot.

Commitment. Trust. Faith.

All the things a good marriage offers.

It is important to know how to maintain this.

For instance, if I go looking elsewhere for the good that comes from my marriage you know what will happen.

I’m a dead man.

I will lose much more that what I might be looking for from someone else.

Sara is the only person on earth who can do for me what a godly wife can do.

And, the consequences of trying to find it somewhere else are severe.

Here’s the point:

It’s important to know where the bad stuff comes from so you can avoid it.

It’s important to know where the good stuff comes from so you can get more.

Don’t go looking for good stuff in bad places. It will cost you more than you know.

Avoid the bad stuff. Go get the good stuff.

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Young house. Early expansion. Important lessons about receiving and maintaining the good stuff God offers and avoiding the bad stuff the world encourages.

Pressure Amps Up

Acts 12:1–5 NIV

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

James’ death

Persecution is intensifying.

Herod was friendly w/ the Jews. It was primarily self-interest. They recognized it and took full advantage.

They didn’t cause trouble. B/C trouble meant Rome would get involved and everybody would lose.

Whether he was paying attention or not, he saw this upstart movement as the problem.

He knew the Jews. He didn’t know the Christians nor how they would keep the peace. And, there was not peace right now.

So, how do you squelch the problem? Kill the leadership.

So, 1st, James.

Know your James in the NT.

Apostles named James.

1 was John’s brother, the other Alphaeus’ son.

There was a Judas, son of James, not Judas Iscariot.

There were 2 Simons. 1 renamed Peter.

Later in this passage Peter will refer to another James.

Jesus’ half brother who became a believer after the resurrection and then became the pastor of the Jerusalem church. He also wrote the NT book.

This James was John’s brother. The first Apostle to be martyred.

Go after the leadership.

Cut off the head and the body dies.

Herod saw the approval of the religious leaders and like any good politician he knew the importance of pleasing his constituents.

Keep the peace.

First James. Next, would be Peter.

Peter’s arrest

Peter was seen as the leader of the 12. So, get to the top dog soon. Maybe the rest will scatter and give up.

He was also friendly w/ non-Jews. This was a problem for the traditionalists. He ate things and w/ people the law said was wrong.

During the feast of unleavened bread.

It’s immediately after Passover. It begins w/ the Passover meal. Jews would not eat bread w/ yeast as the yeast was symbolic of sin.

They remembered how God delivered them Egypt and how He will deliver them from the bondage of their sin.

It made the Jews happy to kill James but it would upset them to kill anyone on their behalf during the feast. So, they agreed to hold him in prison.

4 squads of 4 soldiers each to secure him in his cell. One chained to each arm and 2 at the locked door.

For the worst of the worst.

He’s a (mostly) non-violent fisherman. He did cut a man’s ear off. But that was more ineptitude w/ a knife than focused aggression.

He missed his target of the center of the man’s head.

But, what they were holding him for was important to Herod and they would know he had escaped once before.

The plan, once the feast was over, the next day, a public trial then a public and painful execution.

Everybody knew what was about to happen.

While he was being held, waiting for everything to happen the next day, the church was praying earnestly.

Luke presents the prayer as a catalyst for what’s about to happen. Would it have happened if they weren’t praying?

Probably not. Peter would have died and God would have raised up another to do what Peter ended up doing later.

They wouldn’t have been praying directly for an escape necessarily.

But, for God’s will, Peter’s protection and strength to stand strong in the face of tomorrow.

Earnest prayer is humble prayer. God’s will, not their own.

We don’t control God w/ out prayers. But He will respond to our prayer.

Many struggle w/ a sense of control. Herod did. The Jewish leadership did. But, the believing members of this new movement did not, so much.

They knew Who is in control as they cried out to Him.

They had no idea what God was about to do. And, it shocked and amazed them.

Control

Herod’s not, though he thinks he is.

The religious leaders are not, though they hope they are.

The pray-ers are not. But they, and Peter know Who is.

At peace with Who is

Acts 12:6–10 NIV

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

At the last minute. God is rarely early, but never late.

It’s the night before and everyone knows what’s going to happen tomorrow.

Short of a miracle, strong odds that this is Peter’s last night on earth. So, what’s he doing?

He’s asleep. Soundly.

What happened to James is about to happen to him.

The next day is his public trial and painful execution.

What does this say about the good stuff going on inside Peter this night?

Peace. No anxiety. Assurance.

Fulfillment of life complete. Accomplishment of all that God had called him to do, so he thought.

Nothing left that he needed to do that brought regret and kept him awake.

He was so sound asleep when the angel showed up the room lit up like the sun.

I sleep on the side of the bed by the windows in our room and I have trouble sleeping past 5:30 these mornings.

Angel showed up and had to hit him to wake him.

Brief instructions. Get up. Get dressed. Let’s go.

The chains fell off. Didn’t wake the guards.

The gates open, again, w/out disturbing the guards.

All the way out of town and no one knew.

Confusion. A vision? Dream? Or, reality?

The angel disappears and Peter realizes he’s free.

When do you suppose these thoughts entered his mind?

Why not James? Why did James have to die?

Do you love him as much?

Why me and not him? Twice.

What about next time?

And then, later, Paul ends up in the same prison, maybe the same cell and he was never miraculously released.

How much more of the bible could he have written or how many more churches could he have planted?

One of the tougher questions we all face is the “why me” question.

God doesn’t answer everyone’s request the same way.

We tend to think universally when we ask God for something someone else was delivered from.

It can be hard to accept when God does something for someone else and doesn’t do it for us.

God sees the bigger picture. So did Peter.

James was in heaven, a tremendous upgrade.

He didn’t have to face any more trouble. And, was significantly rewarded for his service.

Paul will get an audience w/ the most powerful person in the world. In the meantime, plant the seeds of the gospel that will produce fruit all around the world as the soldiers who guarded him get transferred and take their new faith w/ them.

Peter’s work isn’t finished, yet.

Our work is different. Calling. Time on earth. But the universality is that when all Christians’ time on earth is done and our work completed, we have a seat at the table where Jesus is serving at the head.

Another universal truth. All good things come from God. They may not seem as good as they are at the time. But, when we lean into God and get whatever He gives us, it turns out to be good stuff.

This is what made the difference for Peter. He knew this.

And, this is the point of this passage.

The point

Acts 12:11 NIV

Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

God rescued Him. God protected him from what was coming the next day.

He didn’t do it himself.

It wasn’t the prayers of the Christians.

It wasn’t the ineptitude of the guards.

If not for God’s rescue, he’d be dead by the next nightfall.

Peter gave God the credit.

Sure he had the faith, well, sort of.

He thought it was a dream, at first. So, faith?

And, God responded to the prayers of the people. But, would they have prayed specifically for an escape like this?

They would have prayed God’s will. And this was it.

Obviously, they didn’t pray for an escape. Otherwise, his arrival at Mark’s mother’s house wouldn’t have been so comical.

Comedy

Acts 12:12–17 NIV

When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

Acts 12:12–15 NIV

When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

Acts 12:

It finally dawned on Peter. He woke up to the reality.

Yes, he had faith, but not enough to assume anything at first.

So, again, the miracles was not based on his faith.

Or, the others.

They’re still praying, not knowing God has already answered them.

This is Mark’s mother’s house. Brief intro before he has a more prominent ministry later. (Barnabas and Saul)

Mark who wrote the gospel.

Peter knocks on the door. A young servant girl answers.

Overwhelmed w/ joy. She recognized Peter’s voice and knew they are all praying for him.

And, she ran back to announce his arrival and forgot to open the door. Left him out on the deck.

None of us have ever gone into a room and forgotten why were there, right?

Any of you ever go into a room and forget why you were there?

She forgot she was there to open the door and let him in.

Faith? Enough to pray. And, enough to believe God would answer their prayer.

But, when she announced his arrival they didn’t believer her.

She’s crazy. An irrational girl.

Worked up into an emotional, spiritual frenzy. Maybe a charismatic moment that caused her to hallucinate.

If this miracle was based on someone’s faith it never would have happened.

Peter’s left out in the cold while they try to sort it all out.

“Yoohoo! It’s me. I’m here. Could you open the door?

Finally, the let him and he tells them all about what happened.

All credit to God. The Lord did it.

Go tell James, the other James, half-brother of Jesus, pastor of the church, and encourage everyone w/ the news.

Peter’s getting out of town. He’s a marked man. And, God still has work for him to do.

Nothing happens unless God allows it. But, don’t be foolish. Don’t play Russian Roulette and expect God to protect you.

The scene quickly turns from the comedy of Mark’s house to the tragedy of Herod’s court.

Tragedy

Acts 12:18–19 NIV

In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Reality check.

This was a death sentence for the guards. They were frantic.

Herod was trying to please the Jews.

The Jews were trying to squish the church.

The guards were trying to explain for their lives.

Herod himself cross-examined them. Apparently, they fell asleep. And, a fisherman slipped his chains, opened the locked cell door, and walked out of the jail un-noticed.

There was only one explanation in Herod’s mind. The guards helped. How else could it have happened?

They were probably tortured to get the truth. But what could they say?

They would have killed the escaping prisoner themselves or committed suicide before facing torture had they been aware.

But, again, if you don’t believe in God, how do you credit Him w/ anything?

Ultimately, Herod’s big problem. You can only worship what you believe in.

Consequence

Acts 12:20–23 NIV

He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply. On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Peter is free and on the run.

The guards are dead.

Herod believes in himself. He thinks he is in complete control even though he can’t explain what just happened.

Herod controls who gets food in a famine. God. Who lives who dies.

The people flatter him hoping to get more.

They praise him as a god. And, he accepts it, as if he is. This was an act of worship. They were desperate and dependent.

Like we should be before God.

Interesting side note. Josephus was a Jewish historian. He wrote extensively about the times and we have a number of copies of what he wrote.

He wrote about this very experience w/ Herod and how the crowd cried out that he was no mere mortal. He rec’d their praise as god.

And died right after. A painful stomach condition that lasted 4-5 days.

Almost as bad as I had it this week.

Herod’s downfall was he accepted the praise and credit deserved only for God.

Sometimes, God does the tangible so we can understand the intangible.

Worship yourself, only believe in yourself, and accept the credit for God does and you will suffer.

Hell is not a happy, comfortable place.

Worship God, give Him the appropriate credit, be freed from your chains and live free.

God works in different ways in the lives of different people but what always the same is Christians will live forever.

Stay humble. Give God the credit for everything good. He is the only one worthy of our praise, adoration, and worship.

There are a lot of good things happening here at MPCC.

It’s not b/c of me. Linda. The choir. Elders. Fellowship activities. Bible studies.

Only God gets the credit. He responds to our prayers. And He uses us to accomplish His purposes.

All the good stuff comes from God. Don’t go looking anywhere else for it or credit anyone else when you get it.

Applications

Prayer

God responds to earnest, humble, faithful, confident prayer.

His answers are rarely early, never late, always on time.

Don’t try to tell God what to do, or give Him multiple options. He knows the situation better than you do.

But, pray. Pray on your own. Pray w/ us. Pray w/ your family and friends.

Pray what you want to see and be okay w/ whatever He does.

Different outcomes for different people in different situations.

Pray.

Good stuff

There is only one place to get good stuff in life. It all comes from God.

Don’t try to get it anywhere else. Don’t try to manufacture it on your own.

Peace. Lack of anxiety. Fulfillment. Satisfaction.

There are few greater gifts than a good night’s sleep.

The only place to get those and other stuff like it is from God.

Ready?

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow what do you need to do to finish well?

What would you lie awake tonight regretting you haven’t done?

An apology? A proposal? One more conversation?

Do it. Don’t wait.

It’s important to know where the bad stuff comes from so you can avoid it.

It’s important to know where the good stuff comes from so you can get more.

Don’t go looking for good stuff in bad places. It will cost you more than you know.

Avoid the bad stuff. Go get the good stuff.

And be ready when God says you’re done.