All glory to God alone

Acts 12:18–23 ESV

18 Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19 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. 20 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food. 21 On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. 22 And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” 23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

The book of Acts gives us an accurate historical record of the beginning of the church. We are finishing the 12th chapter today and there are still 16 more to go. But let’s consider for a moment what has happened as far...

At the beginning of the book of Acts there are about 100 believers, with a small group of 11 disciples who were closest to Jesus. They were told to gather in the city of Jerusalem and Pray… thats it, not other instruction was given except what we see in Matthew 28.

Let’s start there for a moment looking at the end of Matthew and beginning of Acts, when the resurrected Jesus gives them instructions.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So the mission of these believers were to go and make disciples of all nations. but the account we get from Luke in the book of Acts adds just a little more.

Acts 1:4–11 ESV

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

From this, these men go find other believers a little over 100 in all and they lock themselves in a room and pray continually until the Holt Spirit comes.

They have an impossible mission - to make disciples of all nations, and not many people to help. All they know is that it isn’t for them to know what will happen or even how it will happen but they should wait for God to do something and then proceed to be a witness to Jesus in jerusalem, in all of Judea (that region) and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

That is how we started hearing about the history of the church. As we continue to read Acts we see God’s people are now armed with his Spirit alive within them and the word of God and message of the Gospel is being preached among them, and the number of those that believe are multiplied into the thousands.

Bringing it up to where we are now in Acts we have believers now being called Christians, meaning that they are primarily identified with this Jesus Christ over any other possible identity. Believers allegiance is to Christ before anything.

By chapter 12 we find Christians scattered all over and even far outside the borders of Israel. But what’s more than that, we find that the Language barriers are no problem for God to overcome, and that the Jewish people who were first to hear and receive the Gospel have now seen God allow salvation to spread to the most unlikely of Gentile or non-Jewish people.

We have seen an Ethiopian Eunuch receive and carry the Gospel message, A Gentile Army officer and his family hear and receive the gospel with evidence that was compelling enough to convince the Main church in Jerusalem that God was allowing Gentiles to be part of his church. In fact there is now a whole entire church in a gentile region that is all almost exclusively Gentile. Not to mention that we have seen one of the biggest persecutors of the church become a Christian and now preach and teach the gospel to the rest of the churches in extraordinary ways.

All of this amazing stuff was happening but it happens against the backdrop of extreme persecution, where the first Apostle, James has been captured and executed. Perter was next to to be executed By Herod, the King of this region, but an angel of the Lord helped him escape while the church prayed.

If there was one theme to capture what is going on up to this point it might be what Luke reported the angel said to Mary when she was told about the birth of Jesus...

Luke 1:37 ESV

37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

We like to think of that as just referring to the Virgin Birth, and it was certainly about that, and yet so much more. When the Angel said these words to Mary, it calmed her heart to know that there isn’t anything that God cannot do. And no doubt these early christians would have to remind themselves of this same thought over and over as they saw God time after time do the impossible

AS the persecution broke out against the church and their won leaders were arrested and executed. But in the Midst of it all we will see God continue to save people and promote his church. And today the historical record pauses to show the power of God on display outside of the church and the contrast is something I believe will be a great comfort to us in our current world. Let’s dive in. we pick up after Peter has been miraculously delievered from prison.

Acts 12:18 ESV

18 Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter.

Imagine the scene for a moment… There is a prisoner on the loose, he is simply missing. They can’t figure out how, because it was told to us that he was chained to two different soldiers and guarded by 4 different squads of soldiers… That means his escape was from 16 different guards with 2 being especially responsible for him. Can you imagine how upset these men were when they couldn’t find him.

Have you ever lived near a Prison? The last town we lived in had three prisons near by, and I gotta tell you, this was always a concern. In fact I remember hearing a story about mans children who were playing outside, and they happened to live in a neighborhood that one of these prisons was located… Now I know what you are thinking, because it is what I was thinking when I heard this story… Why on earth would you build a prison near a neighborhood? There was also a school next to this prison in this neighborhood.

anyways, My friends kids were playing outside one day, in their backyard, bouncing on a trampoline, when one of them started to blow a whistle. They apparently were being obnoxious with this whistle blowing when a neighbor came rushing into their back yard and grab the child and took the whistle away. He began to yell at the kids like a maniac when the father came out to see what was going on. The neighbor explained to him that there is a whistle that blows when a prisoner escapes and his kids were freaking out the whole neighborhood. Can you imagine???

What am I getting at? When some one escapes from prison it might be an understatement to say, “there was no little disturbance among the soldiers...” More like they were freaking out. Yelling screaming at each other, going in and out of every cell asking all the other prisoners and probably searching the city looking for all those pesky Christians...

Why do you think they were freaking out? Because in those days, Roman law said that these guys would pay with their own life if they lost a prisoner, so look what happens.

Acts 12:19 ESV

19 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.

So clearly when Herod gets involved they aren’t looking in the prison any more. I am quite sure they went to all the known places where Peter would be, and yet they didn’t find him, he was gone. Can you imagine Herod’s rage when he questioned everyone and the people who were responsible had no answers for him?

Not this is sad because they die for this. And I cannot skip over the fact that God had planned a miraculous escape for Peter and he knew that Peters escape and the churches growth and encouragement from it would cost the life of these soldiers. And yet God is not unjust if his plan to deliver his people causes pain and even death for others. Because God is the creator of all life and he is just to demand it from any, especially those who would be opposed to him.

And this is the beginning of seeing the gospel here in this brief story, because all of mankind can be condemned before God and he would be just to do so. The bible declares that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That in Adam we all have a sin nature and would stand condemned before a Holy God. If we do not have someone who will protect us from the wrath of God, then we have no eternal hope. People live and die everyday, and God is just in allowing it, but beyond that God is gracious in saving some who hear the gospel and believe it.

It is the gospel message that tells us to repent of our sin and cry out to God in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins so that we can be saved. If you believe that and do that you will be saved, and if not, God is just in requiring your life from you for his glory. He is Just in all his decrees.

God is Just in his decrees

So one thing we see from this story is how the divine intervention in the lives of God’s people may mean eternal destruction for others, but If he has decreed it from foundation past as he does all things, then he is just in doing so.

So these soldiers die, and What of Herod? He decides to leave Jerusalem and go to Caesarea, which was an area that was much more Rome like. He clearly wanted to get away from these Jews. See he was in Jerusalem to show himself as a good Jewish King, but he was under the authority of the Caesar in Rome. He had to play a dual role of good Jewish King and yet take orders from Rome. By moving his operations to the most Rome like city in the region, he was saying that he was giving up on appeasing the Jews, he was embracing the Roman culture.

From Here Luke, the author starts to give us some great historical proof that can be easily validated by many other sources including the prominent Jewish historian Josephus. And I intentionally point this out, because so many question the validity of scripture but there is so much proof of correct historical information found in scripture that it is really hard for skeptics to debunk anything that is said.n Let’s notice the details in the description next.

Acts 12:20 ESV

20 Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.

Couple things here. It was well known that Herod had an issue with the Phoenician region where these cities were located. We do not know why but it has been recorded in other historical documents. This is outside of Judea in what would be modern day Lebanon.

In those days these cities relied on the grain harvest from the inland cities to keep them well supplied because they were port cities, meaning they were located on the sea. That is what it means by, they depended on the King’s country for food. The king held incredible power in that he could request more or less of any supplies go to anywhere he wanted.

These cities knew they had to get on his good side so they found a sympathizer in his cabinet, a man named Blastus. He was the King’s Chamberlain, which would be like a modern day Secretary of State.

Well whatever they did with him seemed to work as they asked for Peace between them and the King and it was accepted. This is politics at its finest, go around the one you can’t work with to get someone who can persuade people to help you. It is still the same today, even in our culture.

How would Herod respond? He has people coming and graveling at him for help because he has the power to starve them or help them. Watch what happens, and let me fill in the blanks with more historical facts...

Acts 12:21 ESV

21 On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.

Now whenever we see the words, “On the appointed day” or “at the appointed time” it is a reference to God’s plan being fulfilled at a specific moment in history. Not a thing will happen a moment before God has decreed it to happen and nothing happens outside of his sovereign plan. So everything we are about to hear happens at the appointed day.

God’s timing is perfect

God is never early or late in allowing things to happen and causing others things to take place. God’s plan is something that we all wish we could know or at least the timing of it, but He is never late. This all happens on the appointed day, no matter how many people were praying for God to deliver them from wicked rulers… His appointed time is when whatever he decides will happen, happens.

So what happens here? He puts on royal robes, sits on the throne and gives an oration, which is a speech. So what? Well again Josephus the historian writes about this event and gives a little more detail to confirm what Luke is reporting ton us here.

First of all the royal robes were actually garments with silver interwoven in them. And apparently this speech happened early in the day. This is what Josephus wrote, “Herod put on a garment made wholly of Silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theatre early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner.”

And to make this scene even more intense the theatre that he sat on a throne in was the amphitheater that his grandfather King Herod the Great built. It was here in this way, with him shining like the sun that he delivered a speech to the people who were subject to his rulings.

But please notice we are not told what the content of his speech was about, and this is intentional, because it doesn’t matter. He will not go down in the oracles of time for this speech in which he was arrayed like a golden beam of sunlight. We are meant to hear of how he spoke and to notice the people response and his response to them, but not what he actually said, because scripture will not give him the dignity that he demanded from his subjects. What will scripture record?

Acts 12:22 ESV

22 And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”

The people are all too willing to pledge there allegiance and declare something that seems outrageous to us. They are shouting that he is a god and not a man.

The crowds of people are praising him and this becomes worship of a human man. Luke does not tell us if Herod rejects their words but Josephus tells us, “Herod, neither rebuked them, nor rejected their impious flattery.”

Why should he though? Because as a sitting King of the Jews, he would’ve often publicly read the scriptures to people in the temple during times of feasts. But the people here are addressing him as divine and he is not stopping them.

So we are missing his speech and him stopping them from declaring him as a god.

Why is this story here in scripture? If all of scripture is a divine revelation of God to us, then what are we meant to know from this story? Well let’s keep reading...

Acts 12:23 ESV

23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

It is quite simple really, when man does not give glory to God, he is opposing the Almighty Creator. And God has made it known that he will not share his glory with anyone.

And yet does it surprise us that there is such a quick judgement on this mere man? If this seems unfair to you, then I would submit to you the idea that you have not thought often enough about the Holiness of God.

God is absolutely Holy and he has revealed himself in scripture as a jealous God who will not share his glory with anyone. He gave specific instructions about this when he gave the law...

Exodus 20:1–5 ESV

1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

But it isn’t as if this is the only place where we see God declare himself alone to be worshipped, or that he is Holy, or even that he will not share glory with anyone...

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 48:11 ESV

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

And again here in the New Testament we see a story about how when a man will take glory that belongs to God alone, God will not stand for it. So what are we meant to learn for this?

Divine glory belongs to God alone

We should never elevate a human being to the place that even comes close to God. God is our source for life and all things come from him. He is the giver of life and he is the one we will all answer to, God and God alone. There is none like him and there is none that can stop him.

This man tried to persecute his church, arrest his servants, even kill them to appease the people that he wanted praise from. When he put his best effort forward to be worshipped and people did just that, God stuck him dead.

the interesting thing is the manner in which he dies. History tells us that he was actually eaten from the inside out by tapeworms. So it isn’t just like a reference to being dead, that he was eaten by worms because his body decayed in the ground. Although there is that contrast to the people of god for those who oppose God and his gospel.

No this man was reported to have died 4 days later from an internal rupture in which tapeworms were literally eating him alive.

And while I know that this is a graphic picture, think about the prayers of God’s people all throughout the persecution that was going on… How many time do you think they cried out for help from God and they were still facing persecution from their government. Think about all the emotions of watching the church look like it was being decimated, and yet they couldn’t see that it was growing. They could only see their enemies and those who were persecuting them. Yet, we are told they continued to pray, and when the appointed time had come, this man died… And how he died isn’t an ugly side fact but a picture of a man who had something living inside of him that would kill him exactly when God wanted the nation to see what happens to those who oppose him.

Listen, I share this story in this exact way because I cannot help but look at our world and see the fear that God’s people are being swept up by, the flood of people pressing on the Church of Jesus Christ to respond in some sort of knee jerk way to the culture around us, and I am perfectly content trusting God that if he has to put a tape worm in the people who are the real enemies of God’s people or if he allows the persecution to break our stringer and stronger against his church, that he has a plan… And where do I get such confidence inGod from? His word. Why? Because of the end of this story...

Acts 12:24 ESV

24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.

While all this craziness was happening and people were being scattered, and angelic activity was accomplishing tasks that no man could do, God was at work and the proof of it was simple… The Word of God Increased and multiplied… What does that mean???

It means that the gospel was continually preached where ever his people went and more people were being saved and coming into a knowledge of God, which meant more glory for God. And he did it through means that you and I would never use.

The gospel of the glory of God cannot be stopped

If you haven’t been a Christian for very long, you may still be learning this, and if you have been a Christian your whole life you still need to hear this. Nothing can thwart the plans of God and his Gospel cannot be stopped. His word will continue to spread.

Why do we freak out and question God when painful ugly happen? Do we not have his word to show us how he is always in control and uses all things for the good of those who love God and called according to His purpose???

And that is how this passage ends… With those who love God and are committed to his purpose going about their business in the face of adversity simply trusting him.

Acts 12:24–25 ESV

24 But the word of God increased and multiplied. 25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Things are crazy, life seems out of control and yet God’s people are called to pray and trust him and so that is what we do. But you cannot if you do not know what they knew, which is this… Jesus Christ came to die in the place of unworthy sinners and give them freely forgiveness before a Holy God that will surely judge them. If you would hear this message and believe, you will be saved. Call out to Jesus and ask him to save you and turn from your sinful ways putting your faith in him. This is good news because Jesus did the work you couldn’t and if you have faith to believe it, that is because the Father is working in you by his Spirit. Are you a believer?

Perhaps that is how we should end this time in his word, because that is what we see in which Romans describes so wonderfully for those who believe. No matter how crazy life get in the world around us, the Word of God will increase and his glory will be recieved by more and more people while we are assured of our salvation in him. Let us remain faithful to Christ and his bride the church and hear an encouragement from his word...

Romans 8:28–39 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.