Jesus Will Build His Church

3/27 The Sovereignty of God Series Pt. 1 “God will build his church”

Announcements:

Easter egg filling day!

April 2, this Saturday is the Easter Egg Hunt if you could help that’d be great! It begins at 11…come early?

(H) You guys ever get nervous looking at the world and some of the crazy stuff that’s going on in the world? Ukraine vs Russia and the world can seem chaotic at times?

Me too.

But it’s at these times we have to remember that God is sovereign over everything on earth. He is fully in control...it’s as if everything in the world is on a leash and at any point by His will God can pull back on the leash.

We’re going to look at a great example of this today in the Bible from Acts 12

Main Text

Acts 12:1-24 NLT About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. 2 He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword.

Our hope is not reserved to this world alone!!

3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) 4 Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. 5 But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

** Herod has killed James and is going to have Peter killed next week. The two encompass two thirds of the inner circle of disciples that Jesus had on the earth. This persecution is significant, and it is scary.

** The Passover and the subsequent Feast of Unleavened Bread were one weeklong. Herod was waiting until this time was over to not desecrate it and displease the Jews.

Peter’s Miraculous Escape from Prison

6 The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate.

** Each one of these squads contained four soldiers, with two guarding the door and two guarding Peter himself. They would switch out routinely throughout the night to remain alert, so they certainly had Peter locked up tight! He seemingly doesn’t stand a chance!

7 Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered.

Note the reversal here…things are getting worse and worse and then God steps in!

9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. 10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”

Peter didn’t even believe it was real at first!

12 When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. 13 He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”

15 “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”

Note the irony here, they were praying for him and they didn’t even believe it when their prayers were answered! They left him outside!

16 Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place.

18 At dawn there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter. 19 Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.

The Death of Herod Agrippa

20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod’s country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant, 21 and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. 22 The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”

23 Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

Josephus an ancient Jewish historian testifies that Herod was killed in a sudden way…worms were likely some form of parasite…

The angel of the Lord struck Peter to free him and struck Herod to judge him.

24 Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.

Big Idea:

God will sovereignly build his church, and nothing and no one can stand against His will.

Matthew 16:18 NLT Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it

Application:

Be willing to pray about world events and what is going on in the church! God responded to the prayers of the people and freed Peter!

Anytime you are anxious about the state of the world, consciously remind yourself that God is in control!

Consider how you can help Jesus build his church and not to tear it down!

Conclusion:

So, even though sometimes things are really dark, we can have hope. Imagine being a member of the early church, fearful of persecution. It was a very real threat on a regular basis, and Herod was committed to taking the church down. Yet, Christ took him down. Someday every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess. Therefore, we do not have to fear, we can trust God’s sovereign plan and know that the kingdom of darkness will never prevail against His Church!