Acts 12 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Acts [music] chapter 12 verse 1.
2. 0:02Now about that time Herod the king laid
3. 0:06hands on some who belonged to the church
4. 0:09in order [music] to mistreat them.
5. 0:12And he had James the brother of John put
6. 0:15to death with a sword.
7. 0:18When he saw that it pleased the Jews,
8. 0:21he proceeded [music] to arrest Peter
9. 0:23also.
10. 0:25Now it was during the days of unleavened
11. 0:27bread.
12. 0:28When he had seized him, he put [music]
13. 0:30him in prison
14. 0:31delivering him to four squads of
15. 0:34soldiers to [music] guard him
16. 0:36intending after the Passover to bring
17. 0:38him out before the people.
18. 0:42So Peter was kept in prison
19. 0:45but prayer for him was being made
20. 0:47fervently by the church to God.
21. 0:51On the very night when Herod was about
22. 0:54to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping
23. 0:57between two soldiers
24. 0:59bound with two chains
25. 1:01and guards in front of the door were
26. 1:03watching over the prison.
27. 1:07And behold an angel of the Lord suddenly
28. 1:10appeared and a light shone in the cell.
29. 1:13And he struck Peter's side
30. 1:16and woke him up saying, "Get up
31. 1:19quickly."
32. 1:20And his chains fell off his hands.
33. 1:24And the angel said to him,
34. 1:26"Gird yourself and put on your sandals."
35. 1:29And he did so.
36. 1:31And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak
37. 1:33around you and follow me."
38. 1:36And he went out and continued to follow
39. 1:39and he did not know
40. 1:40that what was being done by the angel
41. 1:43was real but thought he was seeing a
42. 1:45vision.
43. 1:48When they had passed the first and
44. 1:50second guard, they came to the iron gate
45. 1:53that leads into the city which opened
46. 1:55for them by itself and they went out and
47. 1:58went along one street, and immediately
48. 2:01the angel departed from him.
49. 2:06So, we have this scene
50. 2:08where
51. 2:10the brother of John, James,
52. 2:13one of the sons of Zebedee, has just
53. 2:15been put to death.
54. 2:17And when Herod sees that it pleases the
55. 2:19mob, he decides to make a spectacle out
56. 2:22of Peter. Who knows the wicked things
57. 2:25that he had planned at the conclusion of
58. 2:27the feast.
59. 2:29But the church is fervently praying.
60. 2:33They're not taking anything for granted.
61. 2:35They're praying.
62. 2:37And Peter is a very different man than
63. 2:39he used to be.
64. 2:42Peter used to be the guy who denied
65. 2:43Jesus
66. 2:45when a servant girl asked him a
67. 2:47question.
68. 2:48Now, he is in this extra guarded prison
69. 2:53with his life on the line,
70. 2:56his fellow apostle murdered just days
71. 2:59before, and a spectacle arranged for his
72. 3:02demise,
73. 3:04and he's sound asleep.
74. 3:06He's at rest.
75. 3:08And the angel has to strike him on the
76. 3:11side, has to hit him.
77. 3:14And then we get all these very precise
78. 3:17details that Luke gives us as to exactly
79. 3:20what happened. The chains fell off,
80. 3:23guards beside him, guards outside.
81. 3:26"Put on your cloak, follow me."
82. 3:29And all of a sudden they're out in the
83. 3:31streets of the city, and the angel
84. 3:34disappears.
85. 3:36When Peter came to himself, he said,
86. 3:39"Now [clears throat] I know for sure
87. 3:42that the Lord has sent forth his angel
88. 3:45and rescued me from the hand of Herod
89. 3:48and from all that the Jewish people were
90. 3:50expecting."
91. 3:54And when he realized this, he went to
92. 3:56the house of Mary, the mother of John,
93. 3:59who was called Mark,
94. 4:01where many were gathered together and
95. 4:04were praying.
96. 4:06When he knocked on the door of the gate,
97. 4:08a servant girl named Rhoda came to
98. 4:11answer.
99. 4:13When she recognized Peter's voice,
100. 4:16because of her joy, she did not open the
101. 4:19gate, but ran in and announced that
102. 4:21Peter was standing in front of the gate.
103. 4:25They said to her, "You are out of your
104. 4:28mind."
105. 4:29But she kept insisting that it was so.
106. 4:32They kept saying, "It is his angel."
107. 4:37Listen to the detail,
108. 4:39but listen to how we Christians often
109. 4:42operate.
110. 4:44They are having a prayer meeting
111. 4:47because they believe God can change
112. 4:49Peter's situation.
113. 4:51But when the answer is knocking at the
114. 4:54gate, they're still wanting to continue
115. 4:57their petitions, and they tell the girl
116. 4:59who's announcing the solution she's
117. 5:02crazy, she's out of her mind. They're
118. 5:04willing to believe that it's Peter's
119. 5:06angel, but they're not willing to accept
120. 5:09that their prayers have been answered.
121. 5:12Sometimes
122. 5:14the answer we are seeking is already
123. 5:16rattling the gate, but we're still busy
124. 5:19begging for it instead of going and
125. 5:21opening the door to the grace and the
126. 5:23answer and the fulfilled promise that
127. 5:25God has already given us.
128. 5:27But Peter continued knocking.
129. 5:30Now, when day came, there was no small
130. 5:33disturbance among the soldiers as to
131. 5:36what could have become of Peter.
132. 5:40When Herod had searched for him and had
133. 5:42not found him, he examined the guards
134. 5:45and ordered that they be led away to
135. 5:48execution.
136. 5:50Then he went down to Judea, to Caesarea,
137. 5:53and was spending time there.
138. 5:56So, Herod was so angry that he had the
139. 5:59guards executed because they let Peter
140. 6:03go. And he couldn't accept that an angel
141. 6:06was acting.
142. 6:08Instead, he went down to the beach.
143. 6:11Now, he was very angry with the people
144. 6:14of Tyre and Sidon.
145. 6:16And with one accord, they came to him
146. 6:18and having won over Blastus, the king's
147. 6:21chamberlain, they were asking for peace
148. 6:23[music] because their country was fed by
149. 6:25the king's country.
150. 6:27On an appointed day, Herod, having put
151. 6:30on his royal apparel,
152. 6:32took his seat on the [music] rostrum and
153. 6:34began delivering an address to them.
154. 6:38The people kept crying out, "The voice
155. 6:40of a god and not of a man."
156. 6:44And immediately, an angel of the Lord
157. 6:46struck him, Herod,
158. 6:49because he did not give God the glory.
159. 6:52And he was eaten by worms and died.
160. 6:57But the word of the Lord continued to
161. 6:59grow and be multiplied.
162. 7:02So, Herod is portrayed here as this
163. 7:04[music] ill-tempered
164. 7:06egomaniac
165. 7:08who
166. 7:10puts James to death because he's trying
167. 7:13to please the people, plans a spectacle
168. 7:15with Peter because he's wanting to
169. 7:17please the people,
170. 7:19slaughters the guys
171. 7:21who couldn't stop an angel because he's
172. 7:24in a bad temper,
173. 7:25and goes down to Caesarea, and his
174. 7:28narcissism is pacified [music]
175. 7:31by worship from the people of Tyre and
176. 7:34Sidon.
177. 7:36But he has this condition, likely some
178. 7:38form of gangrene or something, [music]
179. 7:40where he is struck by God, and he ends
180. 7:43up dying of worms, being devoured by
181. 7:46worms. What a grotesque
182. 7:49spectacle.
183. 7:51But the word of the Lord continued to
184. 7:52grow [music]
185. 7:53and to be multiplied.
186. 7:56So yes, some setbacks, some losses.
187. 7:59James is dead.
188. 8:02But the word of the Lord was not
189. 8:03chained.
190. 8:05And Barnabas and Saul returned from
191. 8:07Jerusalem
192. 8:08when they had fulfilled their mission,
193. 8:10taking along with them John, who was
194. 8:13also called Mark.
195. 8:16>> [music]