60 Acts 12:1-11 AN ANGEL SENT TO FREE THE APOSTLE PETER Introduction: After the crucifixion of Jesus the Jewish leaders set about to persecute the followers of Jesus. Saul of Tarsus was the chief persecutor of Christians until he got saved. Getting savedc put an end to his acts of persecution of the Christians. Instead he became a great promoter of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Never-the-less, the Jewish leaders continued their persecution against Christians and even sought the life of Saul of Tarsus now that he was promoting Christianity. But in our text today we see the beginning of a new source of persecution against the Christians. Our text gives the first record of a Gentile leader persecuting Christians. In our text one apostle is killed by him and another is imprisoned. The Apostle Peter is imprisoned and his death is planned. It is by the grace of God that he is set free. I. The apostle Peter imprisoned V. 1, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth [his] hands to vex certain of the church.” The word, Herod, is a name which was given to a certain family line of Gentile rulers who were appointed by the Roman Caesars to rule over all or part of the land of Palestine. Each of several different men were called “Herod” in the New Testament. This family line of rulers started with a man named Herod who was ruler over all of the land of the Jews. He is called “Herod The Great.” This Herod was not a great man at all. He is the ruler who ordered all of the male babies two years old and under in lthe vicinity of Bethlehem to be put to death. He did this in an attempt to kill the Christ lest the Christ might seek to take his throne away from him. But in spite of his evil character and evil deeds he had his subjects call him, “Herod The Great” and that is the way he is known in history even to this day. I will not attempt to trace the history of all the Herods. But I think I should mention Herod Antipas, who was the youngest son of Herod the Great. Herod Antipas did not rule all of Palestine, but he was made a tetrarch in Galilee and Perea. Herod Antipas was the Herod who ordered John the Baptist beheaded. The Herod who is mentioned in our text was Herod Agrippa I. He was a grandson to Herod the Great. Herod Agrippa I was the first of the Herods since Herod the Great to rule over the entire land of Palestine. He is also the first of all Gentile rulers to persecute the Christians. Luke said that he “...stretched forth his hand to vex certain in the church.” The Jews, particularly the Jewish leaders, had persecuted the Christians, but not one of the Gentile rulers had done so until Herod Agrippa. Unlike Sau;l of Tarsus, Herod Agrippa did not launch an attack against all Christians. Rather he picked ;out certain Christian leaders to persecute. V. 2, “And he killed James the brother of John with the sword...” He killed one of the leading Christian men. He killed one of the twelve apostles. If an enemy of the Christians wanted to strike fear into the hearts of all Christians and make them be inclined to keep quiet about their belief that Jesus is the Christ, I can think of no better way for him to do it than to kill one of the leading Christians. Killing one of he twelve apostles was designed to make all of the remaining eleven apostles reluctant to speak out publicly proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ. In fact, it was designed to make all Christians afraid to speak out openly proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ. Let me tell you that it would have a very powerful effect upon us members of Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church. If we knew that by telling someone outside the membership of our church that we believe in Jesus as the Christ of God we would be thrown in jail and probably hacked to death with a sword, it would strike fear into all of us. It might not silence us, but it would make us all afraid. James was not only one of the twelve apostles, but he was a brother to another one of the other apostles. This would especially sadden the Apostle John, James’ brother, and make him more reluctant to speak out for Christ. V. 3, “And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also...” In this statement Luke informs us why Herod Agrippa had killed the Apostle James and why he wanted to kill the Apostle Peter. He killed some to please the Jews and he arrested Peter to please the Jews. It was not that Herod Agrippa particularly loved the Jews. He didn’t. Neither he nor any of the Herods had any love for the Jews. They were descendants of Esau, who hated his brother Jacob and Esau had instilled an extreme dislike for all Jews into all of his descendants. Herod Agrippa did not like the Jews one little bit, but like all other Gentiles who ruled over the Jews, he knew that he needed to get along with them or else they would make trouble for him with the Roman Caesar. He did not love the Jews, but he did love his job as king over them and he wanted to be able to keep it. Therefore, he arrested James simply because he knew that it would please the Jewish leaders. After arresting James he killed him simply because he knew that it would please the Jewish leaders. And when he saw how much it pleased the Jews for him to kill James he immediately ordered the arrest of the Apostle Peter with an intent of killing him. (V. 3), “...(Then were the days of unleavened bread.).” This statement means that this was the time of the year that Jews from all over the land of Palestine and from several nations outside of Palestine gathered at Jerusalem for the purpose of celebrating the Jewish Passover. He arrested the Apostle Peter knowing that it would please the Jewish leaders and he chose to do so at the time of the Jewish Passover because there were a lot more Jews in Jerusalem to give him praises for doing something which he knew would please them. He would get more pralises that way. But arresting Peter at this season of the year not only meant that he would get the praises of more Jews, but it meant that he could not just immediately kill the Apostle Peter as he had done with the Apostle James. The Jews would be in an uproar if he would shed blood within Jerusalem at this time. So Herod Agrippa chose not only to please the Jews by arresting Peter at this time, but he also pleased them even more by decaying his execution until after the Passover. V. 4, “And when he had apprehended him, he put [him] in prison, and delivered [him] to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” The Greek word which here is translated “Easter” by the King James translators is a mistranslation. The word, Easter, as used here in this text to refers to a Jewish religious holiday as the Jews had no religious holiday called by the name Easter. The Jews have never celebrated Easter. Not even the Christians in those early days celebrated Easter. The particular Jewish holiday referred to in this passage has already been identified back in verse three. It is the Jewish Passover. The days of unleavened bread were observed in connection with the Jewish Passover. The Jews would not want blood shed in Jerusalem on their holy days. Therefore, Herod Agrippa arrested the Apostle Peter during the time of unleavened bread connected with the Passover because there would be more Jews present there to praise him than at any other time. He could please more of them by arresting Peter while more of them were in Jerusalem. But he would not want to shed the blood of Peter at that time and take a chance on angering so many Jews by desecrating their holy days with the shedding of blood. So therefore, he arrested the Apostle Peter and imprisoned him, making it clear to the Jews that he would execute Peter after their holy days were over. In verse four Luke also tells us about the strict security under which Peter was imprisoned. Herod had ordered that he be guarded by four quaternions of soldiers daily. Here is how it worked. There would be four daily shifts. Each shift would consist of four soldiers. One soldier would be chained to Simon Peter one side and a second soldier would be chained to him on the other side. The inner cell in which Peter was locked was guarded by third soldier and an outer door was also guarded by a fourth soldier making four soldiers for each shift. The shifts were changed four times daily. In other words, the Apostle Peter was kept as securely as Herod Agrippa could possibly keep him. II. The church in prayer for the Apostle Peter V. 5, “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” The church referred to here is, of course, the church at Jerusalem. The churches off in distant cities would have no way of knowing that quickly that Peter had been arrested and was in prison. Upon hearing that Simon Peter had been arrested the people of the church feared that he would be put to deat like James had been put to death. Therefore they immediately gathered to pray for him and they kept praying for him. . They must have prayed well into the night because they were still praying while Peter was asleep as we will see in the following verses. V. 6, “And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.” On the last day of the Passover celebration Herod made his plans to bring Peter out of prison the next morning. He apparently intended to put Peter to death before the Jews from distant places left Jerusalem. He wanted them all to know that he was trying to please them by killing this very prominent Christian leader. I want you to note the great faith which the Apostle Peter had. He was chained between two soldiers and he was fast asleep. He was not fretting and worrying and saying, “Woe is me! Why would the Lord let this happen to me?” He had great faith in the Lord. Now Peter could not have been saying, “I know the Lord is not going to let Herod hurt me!” He knew that the Lord had let Herod kill the Apostle James with the sword and for all he knew the Lord might let Herod kill him. Peter had every reason to believe that this was his last night to live on earth. But he was not worried. He had seen the Lord Jesus crucified and buried and he had seen Jesus after He came forth from the grave. Peter’s faith was not so much that he thought the Lord would not let Herod hurt him. His faith was actually stronger than that. His faith in the Lord was so strong that he knew that the Lord would not death hurt him. He knew that the Lord would bring him back from the grave in the resurrection. He knew that death could not hurt him. So Peter just stretched out as best he could being chained between the two soldiers and he went to sleep. He went to sleep expecting that on the morrow he would sleep the sleep of death. So while they prayed Peter slept. III. The Apostle Peter delivered So it was while the church was awake praying for Peter and while Peter was fast asleep that God sent an angel to the rescue. V. 7, “And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon [him], and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from [his] hands.” The angel of the Lord appeared on the scene and lit up the prison cell with a brilliant light. The soldiers apparently were also asleep, but their’s was not in a natural sleep. Apparently the angels had put them in a trance so that they were not aware of what was going on. The angel stood over the Apostle Peter and reached down and slapped Peter on his side to wake him up. Immediately the chains fell off the arms of his wrists and Simon Peter was a free man. The angel said, “Arise up quickly.” It was as if to sayl, “Get up from there. Let’s go!” V. 8, “And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.” The wording of the angel reminds me of a mother or a father trying to wake up a little child saying, “Get up from there. Get your clothes on . Come on with me!” By this time Peter was awake. At least he was partially awake. He was awake enough to get up and do as the angel told him to do. But he was not awake enough to fully realize that this was for real. He thought he was dreaming. He thought it was all a vision. V. 9, “And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.” So Peter got up, girded his robe about him, put on his shoes and followed the angel. They left the cell where he had been sleeping and went through the door which had been locked tight. The locked door was no problem for the angel of God. The soldier which had been stationed just outside that locked door did not bother them. He, too, must have been in some kind of trance. They went through he second cell, the angel again causing the locked door to open up to let them through. The soldier which had been stationed outside the second cell was apparently also in a trance. He did not bother them. They went to the iron gate which led outside of the prison grounds into the city and there the angel disappeared. V. 10, “When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.” It was there outside the prison just about the time the angel disappeared and he was left alone out in the street of the city that Peter realized that he was not dreaming. He was not seeing a vision. This was for real. He was free! V. 11, “And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and [from] all the expectation of the people of the Jews.” IV. The deliverance of a lost sinner from his prison cell of sin Those of us who are saved can relate to tghe experience of Simon Peter. At least I can. I was locked in a prison cell and I could not get free. I was born with a nature of sin within me that inclined me to sin. I was chailned to sin so that I could not breat loose. I was guarded by demon spirits sent from Satan who made sure that I was lurfed by temptations that I was not strong enough to resist. Theere was not way that I could escape from sin and there was no way that I could avoild the punishment that awaited me in everlasting fire. But God sent His Son --- His Only Begotten Son to the cross to die for me and to provide salvation for my soul. God even sent the gospel message to me instructing me to repent of my sin and to trust Jesus Christ to save my soul. And I did!. I called on JLesus and I asked Jesus to save my soul and take me to heaven. The wonder of wonders is that when I called on Jesus and asked Him to save me, He did. Oh, the amazing grace of God that saved a wrech like me! Like the Apostle Peter, at first I was not really aware that I was free. I dnot know that I had been born again, I John 5:1. I dild not know that when I trusted Jesus and asked Him to save my soul that I was no longer condemned, John 3:18. I did not know that I would never be condemned again, John 5:24. The lproblem is that there may be some of you who are still in the prison cell of sin. Conclusion: 1. Do you want to be set free? 2. Jesus can set you free, John 8:36; I John 1:7. 3. Call on Jesus and ask Him to save your soul, Rom. 10:13.