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Acts 12:18-23  THE FATE OF HEROD AGRIPPA

Introduction:

	Herod Agrippa I, who was a new king in Israel,  had arrested and killed 
the Apostle James.  He had also arrested the Apostle Peter and had intended to 
kill him, but an angel of God had intervened and set Simon Peter free.  
	In our text last Sunday the Apostle Peter showed up at the home where a 
great many of the church members had gathered to pray for him and surprised them 
all by his appearance.  
	In our text today Luke tells us what happened to Herod Agrippa.  The story 
takes up with the fate of the soldiers at the prison where Simon Peter had been 
confined.  

I.  Trouble for the soldiers

	V. 18, “Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the 
soldiers, what was become of Peter.”  It appears that the soldiers did not 
really know what happened to the Apostle Peter.  They apparently were never 
aware that an angel had come to the prison and had set the apostle free.  
Perhaps you will remember that Simon Peter had been chained between two of the 
soldiers.  The chains were still attached to their arms, but Simon Peter was 
gone.  Another two soldiers guarded the two doors which led to the cell where 
Peter had been kept.  The two doors through which Peter had made his exit were 
standing open and the iron gate to the fence which led to the street of the city 
was open, but there was nothing which they could find that would tell them how 
he had escaped without them knowing anything about it.  .  
	Not one of the four soldiers could offer any explanation of what had 
happened.  It was a total mystery to them.  They were dumbfounded.  They were 
mystified.  It would seem to them that at least one of them should have been 
aware of what was going one, but not one of them had any an inkling of how Simon 
Peter had escaped.  
	But for those soldiers, there was a lot more involved than the mystery of 
how Simon Peter had gotten out of prison.  There was also the mystery of where 
he could be found.  They must find him and that right quickly.  If he could not 
be found quickly, they would almost certainly have to pay with their own lives.  
We can be sure that they wasted no time in searching for him.  They must have 
searched in every place throughout the city where they suspected that he might 
be found.  They left no stone unturned.  But all their effort was to no avail.  
Simon Peter was not to be found.  
	V. 19, “And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined 
the keepers, and commanded that [they] should be put to death...”  When Herod 
Agrippa learned that the Apostle Peter had escaped, he, too, ordered that a 
search be made for him.  But the soldiers which he sent out were just as 
unsuccessful as the prison guards had been.  He was simply not to be found.  God 
had seen to that.  God had led him away  to some place where they would never 
find him.  
	Herod, of course, was very angry at the prison guards.  He ordered them to 
be thoroughly questioned to make sure that they were not, themselves, involved 
in helping him to escape and to see if they had any information which could lead 
to his capture.  But when all the questions provided no answers as to what 
happened and no leads as to where Simon Peter might be, he ordered that they be 
put to death.  
	There is a great note of sadness attached to their death.  They were being 
punished for something for which they were not at fault.  They did not help 
Simon Peter escape.  Neither was his escape due to negligence on their part.  
They could not have prevented his escape.  They suffered the death penalty for 
something that was in no way their fault.  That is sad.  

II.  Herod Agrippa’s trouble with the cities of Tyre and Sidon

	Herod Agrippa had been at Jerusalem when he ordered the arrest of the 
Apostle Peter.  He had stayed there all during the Jewish Passover waiting for 
the day when he would execute the Apostle Peter.  The news had spread throughout 
the city of Jerusalem to all of the residents of the city and to all of the Jews 
who had come to Jerusalem from all over the land to observe the Passover that 
the Apostle Peter would be executed.  
	During those few days Herod Agrippa had been a great hero in the eyes of 
all those Jews.  They had been so very pleased when he had arrested and killed 
the Apostle James.  Now he had gained their admiration even more by the arrest 
of the Apostle Peter.  They were all anxiously awaiting the day when the Apostle 
Peter would be executed.  And Herod was basking in all this admiration from the 
Jews, especially from the Jewish leaders.  
	But now that Simon Peter had escaped from prison and was nowhere to be 
found, Herod Agrippa was shamed.  So he quickly decided to get away from 
Jerusalem and away from the presence of the Jewish leaders and Jewish people.  
He just did not want to face them.  So he solved that problem by going to 
Caesarea.  (V. 19), “... And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and [there] 
abode.”   Caesarea was the city where most  Romans rulers before him had lived 
while they governed Judea.  It was a beautiful city and well fortified.  There 
was already a Roman garrison there and he would not have the face the Jews every 
day before whom he was now shamed.  
	But there arose a new problem for Herod Agrippa.  There arose some sort of 
conflict between himself and the two Gentile cities of Tyre and Sidon, over 
which he also ruled.  Luke does not tell us what the problem was, but he does 
tell us that there was a problem.  V.  20, “And Herod was highly displeased with 
them of Tyre and Sidon...”  Whatever the problem was, Herod was highly 
displeased with the city officials in both Tyre and Sidon.  Tyre and Sidon were 
seaport cities in the province of Phonecia.  Caesarea was a seaport city which 
did a lot of trade with Tyre and Sidon.  Luke says that Herod was highly 
displeased with the city officials of that city.  He does not say why.  Perhaps 
is was some kind of dispute about trade tariff.  Probably Herod wanted a larger 
cut of the tax money.    
	If the leaders of Tyre and Sidon did not move quickly to resolve their 
differences with Herod they would lose trade with Caesarea  and that would cost 
them money.  Therefore, they sought to make peace with Herod quickly.  So they 
did not waste time in trying to reach a peaceful settlement.  (V. 20), “...but 
they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's 
chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by 
the king's [country].”  
	Josephus, a Jewish historian, says that the embassies from Tyre and Sidon 
arrived at Caesarea before daylight on the same day on which Herod had planned a 
great celebration in honor of Claudius Caesar.  At the crack of dawn a great 
crowd had gathered and the celebration got under way.  

III.  Herod Agrippa’s trouble with God

	Luke gives us a brief account of the great celebration which Herod held in 
honor of Claudius Caesar.  The embassies from Tyre and Sidon were present.  In 
this brief account given by Luke we learn that Herod had a lot more trouble that 
his same before the Jews at Jerusalem.  He had a bigger trouble than his 
disagreement with the city officials at Tyre and Sidon.  Herod Agrippa had 
trouble with God.  
	He did not realize that when he had arrested James and killed him he was 
fighting against God.  He did not realize that when he arrested the Apostle 
Peter and set the day for his execution, he was fighting a battle against God.  
He did not realize that when he started fighting against God he was fighting a 
battle he could not win.  
	But let us get back to the celebration and see how God dealt with Herod 
Agrippa.   V. 21, “And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon 
his throne, and made an oration unto them.”  Luke says that Herod made an 
oration to the great crowd which had gathered.  That is, he delivered a speech.  
It must have been a rip roaring highly emotional speech.  The Josephus tells us 
that speech was already under way when the sun topped the horizon and the first 
rays of sunlight did shine down on Herod as he spoke.  Luke also tells us that 
Herod was  arrayed in royal apparel.  Josepus says that he wore a robe which had 
silver threads interwoven into the material.  He said that when the sun hit the 
silver garment that he wore, Herod made a spectacular sight. 
	 The people were already enthralled by the splendor of his speech and they 
became much more enthralled by the splendor of his robe glistening in the sun 
and they began to wildly cheer.  Just listen to what they said about him.  V. 
22, “And the people gave a shout, [saying, It is] the voice of a god, and not of 
a man.”  This was very high praise.  He made a spectacular sight.  He made a 
spectacular speech.  He received the highest praise.  He received the kind of 
praise that no man should ever receive. 
	I would call your attention to the fact that some of the Lord’s apostles 
had likewise had people to fall at their feet and acclaim them to be gods, but 
there was a big difference.  Those apostles had immediately demanded that the 
people arise to their feet and told them in no uncertain terms that they were 
not gods.   However, it appears that Herod made no effort to correct his 
audience.  He was greatly pleased to be called a god.  He ate it up.  
	Joseph’s says that while the crowd was still cheering loudly that Herod 
was stricken with stomach pains and was immediately carried away to his palace.  
Five days later he died.  In verse 23 Luke says, “And immediately the angel of 
the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of 
worms, and gave up the ghost.”  

IV.  The trouble that every person is in who fails to yield to God

	Listen, God has a great love for every human being.  He loves every man, 
every woman, every boy and girl.  He love us all enough that He sent His Son, 
His Only Begotten Son, to the cross of Calvary to pay the redemption price and 
to provide  opportunity for each and every human being to be saved.  
	Not only did Jesus die on the cross for all men, but God has sent the 
gospel message to the entire world call upon all to repent of their sin and 
trust Jesus Christ for salvation.  
	In addition to God sending Jesus to the cross and sending the gospel to 
all the world, God has sent the Holy Spirit of God to convict each person of his 
guilt of sin and his need of salvation.  The Holy Spirit knocks at the heart’s 
door of every person seeking to lead that person to put his or her faith in 
Jesus Christ for the salvation of the soul.  Time and again God gives the lost 
sinner an opportunity to be saved.  The person who fails to repent of his sin 
and place his faith in Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul is in just as 
much trouble as was Herod Agrippa.  
	No matter what position one holds in this life if he fails to trust Jesus 
for his salvation, he is in big trouble.  Herod Agrippa was the king of all 
Israel, but his crown and his throne did not help him with God.  God sent an 
angel who smote him so that he died.  
	No matter how much wealth one holds in this life, if he fails to trust 
Jesus Christ to save his soul, he is in big trouble.  Herod Agrippa was so 
wealthy that he had a robe interwoven with threads made out of real silver.  But 
his wealth did not help him with God.  
	No matter how much praise and honor one has in this life, if he fails to 
trust Jesus Christ to cleanse him of all his sin, he is in big trouble with God.  
Herod Agrippa received a standing ovation from all of that great crowd of 
people.  They looked upon him as being one of the gods.  But all of the praises 
of men did not help him with God.  
  	Until one calls upon the Lord Jesus Christ and trusts Jesus to save his 
soul, he is in big trouble with God.  Death may not come suddenly as it did with 
Herod Agrippa, but death will come.  The Scripture says that it is appointed 
unto men once to die and after death, the judgment.  Death is appointed to all 
men and judgment after death is appointed to all men.  That is why that everyone 
who has not trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation is in big trouble.  He 
is in big trouble with God.  
	Herod Agrippa probably knew that he was going to die some day, but I think 
that it is safe to say that he was not expecting it to come so soon.  He was 
expecting to live a number of more years.  He had not been on the throne in 
Israel very long.  He was surely hoping to have a number of good years in his 
new office, but death struck suddenly came and took him away.  
	The Apostle James, whom Herod killed was a saved man and when he died he 
went to heaven.  The Apostle Peter, whom Herod sought to kill was also a saved 
man and much later when he died, he, too, went to heaven.  But when Herod died, 
he went out of this world unprepared to meet God.  Like the rich man in Luke 16, 
he awoke in the fires of hell.  He will stand before God without being prepared 
to stand before God in judgment.  
	Do not let that happen to you.  Make your preparation now so that whenever 
death comes you will be prepared.  Make your preparation now so that when you 
stand before God in judgment, you will be prepared for judgment.  
	The only way that you can get prepared for death is by repenting of your 
sin and trusting in Jesus Christ to save your soul.  He could have been saved if 
he had repented of his sin and trusted Jesus Christ to save his soul, but he 
didn’t.  
	Have you ever called upon Jesus Christ and asked Him to save your soul?  
Do you ever intend to call upon Jesus and ask Him to save your soul?  If you 
ever intend to call upon Jesus Christ and get prepared to go out of this world, 
you need to do it without any further delay.  Like Herod Agrippa, you never know 
just when you may be called out of this world.  

Conclusion:

	While our congregation sings this hymn, will you turn your heart to God 
and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ and ask Him to save your soul?  If so, will 
you come forward and let us know about it?  Will you share with us the good news 
that you have trusted Jesus to be your Savior?  
	If there is some Christian who wished to come and place your membership in 
this church we invite you to come and let your wishes be made known.  If there 
is a Christian who needs to rededicate your life would you do so at this time?