Recent decisions on the part of the government, not only in America,
but also in various other countries, have amounted to nothing less than an
attack on the church. And I
believe that this is just the beginning of a wholesale attack on the church
which will continue to get worse and worse as we go forward. The Bible makes it clear that in the
last days, perilous times will come.
Paul described such days as this in 2Tim. 3:1-5 “But realize this,
that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,
arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious
gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its
power; Avoid such men as these.”
Difficult times are coming for the church. We stand on the authority of God’s word, and as such are in
opposition to those types of people, who want not only to be allowed to
continue in their rebellion against God, but want to make us agree with their
rebellion and redefine morality so that what they do is no longer considered
sinful. It’s not enough for us to
allow them their immorality, the church must be forced to condone it and even
celebrate it in order for them to be satisfied.
So I believe that these are the beginning of perilous times for the
church in America, especially. It
is a difficult time for the church because we live in a country with a
representative form of government that is managed by a peculiar type of leader
called a politician. And a lot of politicians
are willing to cater to whatever crowd will keep them elected. Many politicians seem to be willing to
embrace anything that will endear them to enough people to guarantee their
reelection.
But as I alluded to last week, I would encourage you not to be
dismayed and give up hope. Over
the last 2000 years, nations and governments and political despots have risen
and fallen, and yet God’s church still stands. Jesus promised Peter, “I will build my church and the gates
of Hell will not prevail against it.” The church will survive until Jesus
returns one day to reclaim it as His bride and there is nothing the world can
do to stop it.
But that doesn’t mean that there will not be persecution of the
church. I believe wholeheartedly
that the church will endure persecution in the last days. I do not subscribe to the post
millennial doctrine that things are going to get better and better until the
whole world is saved. Neither do I
subscribe to the pre-millennial view that the church will escape unscathed by a
secret rapture. I believe that the
church will go through the tribulation, and it has already started and will
continue to escalate and will consummate with the second coming of Christ.
As Jesus Himself prophesied in Mar 13, saying, “And except that the
Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's
sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. ... For false Christs and false prophets
shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible,
even the elect… But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, ... And then shall they see
the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall
he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds,
from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”
Persecution is coming, but we should not be alarmed by it. Rather we should understand that God
uses all things for good, even persecution, for them that love God, and to them
that are called according to His purposes. (Rom.8:28) God uses even the death of His saints for His purposes and
to build His church. As Tertullian
said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
The problem is that we value too much this present world, and value
too little the next. We should
remember that in Christ we have already died to the world, and if they should
take our life, then so much the better for we will be present with the
Lord. “For me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain.”
In chapter 12 today we see a perfect illustration of the principle
that God will preserve His church against the attacks of the enemy. What I want to show you from this passage
is three principles that we can be assured of as the church endures persecution
from governments or any organization used by Satan to attack the church. The first is the persecution of the
saints. The second is the
protection of the saints. And the
third is the judgment upon the wicked.
So first let’s look at the persecution of the saints. In this
chapter we see persecution against the church ramps up from merely religious
persecution by the Sanhedrin, to political or government persecution against
the church. And yet, God
illustrates through this passage that He is on the throne and in control. This
passage illustrates that rulers and politicians are granted their power from
above, for such a time as God sees fit.
And when God decides that their time is finished, He can remove them
from power.
Jesus told us in John 16:33 that we should expect tribulation;
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In
the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the
world."
As I mentioned, persecution at this stage takes the form of
government persecution. It comes
in the person of King Agrippa the 1st. He was the grandson of Herod the Great who had all the
babies under 2 years old killed at the time of Christ’s birth. And like father like son, the Herod’s
were an immoral, murderous lot that only were concerned about acquiring power
and keeping power. His jurisdiction
was practically all of Israel, which he had acquired in piecemeal through
cronyism with Roman leaders. Furthermore, he was not a pure Jew by
birth. He was an Edomite who had
been circumcised and thus was considered part of Judaism, but never really
accepted by the strict Jews.
If you remember though, in the last chapter Herod had intervened for
the Jews with the Emperor Caligula to keep him from erecting his statue in the temple, which would have
desecrated the temple. And the
Jews were appreciative of his efforts.
So when he saw that he was appeasing the Jews, he sought to further ingratiate
himself to them by attacking the church.
Because the church now was accepting Gentiles, and as such were even
more odious to the Jews. So as it
says in vs. 1 and 2, Herod began to attack the Christians in Jerusalem, and one
of the most famous ones was James, one of the sons of Zebedee, the brother of
John. And to please the Jews,
Herod had him beheaded.
And then when Herod saw that it pleased the Jews, he arrested Peter
as well. He obviously intended to
put Peter to the death also. And I
just want to emphasize here that Herod had no legal grounds to arrest these men
or have them killed. He just did
it for political expediency. It
was the politically correct thing to do.
I’m afraid we live in a culture today when it is politically correct
to try to silence the church as we know it. The world has always been an enemy of the gospel, but in the
past it was somewhat more discreet, today it is out in the open. There is a downright animosity, hatred
even towards Christianity today that is unbelievable. The internet in particular seems to be a breeding ground for
this hatred.
But as much as I am dismayed to see this today, I am reminded that
Jesus foretold this 2000 years ago.
Look again at Mark 13:12-13 "Brother will betray brother to death,
and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them
put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who
endures to the end, he will be saved.”
Now I want to show you an important principle here regarding trials
and persecutions. God did not
deliver James from death, but He did deliver Peter. And if you are like me you cannot help but ask why? Why would God allow Peter to be
delivered but not James? They were
both apostles. They both were a
part of the inner circle of Christ.
And here is the first part of that answer, the second will be given
in the next point. Why did God
allow James to die while Peter was delivered? The answer; it
was the sovereign will of God. It
wasn’t a lack of faith or prayer or any effort of man. It was the will of God. Remember when Jesus prayed to be
delivered from this cup in the Garden of Eden He prayed “Not my will but your
will be done.” And it was the will
of God that Jesus suffered and died on the cross. It was the will of God that virtually all the apostles and
close disciples of Jesus would eventually die as martyrs. I
don’t claim to know the mind of God or all the purposes of God. I have to trust His wisdom. But I can tell you this, James was
immediately with the Lord, and as Paul would say later, that is very much the
better. And I believe these men understood that better than anyone. They knew the reality of the
resurrection. They knew that Jesus
said in John 11:25-26, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes
in Me will never die.” They
believed that from the bottom of their hearts, and that is why I think they
were so bold in their commitment to Christ and willing to die for Christ.
I wish that more of the church had that kind of assurance
today. The fact is that if we have
truly died to the world to follow Christ, then there is nothing that the world
can really do to us. Rom 6:8-11 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe
that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is
never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to
sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider
yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” That’s the secret to enduring
persecution, to know that we will never die if we are Christ’s.
Then the second point we see in this passage is the protection of
the saints. Peter is arrested at the beginning of the Passover Feast which
lasted for 8 days. And during this
time he is chained to a guard on either side, with two others guarding the
cell. And there are four such
squads of soldiers guarding him 24 hours a day. Undoubtedly, Herod had heard that Peter had escaped from
jail before and so he wanted to be sure that he kept him locked up until after
the Passover, when he expected to have Peter executed.
But on the night before Herod was going to bring Peter out to be
killed, an angel of God appears to Peter.
And Peter is sound asleep.
So soundly asleep that the angel has to smack him on his side to wake
him up. I would suggest that is
not due to Peter’s sleepiness so much as it must have been that the entire guardhouse
was put into a deep sleep by the angel in order to effect Peter’s
deliverance.
So back to our question, why does God deliver Peter and yet He did
not deliver James? The first part
of that answer was the sovereignty of God. It was His will that James would become the first martyr of
the apostles, and it was His will that Peter would live for several more
years.
But I think I can add something to that answer by saying this; I think God rarely works to bring about
a personal miracle unless it serves the greater good of the kingdom. And in Peter’s case God wasn’t finished
with him yet. After this chapter,
Peter sort of disappears from the book of Acts for the most part. The emphasis turns to Paul and his
ministry. But God was still going
to use Peter. Peter would go on to
write two epistles, 1st and 2nd Peter, and he would also
mentor a young man that is introduced in this chapter, vs.12, John Mark. John Mark would eventually just be
known as Mark, and he would be Peter’s interpreter as Peter continues his
ministry to the Gentiles. But even
more importantly, Peter teaches this young man the words of Christ which
eventually are written into the Gospel of Mark, one of the four gospels. So Peter’s deliverance
illustrates my principle which is that God rarely works to bring about a
personal miracle unless it serves the greater good of the kingdom. And the greater good that God wanted to
accomplish through Peter is the furtherance of the gospel through the written
word of God.
We see that principle in the Old Testament as Joseph was delivered from prison after 17 years
as a slave and prisoner and elevated to the second in command of Egypt. God performed a miracle in Joseph’s
life because he was going to be the deliver for the children of Israel. He preserved the kingdom of God through
his position. But that principle
is also illustrated when John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas, and
he was beheaded because his ministry was finished. His ministry was to herald and prepare the way for the
ministry of Christ. As he himself
would say concerning Christ, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” His ministry was completed, so God took
him home to glory. So much the
better.
But there is another reason suggested by the text for Peter’s
deliverance. And that is the
prayers of the church. The church
that was meeting at Mary’s house (who was the mother of John Mark) had been
engaging in a week long prayer vigil for Peter. They knew that James had been beheaded by Herod, and so they
were under no illusions about Peter’s destiny. So they earnestly were gathered together praying.
The church in Mary’s house had been praying for a solid week. I think that kind of prayer comes as the
result of persecution. I’m afraid
that kind of prayer is lacking today in the church for the most part. Yet we
are commanded to pray like that. 1Thess. 5:17 says, “pray without
ceasing.” Jesus told a
parable in Luke 18 about a woman that petitioned a king and wouldn’t give up,
to teach that we should pray at all times and not lose heart. Rom. 12 says be devoted to prayer. Eph. 6:18 says “pray at all times.” Peter says in 1Pet. 4:7 “The end of all
things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the
purpose of prayer.” And James says
in chapter 5 that the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man can
accomplish much.
Jesus was a man of prayer.
He prayed all night on a mountain top alone many times. I asked the Wednesday night group last
week the question, “When was the last time you prayed all night for your
children or loved ones?” Jesus did
it. This church in Mary’s house
did it. I would estimate that it
was after midnight at least when Peter came knocking on their door. That may have been why they didn’t
think it could have been Peter outside.
Maybe it wasn’t so much that they didn’t believe God could deliver him
as much as they didn’t think it would happen in the middle of the night.
Jesus rebuked the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane because they
could not pray with Him for one hour.
How about you? Have you
ever prayed for one hour- much
less all night, how about one solid hour of prayer? If not, why not?
Jesus prayed so fervently in the Garden that He sweated drops of
blood. Can you imagine that? Lord, if the church would get an
urgency about prayer then I think we could still turn our communities, if not
the world upside down. Prayer is
one of the only two weapons that we have at our disposal according to Ephesians
6. The word of God and
prayer. And most church members
avoid both of them like the plague.
No wonder we are in the mess we are in today. I would suggest that the mess we have in America is a mess
of our own doing. We have
neglected our duty and our responsibility, due to our romantic entanglement
with the world.
Listen, God gave a promise about prayer in 2Chron. 7:14 which we
would do well to remember is a promise given to the church! “If MY people, which are called by MY
name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will
heal their land.” We don’t need to
worry about the pagans and the atheists becoming more sinful, ladies and
gentlemen. We need to consider our
own sins. The church needs to get
on our knees before God Almighty and repent from our wickedness and call upon
the Lord to hear us and heal us,
and then He will heal our land.
Jesus said we are the salt of the earth. The church is what is supposed to stave off corruption in
the world. But if the salt loses it’s saltiness, then Jesus said it is
worthless and should be thrown into the road to be trampled underfoot. We need to humble ourselves and pray,
ladies and gentlemen. As long as
God is on His throne we need to pray.
There is one more reason I can think of why God did not allow Peter
to be killed. And that is because of the promise of Christ. Jesus had promised that Peter
would live to an old age. Jesus said to Peter in John 21:18 "Truly, truly,
I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk
wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and
someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go."
I would suggest that is another reason that Peter is sleeping so
soundly. He knows that Jesus
predicted his death, and it would be when he was old. Peter wasn’t old at this point, it being only about 10 years
since Jesus’ resurrection. Listen,
that teaches an important principle.
Our faith is not founded in wishful thinking. Some preachers teach that if you just believe hard enough
you can get whatever you pray for.
That is not taught in the Bible.
The church in Mary’s house shows their lack of faith and yet God answers
their prayers. But when we pray
according to the will of God we pray the promises of God. If God said it, then I can trust Him to
perform His word. But God is not some
genie that responds to our incantations and mutterings. No God is sovereign, and I am His
servant and so therefore I can trust Him to protect me as long as He needs me
here.
Finally, the last point that the passage makes about the attack on
the church is the judgment of the wicked.
And we see the judgment of the Lord upon the wicked illustrated in the
life of Herod. Herod was a wicked
man, like his grandfather before him.
He has imprisoned Christians and killed James for no reason other than
political gain. And after Peter is
delivered, Herod shows once again his ruthlessness by having the guards put to
death. Very likely, that meant all
16 guards were executed for something that was obviously a miracle of God. This
miracle should have been a reason for Herod to repent of his wickedness when he
realized that he was working against God.
But instead he hardens his heart and puts the guards to death.
But soon afterwards Herod leaves Jerusalem and goes to spend time in
Caesarea. And while he was there the people of Tyre and Sidon try to appeal to
his vanity in order to gain food for their cities. So to gain an audience with Herod they bribe his
chamberlain, named Blastus, and he arranges for Herod to address the
people.
Now Josephus, the Jewish historian tells us some additional details
which Luke does not. Josephus said
that Herod dressed in his royal attire which was made of silver threads, and
when he came out into the sunlight to address them from the rostrum, the sun
shining on his garment made a dazzling spectacle. And the people seeing this dazzling light emanating from
Herod, and hearing his oratory, began shouting praises to Herod, calling out
that he was a god and not a man.
And it pleased Herod’s vanity.
He accepted their praises, and he did not give glory to the true God of
Israel, but accepted their praise.
And the Bible says that the angel of God smote Herod with worms and he
died. Josephus adds that he
immediately fell down and was taken out in the middle of the ceremony, and then
died a horrible death four days later.
Listen, the church needs to be assured that the judgment of God upon
the wicked is a certainty. The
word of the Lord assures His church that He will reward the iniquity of the
wicked. Vengeance is mine, says the
Lord, I will repay.
Psalms 2:2-6 declares that “The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed,
saying, "Let us tear their
fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" He who sits in the heavens laughs, The
Lord scoffs at them. Then He will
speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, "But as for Me, I have installed My
King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." Do you understand what David is saying? He says the kings of the earth don’t
want the constraints of God’s law upon them. They cast away the cords of restraint that God establishes
in His word. They want to do what
they think is right in their own eyes.
They want to do as they please.
They think that they are autonomous. And they forget that it is Jesus Christ the Soveriegn King
that grants them any authority that they have, and Jesus can and will remove
all authority that opposes His will when He sees fit.
You remember when Pilate told Jesus that he had the authority to put
Him to death, Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it
had been given you from above.” It
would behoove our elected officials to remember this statement, that God gives
them their authority, especially in light of recent events. But even more in light of what happened
to Herod. God delivered Peter, but
he judged Herod, not only in his flesh eaten by worms, but for eternity in hell
where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched. And the Bible teaches that there are degrees of punishment
in hell. We aren’t given specifics
as to how that works, but if the statement concerning teachers is that we are
under greater judgment because we are teachers of the gospel, then it must be
equally true concerning governors
and officers of the state that they are also under a greater judgment and will
be held to a higher standard for what they have done with the responsibility
that God gave them. “To him who has been given much, much shall be required.”
Oh church, do not be dismayed because the heathen rage and the
people imagine a vain thing. Peter
wrote in 2Pet. 3:9, “The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, but is
patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but all to come to
repentance.” Christ came the first
time in mercy, but He comes the second time in judgment to vindicate His church
and execute revenge for the death of the saints.
John, the brother of the martyred James says in Rev. 19:11 says “And
I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a
flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on
Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is
called The Word of God. And the
armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following
Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may
strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He
treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has
a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
O Church, do not be dismayed at the persecution that has come upon
you. Peter writes in 1Peter
4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which
comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to
you; but to the degree that you
share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the
revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” He goes on to say in vs. 17 “For it is
time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us
first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE
RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?”
Jesus is coming again as the Judge of the whole earth. Kings and princes will bow down to
Him. Every knee will bow and
confess that Jesus is Lord of all.
Judgment is coming. But our
job as the church is to preach the gospel, the good news that Jesus has made it
possible for man to be reconciled to God, for man to be saved from the judgment
to come if they will just repent of their wickedness and believe on the name of
Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
And that is what we see described in vs. 24 “But the word of the
Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.” The church continued to grow and spread the gospel and
people were being saved in spite of the attacks against the church. That is the purpose of the church. And the gates of hell will not stop the
word of God from going forth and accomplishing it’s goal. Let us not be surprised at the fiery
ordeal which has come upon us. But
let us be about the Lord’s business of spreading the gospel. Let us be men and women of fervent
prayer. Let us be citizens of a
higher kingdom, servants of a greater King. The Lord is coming soon. As we see these things going on in the world, as we see the
persecution against the church ramping up, let us keep looking up. Jesus is coming soon.
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