Exeter Temple Message notes: Sunday 14th June 2015
Bible Reading: Acts 12:1-19
Many people
may have looked at Peter and assumed that what he possessed was not worth much.
Peter of course would have disagreed.
“”For we have been born again, not of perishable seed but of
imperishable through the living and enduring word of God. All men are like
grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers
and the flowers fall but the word of the Lord stands forever.” (1 Peter 1:23)
Possessing
new life in Christ resulted in a wonderful inheritance which he claimed and
used.
1. The Peace of God
In the story
Peter was able to sleep peacefully in a very uncomfortable place. The phrase “Peter was sleeping” in v 6 are encouraging
because they show that Peter was becoming more and more like Jesus every day.
There would have been a time when Peter would have tried to grab the guard’s
sword in a rash escape attempt or he would have been tried to talk his way out,
but now just like Jesus in the boat during a violent storm, Peter trusts God
and sleeps, taking his own advice, “Cast
all you anxiety on him (that is Jesus) because he cares for you.” (1Peter
5:7)
Jesus said
that his legacy would be peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give
you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and
do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
It wasn’t a trouble
free life that Peter had inherited from Jesus in fact Jesus was the reason for
Peter’s predicament. Yet here he was, at
peace. Peace is our legacy too but we
do not always do the right things in order to release it into our lives.
The key is a
life of prayer. “Rejoice in the Lord
always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the
peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians
4:4-7
“Paul says we should ask God about
every area of life. If it matters to you it matters to God. prayer like that
will meant that God’s peace, not a Stoic lack of concern but a deep peace in
the middle of life’s problems and storms will keep guard around your heart and
mind like a squadron of soldiers looking after a treasure chest.”
(Tom Wright)
2. Praying friends
Whilst Peter slept peacefully his
friends were up all night praying. In
their praying they did three things
They prayed together They could no doubt have prayed as individuals about the
situation in the privacy of their own homes but there is something powerful
that happens when Christians get together to pray.
b They prayed earnestly The word used for earnestly is the same word used for the way
Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. It contains the idea of something
stretched out to the limits, like a muscle would be during intensive training
in the gym.
c They prayed with urgency because they were in a crisis situation. “We have
an example in this text of the Local N.T. Church in Jerusalem in prayer during
a time of crisis in their church. And we can see also in this text that their
prayer was miraculously answered. Anytime a church is not experiencing souls
being saved on a regular basis should be considered a crisis time.” (Anon)
They prayed specifically The church was earnestly praying for
Peter. The Church in Jerusalem didn’t pray; “Lord, be with all who are in
prison tonight,” they prayed for Peter who was in prison.
3. The Promises of God
One of the
things Peter had learned was that it didn’t matter how bleak things looked it
wasn’t necessarily the end of the story. God could turn it around. Peter
possessed was a trust in the plan and purpose of God
Peter had
seen the crucifixion transformed into resurrection. He had seen the Church’s
most ardent opponent, Saul turn to Christ and become a passionate believer. He
had seen the Jerusalem Church struggling under persecution not only survive but
spread into Samaria and far beyond.
Now he
wasn’t too sure what the plan was but he was sure God had one. Perhaps he
remembered the promise of Jesus that when he was old, he would have to be
guided by others. Peter wasn’t that old so God had something other in mind for
him than his head on a block. He believed the promise of Jesus.
For a plane
to even take off the ground a tremendous amount has to gone on behind the
scenes that way beyond our understanding – whilst we passengers sit comfortably
on our seats, we trust the airline to get us to our destination. There are,
right as we speak angels who are being directed to accomplish the will of God
in our lives. The least we can do is trust Him.
And trust
must always be accompanied by obedience.
Peter was
given instructions by the angel which he had to obey and whilst the angel kept
the soldiers asleep and opened iron doors, Peter had to get up and walk in
order to get out. We must like Peter do the things He asks of us in order to be
free. God so often opens doors for us which we fail to go through.
This was not
the first time Peter had escaped from Prison. In Acts5:18–20 he had been with
the other apostles and an angel had let them out with the instruction to go
back to the Temple and continue preaching. This time just because God had done
it again, Peter did not assume that he should immediately go back into the
public eye. The angel gave no such instruction so Peter didn’t do it. He didn’t
take his second escape to mean that he was indestructible.
It was the
same God who arranged his escape but God didn’t want him to follow the same
pattern of activity this time.
It is very
important that we do not try to relive past experience. God very often wants to
do a new thing in a new day. Peter may have relished the thought of embarrassing
Herod by preaching in public, but this time the right thing to do in order that
the spread the gospel could continue was to go quietly and inform the believers
of his release and then go in hiding for a period.
Had Peter
been impetuous, as in the old days, he could have triggered the wholesale
slaughter of Christians. As it happened GOD dealt with Herod Himself, once and
for all. Peter didn’t have to engineer anything, just be obedient, which he
was.
God bless
Alan and Carol
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