Sunday, April 18, 2010

"Answered Prayer" Sermon: Acts 12:1-19

“Answered Prayer”
[Acts 12:1-19]
April 18, 2010 Second Reformed Church

Have you ever had a dream that you really thought was reality? Have you ever woken from a dream and not been sure if what you just dreamt was a dream or something that really happened?

In this morning’s Scripture, we turn to look at what was happening in Jerusalem after the famine that was prophesied in the previous chapter. We read that Herod – that is Herod Agrippa – the grandson of the Herod who “interviewed” Jesus before the crucifixion – was leading a persecution against the Christians. He captured James, the brother of John, one of the two sons of Zebedee – the sons of thunder. And for his crimes – blasphemy in particular – for he taught that Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah – the Savior – the Only God and Hope for humans – Herod cut off his head.

So let us understand right away that those who hate God will try to hurt God and stop His Gospel by hurting God’s people. But such people are wrong, as we know. Gamaliel had warned the Pharisees not to punish Peter, but to wait and see if their message proved false and faded away, or if it proved to be true – in which case they would not want to be fighting against God.

Jesus was put to death, but since He is Truth, He rose from the dead, confirming His Gospel, and when the persecution began, the Christians moved out from Jerusalem and spread the Gospel as they went – to Samaria, Judea, and the rest of the world.

Jesus said that they – and we – should not be surprised at the persecution of Christians, “If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they keep my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:18-20, ESV).

How did the people react to Herod’s quest – to his hunting down one of the Apostles – a member of the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples? How did they react to Herod having James’ head cut off?

“It pleased the Jews.” The word that is used for “pleased” does not merely mean that they thought, “OK, Herod is doing his job; that’s nice.” This is a stronger word – they gave him a standing ovation – “Hooray for Herod! That was great! Get those heretics! Do it again! Let’s see those heads roll! ”

We need to understand that the devil tempts and incites the enemies of God to rejoice when evil is done against God and His people. And Herod was smart – he didn’t just make a point of hunting down any Joe and Mary Christian – he went to the key figures – the people who were in the spotlight. So he arrested Peter as well.

We don’t currently decapitate Christians in this country, but being a Bible-believing Christian is considered one of the worst things you can be – and if you talk about your beliefs! You can believe anything else, but if you say that Jesus is the Only Way – that’s it.

The media has been very accommodating to John Travolta talking about his faith in Scientology and how all would benefit from it. The media has been very accommodating to Madonna’s believe in Kabbalah and how all would benefit from it. The media has had no problem with Tiger Woods talking about his Buddhism and how he let down his principles by his adultery. But when one of the newsmen, who is a Christian, made the comment that Tiger would only find true peace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ and His Salvation – and he said this on the air – there were immediate demands for an apology – for him to be fired – and so forth.

So Herod arrested Peter. But it was Passover, and being a good Jew, Herod did not want to dirty the celebration of the Passover by bringing attention to the evil that Peter had done, so he determined to keep Peter in prison until after the Passover. You see, those who are against God may have the appearance of being religious – of being those who love and follow God.

Many people love all the trappings of Christianity, but hate God Himself. You may be familiar with Bishop John Spong, until recently, a Bishop in the Episcopal Church, preaching in Newark. Bishop Spong loves all of the pomp and circumstance of the Church, but have you heard him or read his books? His says that Jesus was not born of a virgin. He says Jesus is not God, He did not rise from the dead, He did not die for our sins. In fact, most of the Bible is not true. He honestly believes that he can be faithful to God and be a believing Christian and deny Jesus.

When I was in high school, I was talking to my Chemistry teacher after school, and we got to a point in our discussion where I asked if he was a Christian. He said, “yes.” So I continued on, and he suddenly stopped me and said, “You don’t believe the Bible, do you?”

Brothers and sisters, Christianity is not a buffet: you cannot pick and choose what you like and leave out the rest. You cannot say you love the Psalms, but don’t believe the claims of Jesus. We can disagree about things that are not taught in the Scripture – we can argue about whether we should use drums or not during the worship service. But we cannot say we are Christians – we love the stained glass and the hymns and the organ and the coffee hour – but we don’t believe that Jesus is God the Son Who came to earth, lived a perfect life under God’s Law, died at that hands of sinners, rose from the dead, and ascended back to His Throne – we cannot say that.

Herod loved Judaism. He loved the praise of the people. But he hated God. So he arrested Peter, but put him in jail until after the Passover, and he set four squads of soldiers – sixteen centurions – to guard him. They likely took guard in shifts – two were chained to him. Two were at the cell door. Two were at the jail door. And two were guarding the city gate. So, they guarded him in shifts of eight. “But earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he tells the Christians to be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To the end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplications for all of the saints” (Ephesians 6:18, ESV). Paul says that we are to pray for all other Christians – according to the Will of God – by the Power and through the Holy Spirit – asking that God’s Will would be done – that every creature would hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be called to repentance and belief in Him. And we are to do that, nonstop, without fail, until the end – until we die or until Jesus returns – whichever comes first.

God calls us to prayer – even in impossible situations. And God hears us – we can come before His Throne. When Jesus hung on the cross, He tore the temple curtain from top to bottom, opening the Holy of Holies, so now we who believe can enter into the very Throne Room of God and call on Him as our Father and ask, if it be His Will, even for the impossible, in Jesus’ Name.

Peter was in jail, guarded by sixteen centurions. Herod had determined to kill him so the crowd would continue to praise him and throw support his way. What chance did Peter have? James had already been beheaded. Surely the Church had been praying for him. What was the point? If God didn’t save James from the sword, why would He save Peter? We don’t know – they didn’t know – but God called them and us to prayer.

Peter was asleep on the ground, chained to two centurions with two chains. Two more centurions were at the door. Two were in front of the jail. Two were station at the city gate. And the Church prayed fervently that God would save Peter.

And an angel of the Lord stood next to Peter and kicked him in the side, waking him up. His chains fell off. Peter looked at the angel and thought he was having a dream – seeing a vision. And the angel said, “Get up quickly.” So, Peter got up. And the angel said, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he walked past the guards at the cell door and passed the guards at the jail door, and when they reached the gate to the city, an invisible hand opened the gates and Peter walked through them past the guards, and the angel disappeared. At that moment, he realized this wasn’t a dream – or a vision: “No I am sure that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” He said, “Whoa That was really the angel of the Lord and I am free from Herod and the will of the Jews – I’m not going to be beheaded tomorrow! ”

So Peter ran to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark – the author of the Gospel of Mark and Peter’s friend and traveling companion – they were all praying there for him – that God would do something to save him.

Know then that God hears the prayers of His people and responds to them according to His Will. We need not doubt that God hears us, and if we have prayed according to His Will He will do whatever we ask in Jesus’ Name. But that’s the rub, isn’t it? Sometimes we don’t know what God’s Will is. Sometimes we don’t know how to pray except to ask that if something is God’s Will it will happen. We pray for what we believe is best – what we would like to see happen – what we believe would be according to God’s Will. But sometimes we’re wrong. The Church prayed for Peter and he was freed because it was God’s Will. But if it had been God’s will for him to die at the hand of Herod at that time, God would not have saved him, even though He heard the prayers of His people. So we need to do all that we can to know God and His Will and then submit to it, believing that God does hear us and answer us according to His Will.

So Peter ran to Mary’s house and banged on the door and Rhoda came to the door and asked who it was, and he said it was Peter, and she was so excited, she forgot to open the door – she ran back to the Church and told everyone that Peter was at the door, and how did they respond? “You’re nuts. It’s not Peter – it’s someone with a message from Peter.” (The word that is translated “angel” in our text can also be translated “messenger.”)

But Peter kept knocking at the door, so they all ran back to the door and opened it, and they were amazed. And Peter motioned, “Ssh! Let me in! ” And they let him into the house and he explained everything that happened.

And this is the point of the history where I scratch my head, and I would like to say to them: “You were amazed? Really? Were you amazed that Peter was standing there right then? Were you amazed that Peter was freed in the way God chose to free him? If that’s what the text means, I can understand it. You certainly were not amazed that God could and did free him, right?”

Here’s why I would ask: the writer of the book of Hebrews writes, “And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6, ESV). In the context of prayer, what this is saying is that our prayer does not please God unless we believe that God exists and can actually do what we are asking Him to do. If we don’t believe there is a God, or if we don’t believe that God can answer our prayer, then that prayer is not pleasing to God and we do better not to offer it. If the Church didn’t believe that God could free Peter, they should not have been praying for his freedom. Likewise, if we don’t believe that God can heal, we should not pray for someone’s healing. If we don’t believe that God can bring peace, we should not pray that God will bring peace. We must believe in our God and that He is able to do the things that we ask of Him before we ask Him for those things in prayer.

Maybe some of the Church doubted, but I’m sure some believed, and God answered their prayer, according to His Will, and freed Peter the night before he was to die, and he went to tell the Church that he had been delivered. And then for his safety, he left town – he went to away for a time. But before he left, he said, “Tell these things to James [the brother of Jesus] and to the brothers.”

When God answers our prayers, we ought to tell each other. It is good and an encouragement to the Church to see the Hand of God in our lives and in the lives of those we pray for. Paul wrote, “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many” (II Corinthians 1:11, ESV).

As we heard that God has worked in others’ lives – that He has heard and answered prayers, in His time, according to His Plan, even in surprising ways – we are encouraged in the faith – and give thanks and praise to God, Who Alone is worthy of worship.

Why did God save Peter from Herod and not James? We don’t know. That is part of the Secret Counsel of God. When morning came and Peter was gone, Herod had the sixteen centurions executed. Why didn’t God save them? We don’t know.

What we know from this text is that there are people who hate God and will joyfully do everything in their power to stop His Plan. But God’s Plan cannot be stopped or even hindered, and God calls us to pray fervently for our fellow Christians and for God’s Will to be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. And we are to believe that He does hear us and answer our prayers according to His Will. So let us encourage each other with the answers to prayer that we have received and give praise to our God Who has answered them.

Let us pray:
We thank You, Lord, that You are the Holy and Almighty God. We thank You that You loved the world and sent Your Son to save all we who will believe. We ask that You would encourage us to pray and to believe that You are able to answer our prayers. Grow us and bring us more in line with Your Mind that we would pray according to Your Will and in Jesus’ Name. And keep us from neglecting to tell the story of answered prayer – open our mouths in praise to You, for You have heard us, and You have done great things. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

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