The Lord bless us together for
a few minutes as we continue our meditation in the Acts of
the Apostles. And this evening we'll read the last part of chapter
12. Acts of the Apostles chapter
12 and from verse 20 to the end. It's the Acts of the Apostles
chapter 12 from verse 20. And Herod was highly displeased
with them of Tyre and Sidon, 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. And upon a set day, Herod arrayed
in his royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration
unto them. And the people gave a shout saying,
it is the voice of a God and not of a man. 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. But the word of God grew and
multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned
from Jerusalem when they fulfilled their ministry and took with
them John, whose surname was Mark. We continue in this twelfth chapter
where we previously considered about the Apostle Peter who had
been in prison and had been miraculously released from that prison. The
angel had come and had gone before him and had opened the gates
and he was able to go out freely and then he came and met in the
house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark,
where many were gathered together praying. And so, because of the
keepers that had escaped, sorry, had let Peter escape, we read,
and when Herod had sought for him, that's for Peter, and found
him not, he examined the keepers and commanded that they should
be put to death. And he went down from Judea to
Caesarea and their abode. And so we now come to this 20th
verse and we read, and Herod was highly displeased with them
of Tyre and Sidon. Well, we're not told precisely
what that was. We don't actually know why he
was displeased, but apparently he was highly displeased and
no doubt the people in Tyre and Sidon were really concerned because
of that, because Herod was a tyrant and he had great power and we
know that he could command any to be put to death, and so there
may have been much fear in these towns of Tyre and Sidon. And so we read that they, but
they came with one accords to him, and having made Blastus,
the king's chamberlain, their friend, desired peace. Well, they'd come, you see, these
people had come who were from Tyre and Sidon, they'd come to
Herod, and obviously they hadn't got a direct link or direct access
to him, so they got hold of this man Blastus and made him their
friend. And that was probably through
bribes or giving him presents to bring him onto their side
so that he might then give them access to the king. And it was
important because they were reliant upon Herod's people to supply
them with nourishment and food. And so they come this way and
they come to Herod. And now we read that there was
a set day. We're not told whether that was
a successful mission, but it probably was. And then we read,
and upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his
throne and made an oration unto him. And you've probably heard
of the historian Josephus, who is acknowledged as generally
being very accurate in his historical accounts. And he records this
event when Herod came. And apparently, he went to a
theater. And he sat there upon his throne
with all his gorgeous royal apparel. And it was a very special apparel. And it was very wonderful to
look at. And he then gave this this speech,
this oration, probably to all the people that gathered in that
theatre as he sat on the throne. And the people then no doubt
wanted to be thought well of and also as it were to give Herod
some thoughts that he was really liked and well thought of. They
may have been fearful of him and therefore wanted to acknowledge
what he'd spoken and we read, and the people gave a shout saying,
It is the voice of a God and not of a man." Well, that was
a very solemn statement, a very solemn thing for people to do.
And we must recognize that God, of course, notes all these things. And sometimes foolish things
are said, things are said just to impress people. And it may
have been these things were said just really to impress Herod. to make him more proud than he
was. He was obviously a very proud
man, in any event, and a great dictator. But here he is, you
see, in this position, and these people then give this shout and
say it is the voice of a God and not of a man. Now, we realize
that God notes everything, and God sees everything, and he observes
all that is happening, and nothing occurs without his permission,
so that his way and his works may be revealed. Now, God is
a jealous God and God will never have anybody likened to himself. And so this statement that was
made, it is the voice of a God and not of a man. We see that
God noted it and we read, and immediately the angel of the
Lord smote him. In the previous chapter, we read
the angel of the Lord came and smote Peter. But what a very
different situation it was. It was a physical smiting of
Peter to actually awaken him from his sleep, so that then
he got up and his chains fell off. And it may well have been
the same angel that did both these situations. And in the one it was a wonderful
blessing, and in this case it was a very solemn situation.
So we can acknowledge and see how just God is. And God was
just in this matter. Here was Herod, bolstered with
pride with the view and the statement the people had made. And so we
read immediately, the angel of the Lord smote him because he
gave not God the glory. We are to give God the glory
in our lives. And how often I suppose we fail
to a large extent to give God the glory that we should do.
God had brought Herod to this eminent position. God had allowed
him to be made king. And now we see that Herod is
not acknowledging the God at all. He's taking to himself those
words which were spoken by the people. And God brings a most
solemn judgment upon Herod. And my friends, God today still
brings solemn judgment upon people. And we should not think that
God has changed. Because God is still a jealous
God. He's still a high and mighty
God. And he still will do those things which are for his honor
and glory. And he will still have people
honor and glory him. And so here was Herod then, and
he was smitten because he gave not God the glory. and he was
eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. And again, Josephus tells
us that in actual fact he was eaten of worms probably inside. Suddenly these worms developed
and ate his stomach and brought terrible pains upon him and apparently
died after I think it was five days. So Herod made a very sad
end, a very sad and solemn end. And especially as we know that
He was aware that Peter had come forth from the prison. He would
have been very clear that there was a wonderful miracle that
had brought that about, but he wasn't willing to acknowledge
it. Instead of that, what did he do? He put the keepers to
death. And now that he is in a position
where he now is being put to death by none other than Almighty
God, and no one can resist the power of God. God determines
the length of our life. Herod would appear to have been
very healthy until this occasion, and people are very healthy until
the Lord puts forth his hand and causes people to be affected
by some illness Sometimes struck down dead as it were on the spot. We must realize we have a great
powerful Almighty God so we have a very solemn account here then
of this king Powerfully as he was he was before God as nothing
Just a mere little nothing and God dealt with him in that way
and we should recognize that we're no great things We are
before God as nothing insignificant and how important it is that
we desire to serve the Lord and to honor and glorify his great
and holy name. And then we come to encouraging
words, but the word of God grew and multiplied. And it's good
to read a statement like that, isn't it? So although Herod,
you see, had tried to stop the word being multiplied, he'd killed
James and he'd imprisoned Peter, but he wasn't able to halt the
work of God. And that's true today. Men there
are today trying to stop the word of God, trying to erase
Christianity from the world if possible, but they lack the understanding
that the Lord God omnipotent reigns, that God is in control
of all things, and the Lord can command the blessing. And the
word of God grew and multiplied, And here it was here, this Word
of God, you see, as it was preached by the apostles and others, it
grew. It didn't stagnate, it grew. Herod had tried to stop it, stop
it growing, but God, you see, blessed it, and it grew. And
how important it is for us to think today that we come before
that same God, and we know to a large extent we're in a day
of small things, and we're not to despise it, and we wouldn't,
But we should realise we have a God who is a great God, who
is able to do for us far more and exceeding abundantly above
what we can ask or even think. We read that third chapter in
the Thessalonians really because of the first verse. And the first
verse says, Finally brethren, pray for us. that the word of
the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it
is with you. And surely that should be our
constant prayer, that the word of the Lord might have free course
and be glorified, that it might be made a great blessing still
in the day and age in which we live. And we know the Lord is
able to do great things, and we are to pray for these things. And so often, of course, seem
to lack the spirit of prayer, seem to lack pervading prayer.
But may we be encouraged to do what the apostle directs the
Thessalonians here when he says, finally, brethren, pray for us
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified. Well, I hope it's all our concern
that God's word may have free course and be glorified. Because
if it does, what will be the effect? The effect will be this. that the Lord Jesus Christ will
be exalted. He will be lifted up. He will
be glorified. And the Lord said himself, and
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
me. So what's an important consideration
is to pray that maybe that drawing power to the Savior. And of course,
that's not something that you and I can produce ourselves.
It is the power of God. It is the blessing of God. And
it is the fulfillment really of these words, but the word
of God grew and multiplied. The revelation through the preaching
of the gospel, directing hell deserving sinners to the glory
of the savior, to his sin atoning death, to his precious blood. there might be a wonderful drawing
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so how thankful we are to
read a word like this in the midst of opposition, which it
was, but it didn't stop the word of God growing and multiplying. And we have much opposition today
in the age in which we live. And yet may we have faith to
believe and remember we come before the same God who is able
to do great things. And we then read finally, and
Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, again returning to
Antioch, where they had much work still to do. The Lord had
brought them to this place, and had blessed them in this place,
and now they were returning, when they had fulfilled their
ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark. The Lord has a ministry for his
servants to do. has a ministry for them to do
in this place and that place and what a blessing it is when
there is the evident work of God being fulfilled in the souls
of many people to his honour and for his praise. Well may
our souls be blessed and encouraged to think that what occurred on
this occasion can still occur today May we pray for it, that
the word of God might grow and be multiplied. Amen.