May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the Acts of the
Apostles, chapter 12, and we'll read verse 7. The Acts of the
Apostles, chapter 12, and reading verse 7. And behold, the angel of the
Lord came upon him. And the light shined in the prison.
And he smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, arise
up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. we should be very thankful that
the Word of God records so very many wonderful occasions, wonderful
deliverances, wonderful blessings. And here we have, in this chapter
that we read, the account of the Apostle Peter, who was imprisoned. not because of anything that
he'd done wrong in accordance with the laws of the land, but
purely because Herod, that evil king, thought he would try and
please the people. He already, as we read, killed
James, the brother of John, with a sword, and we're told because
it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter, Well,
Peter was therefore in prison. And it would seem that Peter,
although he was in prison, it was quite clear that God was
with him. Because on this very occasion
that this chapter refers to, in prison, he was asleep. And we're thankful to know that
God does give sleep sometimes we may perhaps think well I don't
know if God knows about everything He knows all my needs but He
knows every need and sometimes perhaps we forget to pray that
we might have a good night's sleep it's very easy you know
just to go to bed and forget to pray for certain things I
hope we do pray when we go to bed but nonetheless it's good
to pray for natural things and also for spiritual things and
it is good when we remember that God gives sleep and therefore
he gave Peter sleep on this occasion and we're told and when Herod
would have brought him forth clearly to slay him the next
day and Peter may well have been aware of this And yet, you see,
he slept. Must believe, mustn't we? This
was the goodness of God. I wonder how we would react if
we knew that tomorrow we were going to be executed. Our life
was to be taken. Well, naturally speaking, we
may be very restless. We might not perhaps sleep at
all. But here was Peter under the blessing of God and we're
told the time when Herod would have brought him forth the same
night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains and the
keepers before the door kept the prison. So what's the picture
we see? We see a picture naturally of
no way to escape. Peter laying between two soldiers
bound up with two chains, we don't have any real details of
how these chains were fixed or otherwise but nonetheless there
were two chains and plus the fact there were keepers outside
the door to keep the prison so naturally speaking there was
a pretty impossible situation the reality of this chapter,
this account is this Things which are impossible with men are possible
with God. And that refers not only to our
natural life, it also refers to our spiritual life. And we
should therefore be encouraged and strengthened to think of
the greatness of God who knew exactly where Peter was, and
he knows exactly where you and I are tonight in our spiritual
life. And as it was with the Apostle
Peter, deliverance came out of what appeared to be an impossible
situation. How could Peter escape? How could he be delivered between
two soldiers? chained up, all the doors shut
and soldiers outside. No possibility, naturally speaking,
but we see how God wonderfully appeared. In my opinions today,
God still wonderfully appears. We do see wonderful appearances
naturally, but the great blessing is if we see the Lord appearing
for us in a spiritual way. It was a very similar occasion
in the 16th chapter of Acts when Paul and Silas were imprisoned. And again it's in the 16th chapter. It's a wonderful account because
they'd been imprisoned because they were preaching the Gospel.
You may think, well there wasn't much harm in that. Well, they
were nonetheless beaten beaten so their backs were raw with
the lashes and they were imprisoned and then we read some really
heartening account that at midnight they didn't mourn about themselves
and say how hard done they were they sang praises unto the Lord
and the good news was the prisoners heard them It wasn't something
they kept wrapped up. No, the Lord gave them that strength,
encouraged them. And then we're told there was
then a great earthquake. God was in control. God is in
control. And the earthquake was so great
that the prison doors were opened And in their case, their chains
were also loosed. They were freed. Well, no doubt
you know the rest of the account. The jailer thought that the prisoner
had escaped and was about to kill himself. And Paul told him,
do thyself no harm, we're all here present. And he sprang in
and asked Paul, What must I do to be saved? Well, the apostle
had clearly been able to speak to him and his household about
the truth of God. And here he was, freed from his
chains. And he was able to tell the jailer,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And
he did. And he was then a true follower
of the Savior. was baptized what a wonderful
occasion it was how we see the devil was completely defeated
and so in this occasion here we see the devil's plans were
completely defeated he thought no doubt it was all buttoned
up just what he wanted Peter here in this prison chained up
between the soldiers but what Satan doesn't realize we have
a great God and this great God he knew what he would do and
in our lives God knows what he will do That
should be a wonderful strength and a wonderful consolation.
As we journey on day by day, perhaps entering into times of
exceeding hardship and difficulty, and we may be tempted to say,
why has this come upon me? Well we don't do well to really
think upon that because we're trying to justify ourselves why
it shouldn't come upon us. But nonetheless it's a great
blessing if in such times of opposition and trial we prove
the greatness of God. And this is what Peter proved
on this occasion. And we're told Behold, that means
we're to look, we're to notice. Behold, the angel of the Lord,
none less, came upon him and the light shined in the prison.
A light no doubt bright enough for Peter to see what he was
doing and what he had to do. And yet, you see, the soldiers
weren't wakened by it. And he then smote Peter on the
side to wake him up and raised him up saying, arise, up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. Now if chains fall off, fall
from a height, and we don't know exactly how high it was, but
they fell off, they fell to the ground, it would have made a
great clanking sound, but it didn't wake up the soldiers.
the Lord had put sleep upon them. There's other occasions in the
Word of God when that occurred in the time of David. When David
went to King Saul and cut off some of his garment and took
his spear and the crews of water, he never woke up. God put sleep
upon them. You see how great God is. something that we would think
surely they must wake up they were on guard they were there
to make sure that Peter couldn't possibly escape and yet you see
the Lord appeared the Lord appeared we should never therefore be
dismayed we should never give up believing the Lord can appear
if it is his gracious will and for his purpose, and more importantly,
for his honour and for his glory. It wasn't something that Peter
would be able to say, well, I really deserved to be set free. No, he would never be able to
say that, but he was able to exalt his God and to testify
of the wonderful deliverance and so the chains fell off fell
off now I want to go on to this but just to stop there for a
moment let's just think of that in a spiritual sense which is
so important and so relevant we may feel that we're bound
up we're tied up we can't seem to set ourselves free And when
I say that, I mean this. We may not be able to perhaps
read the Bible as we want to. We may not be able to pray as
we want to. It's as though we're chained
up. We can't seem to move. And there
seems to be no prospect of freedom. No prospect of deliverance. Well, the Word of God tells us,
when they had nothing to pie, He frankly forgave them all. My friends, we may have a great
debt, a great burden, and I mean that in a spiritual way, a great
burden of sin, which weighs us down. We're chained up with it. We can't seem to free ourselves. Well, the Lord can come, as he
did to Peter, and the Lord can grant that our chains can fall
off. And there we are, with a light
shining on our path, directing us to the way of escape. And the way of escape, you know,
is set before us so very gloriously, in the Word of God. The way of
escape is this, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of
our faith. So, if we have a hope that Almighty
God has begun a work in our heart, has touched our heart, given
us a concern about the state of our souls, given us a concern
about the weight and burden of our sin. And it seems, perhaps,
there's no way to escape. There's no way that we shall
be freed from this. Well, my friends, may we be found
looking unto Jesus. Because the Lord can do for each
one of us far more exceedingly abundantly than we can ask or
even think. We tend to limit God. We tend
to think, well, God hasn't heard and God won't hear my prayers. And God won't come and deliver
me. And here I am, burdened, here
I am bound up with chains and I can't free myself. That's a
good thing. Do you know why? Because if you
and I could free ourselves, we would never thank and praise
God. But because it's only God who
can free us. When that does come, and it will
come to every true believer, our chains will fall off. Peter had nothing to do with
it. He was just told to arise. told to arise quickly, not dilly-dally,
not stay there, but to arise. And what happened? His chains
fell off. Deliverance. My friends, that's
so. In the blessed things of the
soul. God brings about deliverance
in a wonderful way. It's a way that Often we cannot
understand and we cannot contemplate and we definitely cannot plan.
The Lord's ways are higher than our ways. And the reason they
are is very clear. It's so that God receives the
honour and glory due to his great and holy name. We must always
remember that, often we tend to forget our lives on this earth
are not for our own gratification, they are for the honour and glory
of God. If we are a true believer, one
who has been bought, purchased through the precious blood of
the Saviour, what a price there was to pay of all our sins and
you and I could never pay, we can never free ourselves but
we have a God who is able and willing to do far more exceeding
abundantly than we can ask or even think and so you see here
was Peter freed from those chains freed from that bondage how wonderful it is to be freed
from the chains which the devil puts around us. You know, one
of the heaviest chains the devil puts around us is the evil heart
of unbelief. Yes, he wants us to never believe
that we have a God who is able to do far more and exceeding
abundantly than we can ask or even think. But let us remember
the devil is a vanquished foe because Christ has died, yea
rather is risen again. He conquered sin, death, hell
and the grave. And as the Word of God tells
us, and we are more than conquerors through him. That's a blessed
and wonderful truth. I was going to say, and I will
say, it's a wonderful secret really, because the psalmist
tells us the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him and
he will show them his covenant. And that secret of the Lord is
the blessed grant of His forgiving grace which comes into the heart
of the sinner by the divine power and work of the Holy Spirit. Well then, the chains fell off. Perhaps you're waiting for your
chains to be taken off, or perhaps they may fall off. You see, the
Lord, as we should know, only has to speak the Word, and it's
done. The world is created by the Word
of God. Wonderful deliverances are brought
about by the Word of God. made me realize that God only
has to speak the Word. The devil cannot gainsay it.
The devil cannot fight against the Word of God. And therefore, how wonderful
it is. And as we read down this account
in a natural way, but also realize the relevance of the spiritual
path because the Word of God is a spiritual book. We have
a lovely natural historical account, but it is written for the church
of God to strengthen them in their journey through life, in
their journey through the wilderness. And so the angel said unto him,
get thyself and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto
him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out
and followed him, and wist not that it was true which was done
by the angel, but thought he saw a vision. Sometimes when
the Lord comes and grants deliverance, we can't hardly believe it. And
yet a wonderful blessing when God gives us faith to realize
that we've come to a God who hears and answers our prayers. And so they came past the first
and second ward and they came into the iron gate, leadeth unto
the city, which opened to them of his own accord. You see, again,
we don't need to be found occupied, well we must do this and we must
do that, the Lord opens the way, the Lord opened the gates and
the reason so that we're able to truly praise our God for a
wonderful deliverance and have to say, well I had no part in
this, the Lord arose, the Lord did it, And the result must be praise
and honor to Almighty God. And so when they came to the
gates of the city and opened their own accord, and they went
out and passed on through one street and forthwith, the angel
departed from them. And when Peter was come to himself,
he said, now I know of a surety the Lord has sent his angel and
has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from the expectation
of the people of the Jews. See, we have here a wonderful
testimony and a wonderful example for us today. Because we're told he came to
himself And he's able to declare, now
I know. My friends, don't deny the work
of God. Sometimes people seem to think
it's a sign of grace to doubt God's word. Well, it's tragic,
isn't it? If God has appeared, if God has
done something which he had for Peter in an amazing way and we
should not forget that any work of God is an amazing work because
it's out of ourselves it's not something we can do it's the
work of God and so to be able to join hands with Peter and
say now I know of a surety. He was sure of it. It wasn't
doubtful. Remember, the devil wants to
cast seeds of doubt in our mind. That's precisely what he did
to Eve in the Garden of Eden. And you remember what words he
used? Hath God said. Hath God said. He uses the same technique still.
And he may come to us when the Lord's brought deliverance and
then casts in our mind, hath God said. Well, may God give
us grace to heed the blessed example of the Apostle Peter. who was able to testify very
clearly, now I know of a surety that the Lord has sent his angel
and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from the expectation
of the people of the Jews. It was a wonderful deliverance. It was a complete deliverance
He didn't have to force the last gate to the prison. He didn't
have to talk his way out of the situation. The Lord granted a
full, complete and wonderful deliverance. The psalmist tells
us in the 34th Psalm, very beautiful Psalm that is, you can go home
and read it. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them
that fear him, and delivereth them. To think of that, just
ponder that for a moment. To think that the angel of the
Lord encamps by us, is with us, doesn't leave us, he encamps
with us. and delivers. What a God we have,
my friends. What a wonderful blessing it
is. And of course we see that initially
when Peter came and found the house where the people were praying
for his deliverance, they didn't believe that it was Peter. you may say well why was that
inserted in the Word of God? I believe for this very good
reason sometimes people may not believe your testimony don't
worry about that we stand before God and we can go in the strength
that. I remember my father used to
give a little account of a woman that came before the
Church of God and gave her testimony of what God had done for her
and the Church of God felt they couldn't really receive her testimony. But as she was leaving, I think
I'm right in the details, can't be absolutely sure, but this
was a gist anyway. As she was leaving, she was able,
I think she was asked, have you anything to say? And she said,
well, what I know is the Lord has received me. That was a good and wonderful answer. She was of course received into
the church. So we need to know in our own
hearts that this same God that received
and blessed Peter is the same God that receives and blesses
us. And so Peter came to where they
were praying and knocked at the door and Rhoda came and answered
it. And when she knew Peter's voice
she opened not the gate for gladness but ran in and told how Peter
stood before the gate and what did the people say? thou art
mad thou art mad you'd think they would be so rejoicing wouldn't
you and jumping up and down with joy and they said no thou art
mad but she constantly affirmed that it was even so see we should
not give up No, this wasn't Peter, this was Rhoda. But she'd heard
the good news and therefore she wasn't going to be put off. And
she constantly affirmed that it was so. So Peter continued knocking and
then they came, the people came and opened the door and saw him
and they were astonished. But he beckoned unto them with
a hand to hold their peace, declaring unto them how the Lord had brought
him out of the prison. This really is the bottom line,
isn't it? It was the Lord that had done
it. It was the Lord that had brought
Peter out of prison. And again, how good it is and
how necessary it is when God grants deliverance that we acknowledge
that it is the Lord that has done it. Because he deserves
all honour and glory. He deserves our acknowledgement
that it is his work and let us never look to ourselves Let us
never think we are worthy. There is always desire to honour
and glorify and exalt our God. And so he declared unto them
how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And what did
what did he say? What did Peter say? He said this. Go, show these things unto James
and to the brethren. And he departed and went into
another place. He wanted this good news to be
shed abroad. And it is good news. And it is good news to shed aboard
the great work of God. When the Lord has appeared, when
the Lord has delivered, We shouldn't hide these things and keep them
to ourselves. It's the honour and glory of
God. What a blessing it is that we
still see today God's work appearing. We can think of that great desire
and that great prayer, let thy work appear. We love to see,
I hope you do, I love to see God's work appearing and when that work
appears to truly give thanks and praise unto our God to realise
we have a God who deals in love to our souls. Well, Peter here
was gloriously delivered. My friends, all the saints of
God are gloriously delivered from their burden of sin, chained
down by the devil who says, there's no hope for you. You're just
beyond the pale. You just sin too much. Well,
there is hope. Yes, there's good hope because
we have a great saviour who is greater than the devil. and the word may be like this,
to the devil thus far shall thou go and no further and here shall
thou proud waves be stayed. The Lord God can stop situation
where you may feel absolutely near despair Well, my friends,
we have a God who may bring us right down, but he will also
bring us right up. You may feel that your case is
hopeless. Peter's case was hopeless really,
but it was clear that he was able to commit himself to his
God. Commit thy way unto the Lord,
however low you may be. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him, and he shall
bring it to pass. He will bring about deliverance
as it comes to his great and glorious grace to dispense it,
because it will bring honour and glory to him. you then will
be able to truly praise God and thank God and therefore we should
recognize that we have here in this beautiful account, interesting
naturally, but also very interestingly and more importantly applicable
to the case of needy souls. May you and I tonight recognise
the Lord can and does deliver. Yes, and as I often quote that
107th Psalm, He led them forth by the right way and this was
a way for Peter. It may be the way for you and
me. He led them forth by the right way that they might go
to a city of habitation. It's the path which leads us
safely to our eternal home in glory and gives us the comfort
and the wonderful evidence that God is with us and God is leading
us and God is directing us And so no matter how far off we may
feel, how impossible our case may seem, remember, as I said
when we began, that things which are impossible with men are possible
with God. To God be the glory. Amen.