Alright, turn back with me to
Acts chapter 12. We just heard it. We're going
to look at Peter's miraculous deliverance. This is a wonderful
story. This is a wonderful story. I
have no idea if the Lord is going to allow this poor vessel to
deliver the message, but this is a wonderful story. I hope
we're gonna see how our deliverance is just as miraculous as this.
Verse one says, Acts 12, verse one, it says, now about that
time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain
of the church. Now, Herod was the enemy. The
enemy of God, of God's people. Now this is not the same Herod,
but I want you to turn with me back to Matthew chapter 2. Not the same man, the same office,
but look at Matthew chapter 2. It says, and being warned of
God in verse 12, Matthew 2 verse 12, and being warned of God in
a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed
into their own country another way. Now look at verse 16. Then Herod, when he saw that
he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath and sent
forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in
all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according
to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men." What
a man. What a man. He slew all the children
two years old and younger. Now, he's not the same Herod,
but he's the same enemy. Alright, now it was a third Herod.
It was a different Herod that our Lord was delivered to at
the time of His crucifixion. He was brought to Pilate. Pilate
delivered Him to Herod. And it says, you don't have to
turn there, it says in the book of Luke that Herod vehemently
accused our Lord and set Him at naught and mocked Him and
put a robe on Him and then sent Him back to Pilate. So Herod represents the enemy. The enemy of our Lord. The enemy
of Christ. Our enemy. Alright, now go back
to our text in Acts chapter 12. It says, About that time Herod
the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. Certain. of the church, certain
ones, specific ones. Now listen to this. First Peter
says, your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. When the Lord cast him out of
heaven as a bolt of lightning, He cast him to this earth. That's
where He cast him. And He called him to the council
in Job, and the Lord asked him, what have you been doing? He
said, walking about to and fro, up and down in the earth. And
your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour. Now that's scary. That's scary. We are no match for Him. Religion thinks they are. You know, and I'm going to tell
you what, the devil thinks he's going to do this, but he ain't
got nothing. The devil can't... I don't even
want to go there. That's scary. That's fearful. I don't even want to talk about
it. I don't want to think about it. I don't even want to write
his name with a pen. We are no match for Him. I'm sure you've seen documentaries
on Africa. You know, it'll show some type
of a herd of animals. Something harmless. And a lion
comes up. And that lion runs into the herd
and the herd scatters. And what he's trying to do is
separate one of the weak ones. Well, I am weak. And I'm not just saying that
to be humble. I'm not just saying that to be dramatic. I'm just
being honest with you. Your pastor is a weak man in
the flesh. And do you know what that makes
me want to do? I want to run to Jesus Christ. That's what
it makes me want to do. I want to run to our Maker. I want to run to our Defender,
our Redeemer, our Friend. I want to be inside of Him because He's the Lion of the
tribe of Judah. I want to be in the middle of
His herd. Lord, don't let me get separated
on the outside. Isn't that fearful? I want to
be in the middle of His people. I want to hide in Him. That's what I want to do. Acts
chapter 12 verse 2 says, He killed James the brother of John with
the sword. That's the son of Zebedee. The
apostle that the Lord called out of the ship and he said,
you follow me and I'm going to make you a fisher of men. He was a sweet, sweet preacher
of the gospel, a messenger of good news. He
was our brother James and Herod cut his head off with a sword. Verse 3 says, And because he
saw it pleased the Jews, because Herod saw that the fact that
he killed James, our brother, a messenger of the truth, he
proceeded further to take Peter also. And it says, Then were
the days of unleavened bread. Because he saw that it pleased
the religious leaders. They were so happy about that. He proceeded further to take
Peter also. He killed James, now he wants Peter. And it says, Then were the days
of unleavened bread. It was the time of the Passover. In the next verse it's going
to say after Easter. Easter was the Passover. Feast
of the Jews. Alright, now he did every bit
of this. The enemy. Now think about this. The enemy of God and the enemy
of his people did every bit of this in the name of religion. Every bit of it, in the name
of religion. You know, John said, try the
spirits, whether they are of God. Try the spirits, that's
fearful. Verse four says, and when he
had apprehended him, He put him in prison and delivered him to
four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending after
Easter to bring him forth to the people." Herod was going
to end this religious ceremony by delivering the head of Peter
to all the people. That was going to be the grand
finale of the religious ceremony. He's going to deliver the head
of Peter. A roaring lion seeking who he
may devour. Terrible. Well, James was dead
and Peter, now he's as good as dead. He's captured by Herod. Verse 4 says, And when he had
apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four
quaternions of soldiers to keep him. Now, a quaternion was four
men. Four quaternions was sixteen
men. And this is what they would do.
Two soldiers were chained directly to the prisoner inside the cell. Okay? He had a hand and a foot
chained to this soldier and a hand and a foot chained to this soldier.
And all three of them were inside the cell. And then the cell was
locked and two more soldiers stood at the door of the cell.
That's a quaternion, four men. And then two soldiers would be
stationed at the first ward and two soldiers would be stationed
at the second ward. That's a quaternion. And then they'd rotate with the
other two and they'd take shifts. 16 men. In this case, Herod could have
told all 16. Nobody's going anywhere until
this man is delivered. All 16 men are on it. Well, verse 5 says, Peter, therefore,
was kept in prison. Now, here's where Peter begins
to represent you and me. All of us. We're in prison. We're in prison. Now we're in
prison lawfully, meaning rightfully, on purpose. And the reason is
because we've sinned against God. We're not being done wrong here. We deserve what we're getting. And even though Peter here is
being persecuted for the truth's sake, he's still bound in prison. That's where he is. And so is
every man and woman that's born into this world. Men have no idea what that means.
If I say that on the radio and anybody's listening, they're
going to say, well, watch me walk out of my house and get
in my car and drive around. I'm not in prison. They have
no idea what that means. We are bound in captivity. We're prisoners to sin. We're born that way. We're born
in it. Verse 5 says, Peter therefore
was kept in prison, but look at this, but prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him. Everybody met over at a lady's
house and her name was Mary. I think her last name was Mark.
Mary Mark. And she opened up her home and
she had a son and his name was John. John Mark. And everybody
was welcome to come over to her house and we're going to pray
for our brother. He's dying. This was the night before his
death. I have a margin right here and it says, Instant and
earnest prayer was made. Effectual, fervent prayer was
made. You know, there are times that
we pray and then there are times that we pray. You know what I
mean? What a reminder this is for us
to pray for our brethren. Pray for our loved ones. Pray
for our friends. Our Lord told us, do it without
ceasing. Don't stop doing it. Don't stop
doing it. My loved one is bound in prison,
bound in sin. My loved one is going to die.
Don't stop praying for them. Lord, help us to never neglect
prayer. Never neglect calling upon you,
making requests to you. He said the effectual, fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Now think about this. Think about the effectual, fervent
prayer of the righteous man. Think about that. Think about
that. Can you think about that? Peter is the one in prison here.
This is what he told Peter. Satan hath desired you that he
may sift you as wheat. The Lord asked Satan, have you
considered my servant Job? Oh yeah. What about Tony Moody? Yep, thought about him too. But he said, guess what Peter?
I have prayed for you. Lord, pray for me. I want the
Lord to pray for me. Verse 5 says, Peter therefore
was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the
church unto God for him. The Apostle Paul said, and I
say right along with him, Brethren, pray for us. Pray for us. that the word of the Lord may
have free course and be glorified. I beg of you. I really beg of
this church. As often as the Lord brings it
to your mind, pray for me. And I pray the Lord would bring
it to my mind to pray for you. Well, Peter therefore was kept
in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him. And 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. Now Peter is laying down asleep
in the floor of his prison cell. That's where he is right now.
He's laying down on the floor asleep. He's between two soldiers. He's bound with two chains. Can
you picture that? He represents every man and woman
born into this world. Laying down, dead in trespasses
and sins. He's sleeping between two soldiers. Here's what the soldiers are.
The law and judgment. That means He's between a rock
and a hard place. He's bound with two chains. Those chains are sin and death. He's bound by sin and He's bound
to death. Disappointed and a man wants
to die. And Satan and his men are guarding
the door. That's an awful place to be.
Man, that's an awful place to be. Peter was bound to the point
that if he moved an inch, he would rattle his chains and wake
up his guards. There's no way anyone could be
more bound than He was. That's me. That's me in my sin. Verse 7 says, "...and behold." Watch and see. Stand still. And you see the
salvation of the Lord. You think this is impossible? But God, who is rich in mercy. And behold, the angel of the
Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison. A light, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place. the light of the glorious gospel,
the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Our glorious Lord said, I am the light. And behold, an angel of the Lord
came upon him and a light shined in the prison. And he smote Peter
on the side. He slayed him. He shook him. He broke him. And verse 7 says, he raised him up like a beggar off a dung heap
to sit among princes. Verse 7 says, And raised him
up, saying, Arise up quickly! And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins, laying there dead, bound in chains
between two soldiers, sentenced. And the Lord came, and he shined
a light when He said, Get up. Look at verse 7, it says, And
his chains fell off from his hands. That's miraculous, isn't it? That story, Pilgrim's Progress,
Pilgrim has a burden on his back and he just hunched over with
this burden on his back and he can't get it off and he's going
everywhere trying to find out how to get the burden off and
they keep telling him, go through the yon wicked gate. Go down
the straight and narrow way. And at the end of that, you're
going to find a cross. And he ran, screaming, life,
life, eternal life. And when he got to the foot of
the cross, he looked up and a burden just fell right off his back.
He said, when the Lord came, and the light shined, and he
got a hold of me, and he said, get up, my chains fell off. It's miraculous that God would
do that for somebody. 1 Corinthians says, Such were some
of you, but you're washed. You're sanctified. You're justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Verse
8 says, And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on
thy sandals. That's the commandment. You're
a pilgrim and you're a stranger now. You don't belong here anymore. You're coming out. Put your shoes
on. Verse 8 says, And so he did.
And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee. Put on the
robe of the righteousness of Christ now. Verse 8 says, and
follow me. Follow me. Do you know what is
happening at this exact moment in time? Our Lord is leading
captivity. Captive. You got a new owner
now. You got a new master now. Turn over or listen either one
to Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49 and look at verse 24. Shall the prey be taken from
the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? The lawful captive,
the one who is rightfully in prison because he's a sinner.
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive
delivered? But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the
mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall
be delivered. For I will contend with him that
contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children, and I will
feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall
be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine. and all flesh
shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer,
the Mighty One of Jacob." Can a prisoner be set free? Oh,
yes. He said, cast thy garment about
thee, and you follow me. Our text back in Acts 12, verse
9 says, And he went out, and followed him, and wist not that
it was true which was done by the angel." It was all done to him by the
angel of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. The end of verse 9 says, "...but
thought he saw a vision, He said, this can't be real. This can't
be real. Do you mean to tell me I'm just
delivered? Here I stand? Free? I don't have to do anything?
I don't have to... It's too good to be true. It's
just too good to be true. Verse 10 says, When they were
past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron
gate, which leadeth unto the city. The iron gate. He's laying in prison dead. The
Lord comes to him. He shines a light. He smites him. He raises him
up. He puts a robe on him. He says,
follow me. And now they're standing at the
iron gate. The iron gate that leadeth unto
the city. What city? The city of refuge. The city of life. The city of
the living God. Look at verse 10, it says, When
they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto
the iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them
of his own accord. It just opened. All by itself. Just listen to this, okay? This
is Psalm 24. Psalm 24, verses 7-10 says, Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Well, it says in verse 10, When
they were past the first and second ward, they came unto the
iron gate that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of
his own accord. And they went out and passed
on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him.
And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety
that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of
the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people
of the Jews. He said, Now I know. Something's
happened to me. I don't think. Now I know. This song says, I know not. I don't know. I know not why
God's wondrous grace to me He hath made known. Nor why unworthy
Christ in love redeemed me for His own. But I'll tell you what
I do know. I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Peter said, I know of a surety
that the Lord hath delivered me. I didn't deliver myself. I didn't break these chains. I didn't choose to let him deliver
me. The Lord hath delivered me out
of the hand of Herod, the enemy says him from all the expectation
of the people of the Jews. The Lord has delivered me from
Satan and the Lord delivered me from religion. Isn't that
something? Verse 12 says, And when he had
considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother
of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together
praying. When he had considered the thing,
when he pondered, what am I going to do now? He came to the house of Mary,
the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered
together praying. He said, I want to go where God's
people are. That's what I want to do. I want
to worship God. I want to give thanks for such
a miraculous deliverance. Do you know that's what we're
doing here? Every time we meet, we're here
to give thanks for such a miraculous deliverance. Verse 13 says, And
as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to
hearken, named Rhoda. 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. She was so glad, she hears this
knock at the door, and everybody's praying, and somebody said, Rhoda,
would you mind getting that? And she goes and says, who is
it? And Peter said, Rhoda, it's me. And she was so glad, she was
so happy, she forgot to open the door for him. The scripture
says, heaven erupts with joy over the conversion of one sinner. Just listen to this. Let me read
this to you. This is Psalm 126. It says, When the LORD turned
again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among
the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them, The Lord
hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again
our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that
sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth
bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing
his sheaves with him. Well, she runs back inside to
all these believers who are earnestly praying for Peter. They're praying
for Peter without ceasing. Oh, Lord, please, if there's
any way that You could bring miraculous deliverance to our
brother, we pray that Thy will be done. And she runs back in
and she told them, Peter is standing outside. Verse 15 in our text,
And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that
it was even so. Then said they, It's his angel. The Lord never, never one time
said to his people, Seek ye my face in vain. Not one time. Not one time. He never said, just do it out
of habit. Just do it out of ritual. Not
one time. She told them, the Lord has answered
our prayer. And they said, it can't be. Just like when Mary Magdalene
went back to the disciples after the Lord arose and she told them,
He is risen. He's alive! And it says they
believed not. Oh, we of little faith. This ought to be of great comfort
to us. Great comfort to us. The end
of verse 15 says they said it's His angel. They said it's too
late, they've already killed Him. Verse 16 says, But Peter
continued knocking, and when they had opened the door and
saw him, they were astonished. Astonished. They shouldn't be. Sometimes we pray not believing
that the Lord will hear us and answer us. We do, don't we? We
do it because we know we ought to pray. But we're praying, not
believing that the Lord will hear us and answer us. They said, we can't believe He's
answered our prayer. Why not? Is He God? Or is He not? Yes, with man it is impossible. But with God, Everything is possible. All things are possible. Even
the miraculous deliverance of a dead sinner like me. We know that story of that man
who went into the preacher's office and he said, did you hear
that the Lord saved old so-and-so? No, I didn't hear that. He sure
did. The man said, since the Lord
saved him, I'll never despair of any sinner. The preacher said,
since the Lord saved me, I'll never despair of any sinner. It was a miraculous deliverance. Verse 16 says, Peter continued
knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were
astonished. but he beckoning unto them with
the hand to hold their peace." He was telling everybody, settle
down, settle down. "...declared unto them how the
Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go show
these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed
and went into another place. He beckoned unto them with the
hand to hold their peace, declaring unto them how the Lord..." had
brought him out of the prison. This is what he said. He went
to his brethren and he said, I was a dead man. That's where
I was. That's who I was. I was a dead
man, as good as dead. I was bound in chains. I was
a prisoner of sin. I was sentenced to die. But God,
the Lord, came to me where I was. And He gave light to me, y'all.
He gave Christ to me. And He opened my eyes. And He quickened me out of my deadly slumber. And
He said, Arise and live. And as soon as he said that,
my chains fell off. I love this story. I really do. David said this, come and hear
all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for
my soul. I'll tell anybody who'll listen.
Verse 18 says, Now as soon as it was day, there was no small
stir among the soldiers what was become of Peter. The enemy
knows when he loses one of his captives. What? We had him! He was just here! Where did he go? The enemy knows when our Deliverer
has saved. Verse 19 says, And when Herod
had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers,
and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went
down from Judah to Caesarea, and there abode. Herod sought
for him, but found him not. Do you know where he was? He was hiding in the Lord Jesus
Christ. hiding in thee. In the time of
trouble every time, every single time, every single time, in the
time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret
of his tabernacle shall he hide me, he shall set me up on rock. Verse 19 says, When Herod had
sought for Him and found Him not, he examined the keepers
and commanded that they should be put to death. You put all
those soldiers to death. Christ came to us. He quickened us. He delivered
us. And He conquered all our enemies.
This is our story. This is our story of miraculous,
miraculous deliverance. I pray the Lord will bless His
Word. Stand together with me.