Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) 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. 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. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a 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. And the angel said unto him, Gird 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. 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: 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.
The Lord Hath Sent His Angel
Beloved
of the Lord……When we
are children, we live in an unknown and strange world. Many things make us afraid, and every child
needs a father to stand close to. When
we are in a large crowd, or perhaps a stranger is near, it is good for a child
to draw close to their father. When our
father is near, and the child puts their hand in their father's hand, children
know there is nothing to fear. When we
believe and get older, things don't really change that much. We still fear the stranger and especially the
unknown future. Even as believing
adults, we are very scared and afraid. Father's
fear they may not be able to provide for their family. Mothers fear anything which might hurt their
children. We fear the unknown regarding
sickness. We fear of falling away, for
we know others who have. We fear the
great power of the devil, the world, and our flesh. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
We feel very alone in this battle.
We are much like a person standing on beach in the dark of the night,
and suddenly before our eyes Satan and his legions rise before us. At the height of our fears it seems all is
lost. Our own flesh says these forces
are too great for us, and there's no way we can win. How good then it is to know we are not alone
in this battle, beloved of the Lord.
Picture now Christ coming to you and standing by your side as you face
these enemies.
When these fears thus grip us, we must
be that little child who looks upward and to the right, for in every battle
standing there right next to us is Jesus who says, "Lo I am with thee
alway." And though our hands often
tremble in fear, as does our heart, like a gentle father Jesus places our
little hand in His larger and stronger hand, and He doesn't let go. "I
give unto YOU eternal life; and YOU shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck YOU out of my hand." When you
therefore as a child of God put your faith in Jesus who is indeed your blessed
Redeemer and Savior, Satan himself and all his legions must run away like cowards before the face of God whose
blood declares us clean. Therefore stand
up against that bully the devil by faith alone in Christ, and rest assured he
will run. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and
this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." I
Jn 5:4 "Ye are of God, little
children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he
that is in the world." I Jn 4:4
I. How the Lord uses His good angels to serve
His Church. Faith in Christ alone, is thus how we endure
persecution. Faith crushes the devil's
head under its heal. In today's lesson
the Bible says Herod "killed James, the brother of John with the
sword." This was a quick and
outright murder, without even a show trial.
At the end of Acts 12, we learn this same Herod who murdered James came
to his own end. He was giving a beautiful
speech to his people and they were so impressed they said of Herod, "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." Thus we should remember "Vengeance is
Mine, I will repay saith the Lord."
When we struggle in our hearts with hatred toward our enemies for all
the evil they have done, we must not let the devil overthrow us so that we hate
rather than forgive and pray. For "If
thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing
thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." On the practical side of things, if the
Muslims or Socialists or Communists rise to so much power in this country that
Christians are persecuted to death, do not bow nor yield to the devil's
temptation so that you hate them rather than forgive. Instead let us pray with grace and mercy and
love, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
God on the other hand, always knows
well what He is doing and His ways are ALWAYS HIGHER than our own. When He allows suffering for His own dear
children, this is His Fatherly way of preserving our faith, even keeping us to
life everlasting. Romans eight says that
if we are His children, "then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us." It was then for the glory of His Church, that
God allowed the casting of Peter into prison.
God had a plan. This trial would
cause His children to pray more, to trust more in God with all their
heart. "Prayer was made without
ceasing of the Church unto God for him."
That is one of the benefits of suffering here, we pray more and trust more perfectly Him who loved us
first. We remember "Call upon Me in
the day of trouble, I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me." In our daily prayers then let us remember to
pray for the Church at large, for all persecuted believers scattered throughout
the world. May God preserve their faith
in the midst of suffering, even uphold them in His powerful hand that they may
unto death keep the faith, and bear witness to the dead that Christ is the Life
of all the living. "For therefore
we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is
the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe." "O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed
thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will
be with thee." Is. 43
Today's lesson makes God's strength
against our enemies quite clear. Yet
only in our weakness do we see God's strength.
Thus in weakness, poor Peter was well guarded by four quarternions [kwa-ter'-nions]
of soldiers, namely four soldiers for each of the four watches through the
night. One soldier on both his right and
left, and two guarding the door. Yet
what is man's strength compared to God's, or even to one angel? Suddenly in the middle of the night an angel
appears in the midst of Peter's cell, and there is light in darkness. Peter however in faith is sleeping so well, the
angel really hast to hit him hard to wake him.
The chains drop, the door opens, and they pass by many guards. Even the outer gate opens before them. If God by one angel can do all this so
easily, why need we fear any man on earth or the devil himself?
Speaking
now particularly of the angels…..an angel is a spiritual creature, a being
without a body. In the beginning there
were all good angels, but one angel of his own free will turned on God and led
a rebellion against Him. After this
terrible division, God confirmed the good angels so they would never fall from
God's love, and God punished the evil angels so they could never return to
God's love. Jude 1:6 thus says of the
evil angels, they "kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation, [God] hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day." These
evil angels will forever be tormented in hell for their rebellion against God,
as will all men who spurn Christ's earnest invitation for them to receive in
faith His forgiveness of their sins, bought and earned sincerely by His blood.
The evil angels then constantly work to
destroy God's good works and wherever there is war and bloodshed and every kind
of misery, such are the fruits of these evil angels. The good angels however love God with all
their heart, and they "praise God, carry out His commands, and serve the
Christians, especially the children."
Hebrews 1:14 says the good angels are "ministering spirits, sent
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." They are your servants dear believer, these
powerful angels really serve you, though God above is the one who directs. Psalm 91 says, "He shall give His angels
charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone." Ps. 91 Children especially can be comforted, knowing God's good
angels love and protect them from great evil.
Thus in the Old Testament, God sent two
angels to deliver Lot and his family before Sodom and Gomorrah were
destroyed. Likewise God sent an angel to
protect Daniel in the lion's den. The
next morning Daniel said, "O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the
lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me." Likewise when Abraham cast Hagar and her son
out into the wilderness, an Angel from heaven spoke to Hagar saying,
"What's troubles you Hagar? Fear
not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad." This Angel even said of the boy, "I will
make him a great nation." God then
opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
This "Angel of the Lord" was
Christ Himself. While there are numerous
instances of God sending His good angels to protect His children, there is only
ONE Angel of the Lord who governs and rules over all Christendom. THE "Angel of the Lord" is Christ
Jesus Himself, far higher than all angels.
"For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee?" We
then by sin were once like Peter, held fast between our two enemies, the devil
and this world. The old guard, our
sinful flesh stood watch at the door.…..and he lets no one in. Yet when God called us by the Gospel, a light
appeared in our dark prison cell, and the Angel of the Lord, came to deliver us
from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
Jesus came with no wrath or anger, but only in grace and tender
mercy. Jesus came to set us captives
free. "When He ascended up on high,
He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." His gift was not gold or silver, but His gift
was His holy and precious blood, His innocent suffering and death.
When a man lives in unbelief, he cannot break his own chains of sin. They are too strong for us, and even in faith
we at times wrestle with chains we cannot break. But when we look in faith to Christ, we see
there is someone strong enough to break these chains of sin. Jesus is like an Angel to us, for this Angel
made our sins His own. Sin's power
against you dear believer is broken by this Angel, namely our chains of sin
drop to the floor, when you remember this Angel bought your forgiveness with
His own blood. Christ's message of peace
has broken these iron chains, therefore live as Jesus wants you to live, for Christ
has set you FREE. Therefore as the final
gate opened before Peter with the angel, so the gates of heaven are open before
you through Christ. Therefore when the
devil in this world comes "a calling", and inwardly you are once
again filled with fear, become again a little child by faith in Christ Jesus,
and by faith put your little hand in His bigger and stronger hand. Look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of
your faith, and remember you are not alone.
Then take another look at your enemies, and you will see them flee
before Christ. No enemy of yours has power to face Him who
loved you first. "Resist the devil
and he will flee from you."
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." I Jn
5:4 "Ye are of God, little
children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he
that is in the world." I Jn 4:4
Amen. 
No comments:
Post a Comment