Have you ever wondered how the early disciples responded to the prophesied famine? Looking through the lens of Acts 11 and 12, we unpack the fortitude of the early church, tackling accounts of determination, martyrdom, and remarkable gospel centered response. Tune in as we explore the actions of Saul, Barnabas, and others, painting a vivid picture of a church that grows stronger amidst challenges.
Ever pondered on the possibility of guardian angels? Drawing upon Peter's escape story in Acts 12, we delve into the intriguing concept of guardian angels, their role in protecting and serving God's people. Join us on this fascinating journey, as we consider how divine beings could be at work in our lives, implementing God's will.
In the face of adversity, how does God's sovereignty prevail? Hear us discuss His omnipotence, control over all things, and how His word multiplies regardless of the circumstances. We explore how even in death, God's glory is magnified, referencing the martyrdom of James and the downfall of Herod. As we close, we ponder on the importance of discipleship, encouraging everyone to read the Word of God together, fostering spiritual growth in the process. Join us, as we navigate through these transformative scriptures, shedding light on the unwavering sovereignty of God and the resilience of His church.
Have you ever wondered how the early disciples responded to the prophesied famine? Looking through the lens of Acts 11 and 12, we unpack the fortitude of the early church, tackling accounts of determination, martyrdom, and remarkable gospel centered response. Tune in as we explore the actions of Saul, Barnabas, and others, painting a vivid picture of a church that grows stronger amidst challenges.
Ever pondered on the possibility of guardian angels? Drawing upon Peter's escape story in Acts 12, we delve into the intriguing concept of guardian angels, their role in protecting and serving God's people. Join us on this fascinating journey, as we consider how divine beings could be at work in our lives, implementing God's will.
In the face of adversity, how does God's sovereignty prevail? Hear us discuss His omnipotence, control over all things, and how His word multiplies regardless of the circumstances. We explore how even in death, God's glory is magnified, referencing the martyrdom of James and the downfall of Herod. As we close, we ponder on the importance of discipleship, encouraging everyone to read the Word of God together, fostering spiritual growth in the process. Join us, as we navigate through these transformative scriptures, shedding light on the unwavering sovereignty of God and the resilience of His church.
Welcome to the Be Disciples podcast. With your hosts Kyle Morris, Dakota Smith and David Glavin. We're here studying the book of Acts. We're going to be ending chapter 11, going into chapter 12, and we're excited to continue to discuss God's word, to equip you as the listener and how to sit down with another individual and just open the Bible and study God's word together. Welcome to the podcast, guys.
Speaker 2:What's up, brother, how you doing.
Speaker 1:Good, good, hey, one quick thing for our listeners Right off the bat. You either pause this podcast, go to the comments section in whatever platform that you're doing right as five stars, put a comment in there. That just gets us more listeners, more exposure. We only do this so the Bible is spread. We're not monetary, we're not doing this for any of those reasons. We just want people to hear God's word, and so please go do that right now and then come back and listen to our episode.
Speaker 2:That was very serious of you. But I was thinking this morning like what else would be really cool for the podcast, something that would be a lot of fun. And I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool, each of us as co-hosts, that each of us had like a walk-up song, you know, like a baseball, like a baseball player walks up to the plate he's got it like his favorite song playing and like you want an announcer too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I was just thinking. You know like when I was in junior high, one of my favorite songs was like Usher and you know like what a heathen.
Speaker 3:I was going to say God Glorifying, yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean we could you know. Good try for my episode.
Speaker 1:I'll be on KJ5 to Coke and a Friar and a Cheeseburger, yeah, and I'll be on KJ5 to Coke and a Friar and a Cheeseburger.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I mean we could. Yeah, I mean we could do some walk-up music.
Speaker 1:But the problem is, we're not walking up to anything. Well, we're literally sitting down. It's a podcast.
Speaker 2:We're walking up to the mic.
Speaker 1:We could audibly give the illusion of walking up.
Speaker 2:I could breathe a little heavier you know, I could breathe a little heavier yeah. Nice, well, I was just kidding, but yeah. So pause this episode and give a comment. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, let's pray, because we want to get into God's Word. It's fun to joke around and we have a great time in the office, but we want to equip the saints. That is our mission as pastors to equip you for the ministry. So let's pray and we're going to get into Acts.
Speaker 1:Father, thank you so much for the podcast an opportunity to discuss, record and to bless others just by speaking your word. And so be with us today in our conversation with one another. Thank you so much for laughter, just to enjoy here in friendship with one another, and I pray that the same thing would occur as you all listening are meeting with people. There is laughter and joy, there is just a great time being had over God's Word, and that we're able to grow in relationship with one another and love each other and be examples to the world about who Jesus is. And so be with us today as we study the book of Acts, that we are continually being equipped and understanding the work in which the Holy Spirit has done, so that we can go and continue to be led by the Holy Spirit In Jesus' name amen, amen.
Speaker 2:So today, before the show, we kind of contemplated what exactly is going to be the passage which we study, because there was really no definitive place where we could stop in the passage and say, oh, that works. So what we're attempting to do is to walk primarily through chapter 12, verses 1 through 19,. Which is basically where Peter is delivered from prison. But there are some things that happen before that narrative and there are some things that happen after that narrative which inform that narrative to a greater degree. So we're going to do the best we can to be concise on the front end and the conclusion of today's episode, but then to walk through this testimony of Peter's deliverance primarily.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I also think it's a good opportunity to see how chapter markers sometimes aren't really. They're kind of in weird places.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're not always they're not inspired. Yeah, they're not inspired. Those are added later, more for organization, for quick reference, those sort of things. But the structure of the passage, because we're going to be starting in Acts 11, verse 27, to give the pretext of going into it, and so we just we need to be aware of that that sometimes the structure doesn't always match the headings in your Bible or the chapter markers that you have, but there's other things that mark that and we're going to see that date verse 27 in Acts 11, it says now in these. So you kind of see a transition or a change of scene or whatever that may be. So it's a good thing to keep track of as you're reading the text. Or any natural transition doesn't always happen at a chapter break.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we use chapter numbers as our breaks when really transitional words like therefore, or however, or thus, or now. You know things like that. Those should be our real indicators. Now, a lot of the scholars. I think they did a pretty good job of implementing the chapter numbers, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're inspired or always correct. So from there, chapter 11, verses 27 and 29,. Let's spend just a few moments here.
Speaker 2:The text says now, at this time, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Speaker 2:One of them, named Agabus, stood up and began to indicate by the spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world, and this took place in the reign of Claudius and in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.
Speaker 2:And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul, to the elders. So, if anything, previous episodes we've been seeing this great movement of the Lord, you know the movement of the gospel by the spirit of the Lord. We know that Paul and Barnabas have been heavenly and, excuse me, heavily involved in this effort. And then, out of nowhere, like a great famine, comes over all the world and I somewhat relate to that. You know, just like this external circumstance that makes it difficult on everybody to live in the midst of ministry, I mean with COVID and whatnot. Regardless of what your position was on COVID, it seemed like a big interruption to life. So you could say there's this external circumstance and pressing upon the church during this time of great revival.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I also see a historical marker in this text of an event that took place. I think this is some of those things that happened throughout scripture. Historical markers are really important. They tell us about the time period. They tell us about the. It's a real event in history that took place. So we do know that after this, the prophet came down and foretold this. We do know that harvests for many years after that were extremely weak. They were not very good, and so there was problems in the land with food. There was a famine. So this is a historical marker. An external thing happened. You could find those facts outside the Bible and then show what happened here. So that's a good thing to catch if you're making any argument about historical authenticity of the Bible. This was an actual event, and I think verse 29 is super important for practical living as Christians.
Speaker 1:Verse 29 talks about the disciples and their response to the famine that was to come, and in both translations it uses the word determined. The disciples were determined to ensure that people were taken care of, and I think it showed their heart and their willingness. Whether that was giving what they could, whatever that may be, but I think people were also giving. That says according to his ability. So if they had much, they gave much. If they had little, they gave what they could. So the Christians had a heart for people and they prepared for what was to come. They trusted in the Lord, but also sent relief to the places that needed it the most.
Speaker 1:I think it just shows the heart of how we are supposed to give. I think those who are truly determined to worship the Lord are gonna give to the Lord. The ones who are yeah, maybe not so much, but I think true disciples are determined. What is theirs is the Lord and they're going to give as they can. Of course, they need to take care of themselves and their family, and God will provide, but they also need to give unto what the Lord has prepared and has given them to do.
Speaker 1:So I just think we see examples of this. There isn't a number here or a percentage or any of those things in this text about how much they should give, but it just said according to one's ability. So I think giving comes from a place of where the Lord's calling you how much he's given you and how you're stewarding what God has given you, and then actually going to the Lord saying, lord, how much should I give, where should this be? And allowing the Lord to lead you in this. And I think if you're determined to give, you're gonna give as much as you can and you're gonna help in the ministry or provide relief or whatever that may be.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think this is kind of a practical instance that shows. Well, in the previous chapter we see Peter's response to the leading of the spirit, right, and then you know we're here as we read further the you know Peter's response to the spirit, but this is kind of a practical instance where you know an angel didn't appear, god didn't come in a vision to say this is needed. This was a intuitive response in the spirit, based on the principle of sharing and caring for the community, and it was immediate and I think that's an immediate. I think in the church that's I mean, our church showed that this last week just an immediate response to need get it done. Not well, let's talk about it forever, but this is do what you can and let's do it now.
Speaker 1:And we have examples in scripture about churches that aren't good at this. Right here we have Saul and Barnabas. They're gonna be the ones to take it Well, paul, or Saul, has an issue with Corinth, with their giving, with their heart forgiving, and so not again, we're all gonna have our issues and Paul calls them out on it and so. But these disciples here, for some reason, were determined to make it happen. Determined, and they gave to their ability. They trusted in the spirit of the message that was given to them about this famine and they prepared for it. There was a preparation that took place for this famine so that people would have the things that they need, and I think that showed the heart of the people and the care of the Lord for people, and I think that's what the church should be. These people would have been known as Christians, even if it was a derogatory term back then, but those who followed Jesus provide for the people, and I think that's a good reputation to have. I think it's a godly one.
Speaker 2:We continue in the text, chapter 12, verse one. You know, we see this set of external circumstances the church was having to do ministry in. It. Actually, I think, by God's sovereignty, provided a way for the church to be the church and to strengthen the church despite the circumstances, and I mean, I think that's what these challenging times are for. It actually should strengthen the church, not weaken the church. So here we are, though More dilemma comes upon the church from the outside, chapter 12, verses one and two.
Speaker 2:Now, about that time, herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them, and he had put James, the brother of John. He put him to death with a sword. So you know, this is one of the sons of thunder. This is the first of the 12 apostles to be martyred. This would have been no small detail, right? I mean, this is very shortly after Jesus' ascension. I'm not exactly sure how long it was. I'm sure if we did some internal research we could find out, but it seems to me somewhere there in the first couple of years post-ascension. So James was, relatively speaking, martyred, lost his life very early for Christ.
Speaker 1:Well, and you could even say I'm not sure if Herod's paying attention or not, because Stephen gets martyred.
Speaker 1:And you saw what happened there and the message takes off. That's right, and so I don't know if Herod, just out of anger, out of whatever this movement is, says I have to put a stop to this, and the best way to do that is to kill one of them. But the pattern that we see is Jesus died, rose again. The gospel spread. Stephen dies, the gospel spreads. We're gonna start seeing a pattern of, yes, death is going to occur, but there's something that the Lord is going to use out of these terrible circumstances for good.
Speaker 2:Well, there's a quote and I read it a long time ago in some mission's book or some missionary that was coined with this but the seed of the church is the blood of the martyrs. If you picture a seed like something you're planting in the ground for harvest, the seed of the church is the blood of the martyrs. And we even kind of tackled that this last Sunday, yesterday morning, in the message. Jim Elliott, missionary to the Acha tribe and for Operation Acha they're in Ecuador lost his life. And then we see a whole set of people came and followed through and then that whole village was saved and then Elizabeth Elliott's life was one of the greatest lives I think ever lived. I mean, the Lord does something with the death of the saints.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think this is kind of a nerd out thing of comic books but Batman, batman had a rule at a certain point where he wasn't gonna kill anybody anymore. He was going to catch them and imprison them. And one of those principles for that is, if I go and kill this villain, that villain is gonna become what A martyr for the other villains. Right, they're gonna become something that actually spurs on a bigger movement and understanding that no, I don't want that to happen, that is evil and that is bad. I'm going to be on the just side of things and try to do the best, which is to stop them and capture them and to imprison them so that they don't spur on a further movement.
Speaker 1:So there's like a you can see that even in a secular setting of a story, that there was an understanding that murdering individuals never resulted in something. Stopping it actually spurred on a movement of some kind, even if it was evil, but it still had the same principle to take place. So we see that happening. We see God using it to the most potential, using the Holy Spirit to send and go and spread and all those sort of things, and so it's a principle that's common. We see it in storytelling, we see it throughout history, and so this is a common theme that we see. When anybody's murdered for a belief, it definitely changes the reaction.
Speaker 2:We continue in verse three. When it saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now, it was during the days of unleavened bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. I think we can just stop there at verse five and we can discover hey, like the body of Christ still has hope. It's interesting that Peter's in prison and their immediate response was to pray. So you see a determined church at the end of 11,. You see a praying, a fervently praying church all the way through the end of chapter 12, verse five. The church is active despite its circumstances.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Herod was still doing things to please the masses, to please the Jews. This is the same kind of circumstance surrounding Jesus's death. Right, what's going to calm everybody down? What's gonna keep the control of the Jews? Well, there's this movement. It's kind of wrecking havoc. They're feeling like they're losing their power within their own culture and Herod's like well, I need things to calm down, because if things don't calm down, like I'm gonna be in trouble, like this is not gonna go well. And so he does what pleases the masses. He then arrests Peter and it helps kind of calm it, for I don't know, he wasn't in prison. We're gonna read, but it wasn't there very long, but it's gonna calm it down at least for the moment to try to just create some sort of peace in the city. So same tactic, same thought process. Things are not changing in the way that the Romans are handling stuff. They're just trying to keep peace and keep control.
Speaker 3:And there's no. I don't think we have any incidences where the Christian church is trying to break people out of prison, but he assigns four squads of soldiers to guard him.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean that's. It's kind of like, you know, sending Roman soldiers to the tomb. Oh, that didn't work.
Speaker 1:You know, like, let's just add more guys, as many as we can, to stop the Christians from continuing to go forward. And God's like, okay, go ahead, sit as many minutes you want, that doesn't matter. But yeah, there's a. There's an interesting pattern that the Romans have. The same pattern of the fear is kind of boiling up in the Romans, like the intensity in which they're doing things is a little bit more each time, because the message isn't ending, it's not stopping. You arrest Peter. Okay, well, disciples are still spreading the word, so it doesn't? It just kind of continues and continues throughout the book of Acts just the persecution of Christians. So yeah, I mean it is. It is cool to see man's man trying to have some sort of like control or power over the situation that's at hand. And and they really don't. God is in control, god is ensuring things happen, god is moving and people cannot change God's plan. They can do try whatever they want, but they're not gonna change.
Speaker 3:It's exhausting trying to work against God. You have to like. Double up efforts each time you fail to like. Yeah, and to what end?
Speaker 1:Yeah, to nothing. Nothing. And that's what we see happening right here is they just keep trying and keep trying and the efforts just kind of fall flat.
Speaker 2:Not only do you have to double up on the efforts, but God constantly frustrates your plans. So whatever you double up effort towards, it's always towards something that's going to be frustrated, broken, scattered, torn apart. Mm-hmm, you know what I mean. So the amount of effort, the futile effort it takes to put forth energy into things that God is already going to destroy, it's just not a life to live.
Speaker 2:So continuing on, we get to verse six, and I'm just this is probably gonna be the largest chunk that I read, just for the sake of time and the sake of keeping the story before us of this account, this testimony, verse six on the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell. And he struck Peter's side and woke him up, saying get up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him gird yourself and put on your sandals. And he did so. And he said to him wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought that he was seeing a vision.
Speaker 2:When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself, and they went out and went along one street and immediately the angel departed from him. When Peter came to himself, he said now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the Jewish people and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who is also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. So there we end the section. Yet again, christians were praying. Here, christians are praying. We see this scene of Peter miraculously being removed from the prison. David, let's start with you your initial thoughts as it pertains to this event that's taking place, where Peter's removed in an unusual way.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean the first thought, and I might be backtracking a little bit, but the first thought that I had was kind of piggybacking on that this section beginning with prayer and ending with prayer. And we talked previously about the efforts of those who are opposing God, and then this is kind of the counter to that the efforts of those who are following God are efforts to give it to God, like in prayer. So you have Herod rallying the people who either do what he says or die to help him towards his opposition to God. And then you have the people of God, the Christians, who are rallying to pray for God's will and are sitting in it, sitting in it fervently, ready to act, ready to do, but trusting in the Lord that God is doing the real work there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we don't see the Christians gathering a militia Like we're gonna break them out. You know what I mean? They're not like, what were they doing? Praying. They were praying, they stopped and they prayed.
Speaker 1:So we know as our response should be as Christians, when there's crisis, when there's something that seems to be coming against us, our first response shouldn't be and this is kind of more of an American mindset arm up, get your ammo and guns and get ready to go. Well, no, how about we pray to the God of the universe, who's in control of all things, who can do what he wants and what's his will? You know, like, how about we trust in the one who can do all great things? So we see prayer as the recipe. You could say Step one, step one, pray. We need to stop and pray. We don't need to react like Herod's reacting. We don't need to react like the Jewish people are doing to everything. They're just reacting, reacting. Christians need to be submitting to God in prayer. There is a time for action, and I'm not saying there isn't, but they are praying first.
Speaker 3:And we do act. I mean, we saw them reacting to the need of the famine, right? So there is a reaction there, there's quick action, but it's not based in fear, it's based in care and compassion, it's based in sharing from what? The resources that we have. So the other side of that would be react. You know what is the root of the action. Is it fear, Is it anxiety? Is it concern? Is it trying to control, or is it based on a command that we've already had from God, right, you know? So we have those sort of underlying foundational commands that we can react to quickly, but when we don't know what God is doing, that's when we stop and pray. Amen.
Speaker 2:Well, just a quick note here too, it's interesting that Peter was sleeping. I mean, he's sleeping, and I think it's because he had the assurance of Jesus in John 21, 18, where Jesus said you know, when you are old, you know you will be stretched out. This is the passage where Jesus is telling him, essentially, he's gonna be crucified, he's gonna lose his life, he's gonna have another opportunity to die for Christ. I think Peter knows this is too early for that. I think Peter knows that he's not quote unquote old yet. So I think he's sleeping in prison because he's based on the promise of the Lord. He's not worried about losing his life yet.
Speaker 2:I think he would have a greater understanding of when that time would be, but for now he just it seems to me like he's so nonchalant about it. In fact, he didn't even realize what the Lord was doing until he'd been fully released. It's not like he knew what the Lord was doing when the angel struck his side. It's not like he knew what the Lord was doing when he walked past the guards and the gate opened up. He only knew what was happening after the fact. Here again, though, this is Peter being a little bit slow for what the Lord is doing only in a totally different circumstance in life. So I, just I at least find those things unique, or ironic to say the least.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean he was a little confused like is this real or not, like what's happening guys?
Speaker 2:I mean, maybe he's still half asleep, right, like he said he was sleeping.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean you just kind of think like I mean he's sleeping in between two guards chained and like an angel comes into the room, there's light. Clearly the guards don't wake up because it doesn't say the guards wake up or whatever. We don't.
Speaker 2:Or even if they were awake, the angel could have completely disguised it. All Right, perfectly.
Speaker 1:Chains fall off.
Speaker 2:Guards shouldn't be sleeping, so you know they shouldn't be. Well, yeah, they got full.
Speaker 1:And neither should the disciples in the garden to get somebody. But they were sleeping and so, yeah, I mean he just kind of you could just imagine, like okay, what's happening, put my clothes on, all right. And then Peter's had visions before. Peter's seen things before. Well, we just learned that a couple weeks ago, yeah. And so he's probably just like kind of just following along, like all right. But then at some point, when they're walking out of the prison, he realizes wait a minute, this is real, I was just set free.
Speaker 1:I was just set free, yeah, so it's kind of like he went from dream Am I just dreaming this? To oh nope, this is a real deal. We have literally walked out of the prison. The gate opened up like you're walking into Walmart with an automatic door Right, it was just. And then they just walked out. So it's just kind of he had to have that moment of like oh, this is reality. Think about the things Peter saw and we talked about this before he started recording like the Mount of Transfiguration, yeah, jesus's death and resurrection, lazarus being raised from the dead, casting out demons, healing Pete. Like Peter's seen a lot and been in a lot of different situations that an angel wouldn't shock him, a vision wouldn't necessarily shock him anymore, and he kind of had to come to a like. This moment of oh, this is real. It took him a second, he was tired and the Lord was working through him again. And then, but a miraculous thing happened we had Navy Seal angel come in and rescue Peter from prison. Well, we're gonna see soldier.
Speaker 2:We're gonna see more of that to come towards the end of the chapter, but if we continue on with this testimony that we have Verse 13 all the way to, let's just do. Verse 19 says when he knocked at the door. This is after Peter was released. When he knocked at the door of the gate for Mary's household, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. We have a Rhoda in our church. She's beloved woman of God. Love her very much. This is where her name comes from.
Speaker 2:When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her you are out of your mind. But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying it is his angel. But Peter continued knocking and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison and he said report these things to James and the brethren. Then he left and went to another place. Now this is not James who has just martyred, but this is James, the half brother of the Lord, who ended up coming to faith after the resurrection.
Speaker 2:Now, verse 18. When, now, when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter, when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there. So there's a lot here to speak of in 13 to 19. But, guys, your initial thoughts.
Speaker 1:Well, I think the Again, people are gathered, the saints are gathered, the praying, they're together. I think that's an important piece of what's going on here. Cake, we've continued in prayer, they're continuing to pray as he's in prison and and Peter goes to the first place, maybe the closest, but the place that he knows where people will be, where people are gathered, trusted people, and clearly he's still trying to stay under wraps, right, he's? Guys, be quiet, don't be loud. I just literally got out of prison by by sneaking out. The Lord got me out, so let's not make a ruckus. But I don't know.
Speaker 1:You see, this girl, so this young girl, just like so excited the servant girl that it's Peter, that she forgets to even let him in, which I think just kind of shows just her youthfulness, and I think, I think sometimes we get it, we can get excited in that way. We're almost we forget To even let Peter in. But I just think the people are there, they're continuing to pray, they're encouraged here Peter encourages the people by what the Lord has done and he goes and says tell these things to James or the church in Jerusalem About what has happened, and then he departs to go to another place. So now he's in hiding, peter. Peter has to kind of go around, you know, in in a cloak at night, maybe sneak around, go to places. Now it's becoming a little bit difficult to move around for Peter Because he's he's now a fugitive.
Speaker 2:To to the Romans. That's true. I never really considered that component of it, but I mean, you were in prison and now life is gonna be different for you, david. You know, as it pertains to this passage, you know, when it comes to Peter coming to the gate, peter coming to Mary's household, you've got the disciples in there praying and they say it is his angel. You know there's conversations that have been had amongst people of the faith for a long time. Do each of us possess a guardian angel? What have you traditionally thought on a subject like that?
Speaker 3:Personally myself, as far as each person having an angel, I haven't I repeated that in my answer so I could have some time to think about it the, the, the aim. I personally, I, you know, I, I don't see other, you know, I don't I haven't seen or or studied many places in the Bible where it says each person has an angel right.
Speaker 3:You know, we see specific angels for specific purposes, Messengers that God has sent, but there aren't Enough references to me, at least in my experience, just to show that that God gives each person an angel. So that's some not something that I have Subscribed to personally, but the I don't know. I don't know, I personally don't know, even Biblically, where this would have have come from in in their mindset.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I I think my mind goes to the fact that, while there may not be enough verses to formulate like an entire systematic theology over it, just a couple of verses that I think, like some, I think it's Psalm 91, where it says he will give his angels Charge concerning you for protection. Here you see them saying it is his angel. In Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 14, it says you know, are not angels just ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of the elect? There's, at the very least seems to be, a very service oriented idea, or protective idea, behind the lies of angels, you know, and what, what their purpose is for for the saints.
Speaker 2:It is just interesting that they said I mean the church, this is Mary, right, the mother of Jesus, and everybody who's close to her. It is his Angel. Why would, why would they say that? So I've just kind of contemplated this in my mind before, like Maybe it is possible that we have, quote-unquote, a guardian angel, and I'm not sure If I'd put a stamp on that, but I think there may be enough biblical evidence to say maybe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not out of the question.
Speaker 1:And maybe you know or saying, at least at times yeah, sure, god is using angels in our lives, throughout our lives, to protect us, to do to do what he wants to do in our lives and use his angels. Maybe there's not one saying next to me at all times and I just don't see it, but maybe there are times or events in my life in which God will use angels For protection or those sort of things. So you know, I do think he does that. I don't know about an individual want to sign to me or not. You know, not that I'm opposed to it That'd be kind of cool to learn that that was a thing but I do think angels are active today. They're doing the Lord's bidding and there are there. You know they're working amongst the elect and I think that's that's that's important to know there are.
Speaker 3:The interesting part to me is that she recognized his voice, recognized it to be him. She reported that and their first thought was it's his angel. So the angels is appearing in the likeness of Peter, and so that's the interesting part to me, that I don't know if I had a guardian angel, feel like God would probably make him look a little handsomer than me, maybe a little more clean, shaven, a little more cooth.
Speaker 2:Now you get a walk up song just for that, yeah.
Speaker 3:Like we're thinking about visions, like maybe it could characterize well one I wouldn't limit God to how many angels he has or who he sends them to. Two, if the there are instances of people appearing to other people in visions or dreams, like, and it's an angel, maybe in the likeness of that person, so maybe they thought she was having a vision of Peter, like this is, you know, a vision of Peter that you're having that you know is sending a message of hope or something to us.
Speaker 2:Maybe they thought he was dead too. I mean, that wouldn't be out of the question. But you know what is really interesting, though, kind of concluding this testimony here of Peter being drawn out of prison. Peter was the one who was supposed to die, and this text does end with somebody dying. You see, the soldiers who are executed by Herod because of it. The soldiers get executed because they apparently didn't do their job. You know, to fight against angelic beings. Now, I don't even know if the soldiers ever knew that the angel of the Lord was the one who brought Peter out of prison. So, regardless, herod's understanding was look, guys, you didn't do your job.
Speaker 2:But then we continue with this theme of death as we close out now verses 20, all the way to 23.
Speaker 2:Now he was very, he being Herod. Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, that's just to the north of Israel, and with one accord they came to him and, having won over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they were asking for peace because their country was fed by the king's country. On an appointed day, herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out the voice of a God and not a man, and immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died. So Herod dies as well. Not just the soldiers, but Herod dies. I think one thing that you're seeing immediately is, whereas a famine couldn't stop the work of the Lord, whereas imprisonment couldn't stop the work of the Lord, whereas an evil ruler couldn't stop the work of the Lord, you see God moving and not slowing down, regardless of the external circumstances that the church faces.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I kind of find the worms interesting here. I think of Jonah and the fig tree getting eaten by a worm, and God provided the protection of the fig tree. God provided this tree to go over Jonah, to show Jonah I'm actually in control of all these things. You should know that by now. Jonah, you went the opposite way, I made you go the other way, I got you swallowed up in a fish and I spit you back on. I said go. I said do it, because I said because I am the Lord, the Lord is in control here.
Speaker 1:King, no king. Disease, famine, death. The Lord is in control. The Lord is king over all things. And I think we see that here with this example of Herod's death. Look, herod, you can claim whatever you want, but there are consequences, because I am God and I am in control, is what he's saying. And he gets struck down and eaten by worms and breathes his last breath. So you just see the control or the sovereignty of God over all things, god's hand at work.
Speaker 1:The angel of the Lord an angel was instructed by God to strike Herod down. The angel of the Lord got Peter out of prison. The king who's giving the real orders is the king, which is God, and he's the one making things happen. So here we see the people praying, the people giving, the people trusting in the real king over all things and prevailing, because God is the one that is in control.
Speaker 1:And even when bad things happen, like the death of James, one of the brothers of thunder, it still resulted in God getting glory, and I think that's why James died, and I wouldn't wanna die If I was gonna die. If I got to choose, I'd want it to be for the glory of God, and so I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing that James died, because the gospel continued. Peter was then arrested, then God uses Peter and then it just continues. God continues to move and do things and put his hand in history to move about the way he wants things to be done, and it happens to Herod too. There's nothing that is more powerful and there's no one that rules over the king, who is in heaven, who rules over all things. So we see that here in this one chapter, all of that in one chapter, which is amazing how active God is in our lives today, right now.
Speaker 3:And it's all for God's purpose. I mean in life or in death, it's to serve the purpose and the will of God. I mean this is like the perfect example of the well. I mean first Peter, but also in other places. You know, god humbles the proud God makes great, the humble and the righteous, and this is like exactly a voice cried out this is of God and not man. And he didn't say no glory to God, he just kind of took that credit for himself and God's like nope, that's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2:Something else that's really unique here is that this event with Herod was recorded by Josephus, the Jewish, most famous Jewish historian that we have on record. Josephus states that Herod was struck down while delivering his oration and after five days of suffering he died, and that that was in AD 44, which probably is also like a historical marker for us on when this famine was of, when James died. So AD 44, we're talking about anywhere from 11 to 14 years after Jesus's ascension. So all of this has been taking place in the last decade, plus All of the events of Acts were about there on the chronological timeline, 11 to 14 years later. These events are taking place and God is still moving. So the text now closes verse 24 and 25, but the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who is also called Mark. So last comment on verses 24 and 25, david, kyle, and let's close it up.
Speaker 3:I love this. I mean 24,. The word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied and I know I'm bringing up this two-sided coin again but the life versus death. When, in the will of the Lord, in these circumstances, where people die and are martyred for their faith in the Lord, growth happens, continued, the word of God continues and multiplies. But what about where death occurs in opposition to God? You see, time after time, this guy dies, the next guy takes over. You don't hear a word from the previous ruler after that, like their word dies who they are dies, the next person takes over and the world moves on. But God's word is sustaining, it is forever and it will only grow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the one thing I see is, when we look at Acts 11, we see the spreading of the gospel and Antioch. We see the disciples, the followers of Christ, going and preaching the gospel to both Jew and to Greek or Gentile, and the word of the Lord is being spread. They're doing the Great Commission, they're living it out. There isn't any miracles necessarily happening in that passage, right in Acts 11,. They're just going and spreading the word. They're just doing what they're instructed to do. Then, on the flip side, as they're being obedient to God, what is God doing in Acts 12? God is working, he's intervening, he's sending angels, he's making things happen. God is also doing the things that he wants to happen. As we are obedient to his word, we are to be used for the multiplication of his word, for the multiplication of the saints. God's active, god's working, god's doing what he needs to do because his will, it's being done. The saints, on the other end, are being obedient to his word, are spreading the gospel, are praying and doing the work that there was instructed to them.
Speaker 1:The Great Commission isn't go and take over leaders and sneak out of prison and kill kings. The Great Commission is to go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. So the people are doing that, and then God, who's in control of all things, is ensuring that his word is multiplied, that people are hearing it and that all that is being done throughout history is being done for the will of God. And in the end, which we know in the book of Revelation, what will happen? His will will be done and Jesus will return and come back. So we see both ends of God's work God's work in his people and God's active hand in history today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe just concluding on this thought, a minor thought is that John Mark is going to go with Saul and Barnabas to now continue with the next leg of missionary journey, next week when we get into chapter 13,. We're going to begin with Paul's first missionary journey. So that's to come, but maybe focusing on verse 24 one more time for myself. But the word of the Lord, which in some ways is tangible, in other ways it's not tangible. In some ways you can read it and physically touch it by way of book or scroll, but in other ways the word of the Lord is sharper than any double-edged sword. It's able to pierce between soul and spirit, which means there's a while.
Speaker 2:The word of the Lord is literally bound up in words. There's something supernatural and spiritual about it because it's been inspired by the Holy Spirit. So when it says the word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied, I actually think this verse here may be the key to mission's work, may be the key to church health, church growth, church multiplication. Like, whatever you want to say, it's the word of God seen to us in the illustration of bread. You know, man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word of God bread rises, bread moves. You continue to multiply bread. There's just something about this, I think when the word of the Lord grows and multiplies, that's when and where he's moving. And this podcast, as Castor Coll mentioned to start the episode, you know we do this so that you would learn to take the word of God and to read it with others, so that they would receive personal spiritual growth as well. So let's make sure that we're continuing to abide by that.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Be Disciples podcast. Continue to share it with others. And thank you for studying with us in the Book of Acts. We hope that it is helping you in your journey as you one grow in your faith, but also that you are sitting down with others and discipling them. Have a blessed week.