Thoughts From Acts 12 - Part 3

 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.  Acts 12:18-24

        There are four significant Herod's in the Bible, Herod not being a name but a title like "president" or "Pharoah". Herod the great was the Magi guy and is in the Christmas story. Herod Antipas arrested John the Baptist and crucified Jesus. Herod Agrippa I is the one here who had James killed and gets eaten by worms and Agrippa II tells Paul, "You're great learning is making you insane."

       This account is not a once upon a time story but corroborated by ancient history. Documentation of this visit to Tyre and Sidon, wealthy, proud seaport cities who had everything but grain because they were land locked during a time of famine, had to "suck up" to Herod to get food. They planned games at the arenas and made this a big "to do" and Herod agreed because his trusted aide Blastus, who had received a bribe from the cities, encouraged him to go. Josephus records that in 44AD this happened and at the end of his speech after receiving undeflected worship, he collapsed with severe abdominal pain and died 5 days later. Having done surgery in 3rd world countries I'm reminded of taking out an appendix filled with parasitic worms. What probably happened is his appendix ruptured allowing the worms and feces into his abdomen and he died of sepsis 5 days later.

       Several points here. First the Bible is accurate historically. When people say, "How can you believe the Bible is true?", you never have to apologize for or explain away the narrative. It's always proven to be accurate from outside sources and from archaeology. Second, don't mess with the Children of God. Their father won't let you get away with that. It doesn't always happen in this life but it will in the afterlife. It happened to Pharoah in Exodus, it happened to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel, and it happened here in Acts 12. As average a Christian as I am, when people mess with me it never ends well for them over time. Third, Peter could have felt responsible for the death of the guards. Herod was completely responsible just like the Magi going home the other way weren't responsible for the death of all the children under 2, but Herod the Great was. Our obedience to Christ can rattle the beehive of the devil and the sinful world we live in. The evil is always responsible for causing more evil, not us.

      Today, I'm going to boldly obey the Lord confident that He loves me, defends me and His word is truth and rattle the devil's cage.

Thoughts From Acts 12 - Part 3

  Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place. Acts 12:11-17

           I was amazed by the power of angels when I read chapter 12. They treat our total reality like it's nothing. They break all the physical rules that we live by. They appear out of nowhere and then just disappear. They could be in my room right now and I wouldn't know. Is that why my dog is barking at apparently nothing? The chains on Peter just fell off. They weren't unclasped with his superhuman strength like Samson would have done but the metal became air for a second and fell right through the wrists. If I were Simon the Sorcerer, that's the trick I'd pay for. The clanging of chains falling didn't wake up the guards so it appears the angel had put them into a deep sleep so obviously he could mess with their minds like a Jedi master. He had a physical presence because he poked Peter in the side to wake him, yet he didn't push the iron gate open, but it just opened by his thought. Ebony Maw, the Voldemort looking guy on the side of Thanos in the Avengers comes to mind, but he had a physical substance that could be punched. I feel like a punch would pass right through an angel.

         When people doubt the Bible because of miracles it shows that their minds are enslaved to the rules of nature that we are bound to. Isn't it possible that if there is a God that transcends these and servants not bound to the laws of science, that miracles aren't even miracles for God? It's just Him doing what He wills whether it fits our planet or not. The Christians praying for him expected God to act according to the rules of Earth. That's why, even though they were in a prayer meeting praying for his deliverance, they didn't let him in because they didn't believe it was him. Lack of faith? Yes, in the fact that they thought God had to abide by the rules He created. Maybe He'd use an earthquake, but they didn't feel one. Maybe Simon the Zealot would mount a rescue extraction except he is here praying with us. Maybe the people would ask for Peter's release or Herod would change his mind, but an angel recue wasn't on their BINGO sheet.

       When we pray we need to remember this; God is not limited to solving problems in ways that we can conceive of. No problem is too big. No answer is impossible. He's the same God and He doesn't change.

Thoughts From Acts 12 - Part 2

 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  John 21:18,19

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Acts 12:6-10

         When I was maybe 12 years old I met this kid named Bill. He was several years older than me and we became good friends. One day he brought out a Ouija board, and we asked it lots of questions. I in subsequent years was informed these are demonic and not to mess with them but on this day we had a lot of fun with it. Bill asked it how old he would be when he died and it said 49. I always remembered that because if that was me, when my 49th birthday came along, I would have been wondering all year when it would happen. That's why I didn't ask it that for me. I've since seen him on Facebook and he is well past 49 which tells me that either the devil doesn't know the future nor control it or Ouija boards don't work. Either way, he is alive and well. While I was looking on the negatives of knowing the year of my death, what would be the positives? I could enlist in the military, go overseas and hunt Al Quieda without fear of getting killed. I'd be a fearless American war hero knowing I was invincible until 49. I could participate in every Life Insurance disclaimer activity without fear.

       God's word is infinitely more certain than a Ouija board. He told David that he would be king so since he wasn't yet, David knew he was invincible against Goliath. He told Peter that he would live until an old age in John 21 and therefore, even though his friend James was killed by Herod and he was next on the chopping block, Peter could sleep so soundly the night before that he thought he was dreaming an angel delivering him and found himself in the middle of the road. Good thing there weren't cars back then.

      What promises of God are you claiming? God's promises always come true because He never lies and He controls the future. His promises should be taking away fear and anxiety from our lives, so if you are struggling with these, you probably aren't trusting God. Read your Bible. Know His word. He never fails unlike a Ouija board.

Thoughts From Acts 12 - Part 1

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul. It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. Acts 11:27-12:5

            After the martyrdom of Steven, we learned that Christians ran from the hub of the persecution and the first what I would call real church formed in Antioch. This had Jews and gentiles meeting together and a pastor, Paul, and they let others exercise their gifts like prophecy and even passed the offering plate! They had prayer meetings and even sent off and supported missionaries. The onlooking world took notice and called them "Christians" or "Little Christs" which may have been derogatory but I'm sure to them it was a compliment. If someone called me a little Jesus, I would thank them profusely but then end with you have no idea how far I am from being like Jesus. 

        I would have liked to be in that Church but I'm not so sure I would have wanted to be in the Jerusalem church like James and Peter. I've often wondered why they didn't run. Did they think that they were protected by God from harm? Obviously not because the early chapters show them getting arrested, beaten, and threatened. Did they think that thousands of people converted around Pentecost would protect them? Obviously not because they easily arrested Peter and James, the first of the 12 to be martyred, and it made the people happy. It reminds me of today where leaders make their decisions based on approval ratings. No, they must have had clear instruction from God to stay for now. It makes me think of religious persecution from today where many missionaries will leave till the threat is over yet some stay refusing to back down. Are the ones that stayed bolder or had greater faith? Maybe. But before we look down on the ones who ran, maybe God told them to leave and they were just being obedient.

       What's the application? First, are you in a church? Second, does anyone know that you are a Christian? Third, are you being obedient to the Lord and doing whatever he tells you? Fourth, are you praying for and supporting the less fortunate believers around the world? They are your family. You owe it to them.

Thoughts From Acts 11 - Part 2

 19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So, for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Acts 11:19-26

           While the rest of Acts is going to focus on Paul, we would be remiss not to focus on some other heroes of the faith. We are into hero worship and probably always have been. This year alone Michael, The Odyssey, and Spiderman have set box office records all focused on a person. So far in Acts we have focused on Peter, Stephen and Phillip and are about to experience 16 chapters of Paul. The church in Corinth was in disarray because they were divided on hero worship of Paul versus Apollos and Paul had to tell them to stop worshipping anyone except Jesus. He told them in 1Corinthians 12 that the church should be called the body of Christ. In other words, the body doesn't glorify a thumb or a big toe or an ear, but all those parts are essential to a body that functions well. Today we need to focus on a "lesser" body part but without this part, would Paul even have played a positive part in church history?

         "The men from Cyprus and Cyrene". Have you ever heard of them? Do we know any names? No, but it might make a good name for a Christian Rock Band. What happened was Jewish believers dispersed or ran from Jerusalem due to the murder of Stephen. This, in effect, served as the first mission thrust of the gospel because Christians can't keep good news to themselves. If you knew the cure to cancer and kept it to yourself, what kind of monster would you be? In the same way, if we know the path to hell and didn't try to warn people walking on that path, we would be uncaring, selfish people. These believers understood this and told the good news to the Jewish communities that they ended up in. Some ended up in Cyprus and Cyrene but rather than setting up a comfortable life there, took their families to gentile communities in Antioch feeling that the gentiles needed the good news, too. 

       Although Peter with Cornelius and Paul a missionary to the gentiles, get all the press, where would we be without "the men from Cyprus and Cyrene" in the salvation of the gentiles including me? They are in my spiritual family tree. Sure, Paul is in there too, but these guys are above Paul in my tree. How? Because they evangelized gentiles who then formed a church. Jerusalem heard about it and for whatever motives sent Barnabas to check it out. Barnabas saw it to be an authentic move of God and decided it needed a pastor to grow it properly and got Paul off the sideline. Paul was not depressed going, "woe is me I killed Christians", but rather was being taught in the desert by Jesus who was preparing him for his role. That being said, I'm sure he felt unworthy to serve like Moses in the desert of Midian who Aaron had to come get, and Barnabas was his Aaron.

      The "men of Cyrus and Cyrene", who were probably pastoring the church didn't say when Paul and Barnabas arrived, "Hey, this is our church, we have it under control. We are in charge here." No. Like John the Baptist who was the hero but said "I must decrease and He must increase", they moved out of the way and let the "new heroes" take over. In fact, they probably even submitted to the authority of Paul, Barnabas, and the Church of Jerusalem. If they had an Instagram account, they would have lost all their followers. Thus, we never hear again from the forgotten heroes "the men of Cyrus and Cyrene" the top of my family tree. Hope to someday meet those guys in Heaven and thank them for their witness, obedience to leave their comfort zone, and humility to become nothing for the sake of the gospel. If not for them, I would be on the "Highway to Hell", not performed by my favorite Christian rock band.

Thoughts From Acts 11 - Part 1

The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Acts 11:1-18

           I remember reading in the Left Behind books that tribulation saints would be marked by a smudge on their foreheads. This was LaHaye's and Jenkins' interpretation of a passage in Revelation which I had never heard before, but who is to say they are wrong or right? We shall see.  One view of geology that I believe in is called catastrophism. This means that generally everything goes the same day after day for long periods of time, but these are bookended by rapid catastrophes like for example the flood on one end and Zechariah 14 on the other (look it up). This stands in contrast to uniformitarianism which states everything happens the same continually for millions of years. Peter talks about that as being the wrong view in 2Peter 3.                   What I see here is spiritual catastrophism. For 3000 years everything went the same. God picked the Jews and used them to bring God's word, the Messiah, and demonstrate the power and glory of God to the nations. Then God invaded the Earth in human form, fulfilled the law and brought a new covenant marked by the supernatural. The Holy Spirit came and proved the validity of the new covenant with signs and wonders. He even showed who was saved by making them speak in tongues. Now for 2000 years everything goes on the same until Jesus invades once again. Miracles will come back and who knows, we may even get smudges if we are here which I won't be.

          What do you do when you are in those years where the miracles just don't seem to happen? Do you doubt? Peter says that during these times scoffers will say "Where is this coming? I don't see the miraculous happening?" People may get lazy and compromise their obedience and faith. Don't do it. Stand strong. That's why I don't mind these fools predicting the date of the Lord's return and always being wrong. At least they are looking for it. It keeps me looking up. The time is short. Don't doubt. He's coming for His bride and He wants her dressed and ready.

Thoughts From Acts 10 - Part 4

 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. Acts 10:34-48

        I once went with a friend to a Church of Christ evening service. Besides the acapella worship being strange, the most interesting thing was that the pastor in his message kept saying things like "The Church of Christ will prevail" or "The Church of Christ will be saved". I finally realized that he wasn't meaning the universal Church of Christ but rather his denomination. They believe in baptismal regeneration referring to the verse in Acts 2 where it says, "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins". Therefore, if you were baptized for any other reason than to be saved, you aren't saved. The thief on the cross goes against that view but you could argue Jesus made an exception which is His prerogative. This passage however shows that Cornelius and his household were saved before baptism as confirmed with the Holy Spirit coming on them as evidenced by tongues.

      My theory was that if people believed then they were immediately baptized as part of the salvation vows and pledge to follow Christ. Baptism was a part of salvation but now we have replaced it with the sinner's prayer as associated with Romans 10 where Paul says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead you will be saved. So, we've replaced baptism with a "repeat after me" and baptism is a subsequent act testifying what you have done. Are we right in doing this or wrong? I'm not sure it matters because these guys were saved before Peter even got to offer the, "With your eyes closed and no one looking around" part. All it took was believing!

     The other thing I noticed is that it really wasn't Peter's best message. In fact, they kind of interrupted him with converting in the middle of his message. We often put too much stock in our speaking proficiency when the effort should probably be on our knees ahead of time praying for a move of the Holy Spirit. Anyway, many were saved due to Peter's sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit (granted, it was pretty clear -"Hey you!") and to his obedience to share the gospel. May we follow suit today!