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Acts 12 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

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  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. And when you're ready, let's
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  dive into God's Word together. Acts chapter 12 begins with more
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  fierce persecution of the church.
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  This time it's King Herod who is at the helm.
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  We see him in the first few verses of this chapter laying
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  hands on church members in order to mistreat them.
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  Then he puts to death James the brother of John.
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  This is James the son of Zebedee, one of the sons of
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  Thunder, who is in Jesus inner circle, the first of the 11
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  faithful disciples to be martyred for the faith.
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  After James's death, Herod is emboldened in his persecution of
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  the church by the Jews who were pleased to see James's death.
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  And so next Herod had Peter arrested and thrown into prison.
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  Here's where I want us to pick up the story as we see God at
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  work in and through his people. Listen along, starting in verse
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  5. So Peter was kept in prison, but
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  prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
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  On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward,
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  Peter was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains,
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  and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.
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  And behold, an Angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light
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  shone in the cell. And he struck Peter's side and
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  woke him up, saying, Get up quickly.
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  And his chains fell off his hands.
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  And the Angel said to him, Gird yourself and put on your
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  sandals. And he did so.
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  And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you, and follow me.
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  And he went out and continued to follow.
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  And he did not know that what was being done by the Angel was
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  real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
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  When he had passed the 1st and 2nd guard, they came to the iron
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  gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself.
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  And they went out and went along. 1 St.
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  And immediately the Angel departed from him.
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  When Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know for sure that
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  the Lord has sent forth his Angel and rescued me from the
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  hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were
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  expecting. And when he realized this, he
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  went to the House of Mary, the mother of John, who was also
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  called Mark, where many were gathered together and were
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  praying. When he knocked at the door of
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  the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer.
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  When she recognized Peter's voice because of her joy, she
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  did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was
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  standing in front of the gate. They said to her, You're out of
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  your mind. But she kept insisting that it
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  was so. They kept saying, It is his
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  Angel. But Peter continued knocking.
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  And when they had opened the door they saw him and were
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  amazed. But motioning to them with his
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  hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him
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  out of the prison. And he said, Report these things
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  to James and the brethren. Then he left and went to another
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  place. What a wild story.
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  But here's what you cannot miss. First, notice the posture of
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  God's people in this time of trouble.
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  James is dead, Christians are being persecuted, and Peter, one
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  of the leaders of the church, has just been arrested.
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  So what do the believers do? They pray.
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  What else can they do but appeal to an authority higher than
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  Herod, higher than Caesar himself, the almighty God of the
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  universe? So we see this posture of prayer
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  from God's people. But don't miss the second truth,
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  the power of God. God is not thrown off by James's
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  death nor by Peter's imprisonment.
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  He is working all of it together for his glory and for the good
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  of his people. And how he does that here is so
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  striking. An Angel of the Lord literally
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  nudges Peter awake, causes his chains to fall off his hands,
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  and walks him out of the prison, past two guards, and through an
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  iron gate which, Oh yeah, just swung open for him.
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  This is the power of our God. And he was delighted.
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  He was pleased to do all of that at the very time that the church
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  was fervently praying for Peter. And in the end, God works a
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  miracle. Peter is set free, and the
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  church is encouraged by Peter's freedom, and especially by a God
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  who hears and answers the prayer of his people.
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  One pastor has often put it this way.
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  God's got the whole thing rigged, and he does.
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  We serve a God who has never once been caught off guard,
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  never once been taken by surprise, a King to whom belongs
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  all power and authority, a loving Father who loves to
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  listen and to respond to the prayers of his children.