Angels at Our Side #2
Acts 12:1-11
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - March 15, 2006
*Some day you are going to see an angel. It’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” God’s mighty angels are as real as you and me. And in this wonderful story from the early church, we can see how angels work.
1. First of all, God sends His angels when His people face great problems. We see this truth in vs. 1-4:
1. Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.
2. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
4. So when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
*This was a terrible crisis for the church, not the first persecution, but a fresh wave of persecution against the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. King Herod stretched out his hand to vex or harass these leaders. He wanted to hurt them, oppress them and crush them. They were probably scourged and put into prison. King Herod even killed the Apostle James, and was just waiting for the right time to kill Peter. It was a terrible time of trouble.
*Many Christians around the world are going through the same kind of trouble today. Thousands, maybe millions are in the same kind of danger. And we may not be going through that kind of trouble, but all of God’s people will face great problems. Those are the times when we see God’s angels at work.
*Time Magazine once had a story about Melissa Deal Forth, a 40-year-old film maker from Atlanta. The story was about the death of Melissa’s husband Chris, exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
*The last months had been gruesome for them both: Treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside early on January 4th, when Chris somehow managed to get himself and his IV pole out of the room without being seen or heard. He also went past the nurse’s station without being noticed.
*Melissa remembers being shaken awake at 3:00 a.m. by a frantic nurse who told her she couldn’t find Chris. Melissa did find him in the chapel sitting with a man she had never seen before. She burst through the door, firing off questions, "Where have you been? Are you okay?"
*Chris just smiled. "It’s fine," he told her, "I’m all right."
*The other man remained quiet, as though not wanting to be noticed. He was tall, dressed like Chris usually did, in a flannel shirt and Levis.
*Melissa later reported, "There was no real age to him, no wrinkles, just this perfectly smooth and pale, white skin and ice blue eyes. I mean I’ve never seen that color blue on any human before. They were more the blue like some of those Husky dogs have. I’ll never forget the eyes."
*Chris seemed to want to be left alone, and so she reluctantly agreed to leave. When he came back to his room, she says, "He was lit up, just vibrant, smiling. I could see his big dimples. I hadn’t seen them in so long. He didn’t have the air of a terminally ill and very weak man anymore."
*"Who was that guy?" she asked.
-"You’re not going to believe me," Chris said.
-"Yes, I will," she answered.
-"He was an angel," Chris said. "My guardian angel."
*Melissa did believe him. "All I had to do was to look at him," she says now, "to know something extraordinary, something supernatural had happened."
*She searched the hospital, but couldn’t find the man. And Melissa said: "After the visit, Chris told me his prayers had been answered. I worried for a while that he thought the angel had cured his cancer. I realize now it wasn’t the cure, it was the blessing he brought with him. It was the peace of mind."
*Chris died two days later. Melissa says that not a day has gone by when she has not thought about the angel and what he did for her husband. She said: "Chris’ life could not be saved, but the fear and pain were taken from him. Never, never, never will anyone be able to convince me that angels don’t exist." (1)
2. God sends angels when His people face great problems, and when His people are in prayer. We see this truth in vs. 5:
5. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
*This was a huge crisis for the church, but we see them doing exactly the right thing: They started praying for Peter, and they kept on praying. They prayed without ceasing, and that’s exactly what we should be doing.
*This Saturday is a great opportunity for you to pray. We will meet here at 9 a.m. for a Sweet Hour of Prayer, and we will go from place to place in the church, praying for the different ministries and age groups at McClendon.
*Passionate prayer always makes a difference! In his commentary on these verses, W.A. Criswell tells us that prayer is the real battlefield of the world. He said that all the host of heaven and God Himself looked down on that little group interceding for Peter’s life. And Dr. Criswell said that, “When trouble and sorrow came, the people fell on their knees in real, agonizing prayer. I can see that in the lives of God’s people. So often our prayers are peripheral. They are lifeless. They are cold. They are indifferent. They are repetitive. They have no blood in them, no tears in them, no agony in them. But when trouble comes and sorrow threatens, our prayers are no longer just syllables, sentences, and words. They are heartbeats, they are blood drops, they are agonies. So it is in this text. Bowed to their knees by an awesomeness of the slaughter of the infant church, the church goes to God in agonizing prayer.” (2)
*And we see God coming to the rescue at just the right time in vs. 6-7:
6. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
7. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!’’ And his chains fell off his hands.
*God’s people prayed. And God sent an angel to the rescue.
3. God sends angels when His people are in prayer. And He sends them to help show His power, like we see in vs. 8-11:
8. Then the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and tie on your sandals’’; and so he did. And he said to him, "Put on your garment and follow me.’’
9. So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
10. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.’’
*Our God has all power! There is nothing good that He can’t do, and sometimes He uses angels to demonstrate His power. In this story, King Herod did everything he could to keep Peter locked up. Peter was behind three gates and bound by two chains. He was also guarded by four teams of soldiers. Each team of four soldiers took turns serving six-hour shifts. Altogether, then, sixteen soldiers guarded the door, but what are three doors, two chains and sixteen soldiers up against our God? Nothing can stand in His way!
*So God sent one of His angels to set Peter free. And one angel was much more than enough. When Hezekiah was King of Judah, the King of Assyria attacked Jerusalem. Hezekiah prayed and listen to the answer recorded in Isaiah 37:
33. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: “He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it.
34. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return; and he shall not come into this city,” says the Lord.
35. “For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”
36. Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses all dead.
*One angel was more than enough to help Peter! But let’s never forget, it wasn’t really the angel’s power, it was God’s power! That’s why Peter gave the glory to God in vs. 11, when he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”
*The first thing Peter did when he was set free was go to Mary and Mark’s house. For a while he had to stand there knocking, because they couldn’t believe that the Lord had freed him. (By the way, we almost always underestimate the power of God. Has anybody ever over-estimated the power of God?)
*Finally they let Peter in, and notice that in vs. 17, he told them “how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.” It was the Lord’s power that set Peter free.
4. Sometimes God sends angels to help people see His power, but notice that He sends His angels according to His perfect plan. We notice this truth in these verses, as we compare the fate of James and Peter. In vs. 2, Herod “killed James the brother of John with the sword.” But Peter was set free, and in vs. 11, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod . . .”
*What a difference in the way it turned out for James and Peter, or was it? But the question comes up: Why did the Lord rescue Peter and not James? Did God love Peter more than James? Of course not! God loves us all! And we know this most of all because of the Cross of Jesus Christ! Jesus loved us so much that He was willing to take all of the shame and punishment for all of our sins.
*God loved James as much as He loved Peter. Well, was Peter more important than James? No. Was Peter a better person? No.
*We don’t know why God rescued Peter and not James, but we do know that God has a plan and purpose for each one of us. We do know that God’s plan is perfect, and we know that He uses angels to help carry out His plan.
*James didn’t get left out here. God sent an angel to help both men. An angel helped Peter get out of Herod’s jail, but an angel also helped James get to Heaven, and that is infinitely better.
*It was the Lord’s perfect plan for both men. “Peter, I’ve got something for you to do down there, but James, you come on home. I’ve got something for you to do up here.”
*God has a perfect plan for our lives. We need to remember that because it will help us keep our hope in a heartbreaking world.
*Two year’s ago today, Scott Elliott’s parents departed this earth bound for their Savior’s loving arms. Today Scott wrote these words:
“Some of you may remember that day. I posted news of their deaths shortly after the shooting occurred.
For those who aren’t aware, my parents, Larry and Jean Elliott, served as international missionaries through the Southern Baptist Convention for 25 years in Honduras. In 2004, they answered God’s call to go to Iraq as relief workers dedicated to showing the Iraqi people God’s love through humanitarian programs such as water purification projects. Shortly after arriving in Iraq, while they were on fact-finding tour of the country, terrorists ambushed their car and killed four of the five occupants, including my parents, Karen Watson, and David McDonnall. David’s wife Carrie survived the attack but was severely wounded.” (The attack was the deadliest in the 157-year history of the SBC International Mission Board.)
*Last year, Scott wrote a letter to his parents. Today he said that every word of that letter is still true. Listen to Scott’s letter:
Dear Mom and Dad,
March 15, 2004 began as any other day. Just 4 days earlier I celebrated my birthday. I was disappointed to have missed your phone call, but the sound of you two singing Happy Birthday on my voice mail was wonderful. How could I have known that those precious few words would be the last I would ever hear from you on this earth?
The phone rang on the morning of the 15th. It was Leia. She was calling me from home, as she often does, but this time the words she spoke sent a chill down my spine. "Scott, there’s been a shooting in Iraq." Iraq, while a very violent place, is large and shootings were common, so I was uneasy but not overly concerned. Then a second call from Leia came just a little while later. The shooting had been in the area we knew you were traveling. I headed home at this point, anxious to know what had happened. Shortly after arriving at home, we received a call that confirmed our worst fears - your car had been ambushed and both of you were gone.
We all knew when you guys set out for Iraq that it was a dangerous country, yet your children and our spouses all felt peaceful knowing you were answering the call of God in your lives. As you often said, there is no safer place to be than in the center of God’s will. It is an irony only those who know Jesus can understand that even in violent death, you guys were in God’s will and secure in His providence over your lives.
A year has now passed since that fateful day. Your children and our families are faring well. Not a day goes by that we don’t think of you and long to hear your voices and feel your embrace. But we are comforted by the knowledge that you are enjoying your reward, to the glory of God, for all eternity. So many things I’d like to share with you. So much has happened. You are no longer here with us in body, yet your lives and your example continue to have an enormous impact on so many people. Truly you lived out Jesus’ command when He said, "Live in such a way that men may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
I am grateful to God that He allowed me to see how willing and obedient, yet imperfect humans can be used by Him in such a mighty way. May He continue to be glorified through your example! Your witness, your unshakeable faith, and your steadfast commitment to Him have been such an encouragement to me as I try, through His strength, to follow His will in my own life. I’m sure countless others would say the same thing.
I don’t know if you can read this letter from where you are. I’m too mortal to understand how eternity and heaven all work. But, if you can read it, I just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, "I love you, Mom, I love you, Dad." Someday we’ll be together again. Nothing can fully take away the pain and loss we still feel without you, yet that assurance provides comfort that is real and substantial. I can’t wait to see you again. It brings to mind another truth that Paul referred to when he said, "Oh, death, where is thy victory? Oh, death, where is thy sting?"
Your son,
Scott (3)
*God has a perfect plan for our lives, and angels are a part of it.
Conclu:
*Christians: Sooner or later, you will see the angels.
-It may be when you face a great problem
-It may be when His people are in prayer
-It may be to help you see His power
-And it will be to carry out His plan for your life.
(1) Reported by Sam Allis/Boston, Nancy Harbert/Angel Fire and Lisa H. Towle/Raleigh, with other bureaus. (Adapted from sermon by King Duncan: “Entertaining Angels” - Hebrews 13 1-25 - Dynamic Preaching JAS 2001)
(2) Acts, an Exposition, Volume II, W.A. Criswell, Zondervan Corp., Grand Rapids, 1979, pp. 111-112
(3) Posted on electionprojection.com by Scott Elliott at 1:10pm 03/15/05
