Hello everyone! Good morning. I hope everyone is doing fine and keeping well, not just physically but spiritually, in our walk with the Lord.
• Let’s listen to Him again, from Acts 12 today. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we are here to honour You and to give thanks, for WHO you are and for all that you’ve done. We praise you for your steadfast love, for your mercies that never come to an end. Every day we receive our daily bread. Great is your faithfulness.
May our hearts be filled with joy and gladness each time we come and sing and read and consider Your Word. Grant us a growing faith in You and your Word.
May all who gathers together online be blessed today. This we pray, in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.
We have a remarkable passage in Acts 12. In one chapter, we have the death of the apostle James, the miraculous deliverance of Peter, the execution of the guards (at least 4 of them) and in today’s text, the death of Herod Agrippa himself.
• A very gloomy scene but the sovereign Lord still reign and He is in control, continuing the theme of last week’s message.
• God rules over the power of men and accomplishes His purposes. His will cannot be chained nor His purposes restrained.
We are going to see another of God’s sovereign act today, His judgement upon Herod Agrippa I (the first) in Acts 12:19b-25.
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while. 20He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured 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.
21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." 23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
24But the word of God continued to increase and spread.
25When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.
After telling us all about Herod Agrippa, from the start of this chapter, Luke ended with 12:24 “BUT the Word of God continued to increase and spread.”
• NASB puts, it continued to grow and to be multiplied.
• The BUT statement linked it with the preceding section. Luke was CONTRASTING what took place before.
• The Gospel did not cease to spread despite Herod’s attempts at killing the church. Herod’s scheme failed even with the killing James and locking Peter up.
• All the persecutions and killings could not stop the Word of God from being preached. The Word of God is not bound.
King Herod Agrippa I was made King over Galilee and Perea (when his uncle Herod Antipas was banished). Later his reign expanded to Samaria and Judea.
• He was considered one of the most powerful King of the east, almost equalled that of his grandfather Herod the Great, the one who ordered all the male children in Bethlehem to be killed at the time of Jesus’ birth.
• His grandfather Herod the Great failed to kill the child Jesus when he was born. Now we see his grandson Herod Agrippa failing to destroy Jesus’ church.
Acts 12 begins with Herod arresting believers and putting James to death, with Peter next in line. The church was forced to hide behind locked doors.
• The situation was dire. Imagine the church without James and Peter, the two inner-circle disciples of Jesus.
• It might look hopeless but the light of Christ shines. God intervened.
No human attempt at stopping the message of God can succeed, not even with the two most powerful kings reigning during those times.
• Ultimately, the truth of the Gospel of Christ will continue to be proclaimed, by the sovereign will of God.
• The situation might look messy and gloomy at times but the light of Christ will shine.
Herod lost Peter. He executed the guards and left for Caesarea. That’s where we pick up from the text today.
• Due to some falling out with Tyre and Sidon (coastal cities in Syria, North of Caesarea), Herod was angry with them and halted the food supply to them.
• Tyre and Sidon depended on the produce from Galilee. For the food line to resume, they had to appease Herod.
• And they got Blastus, Herod’s personal servant, to help them seek an audience with the King.
• The occasion came at a games festival honouring of the Roman Emperor Claudius Caesar, and the delegations from Tyre and Sidon came to meet the King.
As expected, the tyrant Herod took the opportunity to display his power and glory.
• He wore a silver garment that glittered brightly under the morning sun.
• Whatever the content of his speech, the crowd flattered him with shouts of “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” (12:22)
• Herod gladly received the praise and robbed God of His glory.
• 12:23 “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.”
The Jewish historian Josephus described his death in Antiquities:
“Agrippa put on a robe weaved of silver throughout, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theatre early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment, being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it, shone out after a glittering manner, and was so impressive as to spread awe over those that looked intently upon him; and presently his flatterers cried out, from various directions, one after another (though not for his good), that he was a god… “You are more than a mortal nature”… But soon afterwards, a severe pain arose in his belly, and began most violently… He was carried quickly into the palace. When he had been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, he departed this life, in the fifty-fourth year of his age and the seventh in his reign.” (Antiquities, XIX19.8.2)
Herod died after 5 days of agonising pain.
• The angel of the Lord turned up TWICE in this chapter, the first time to save Peter and the second time to judge Herod.
• Herod opposed the truth and tried to destroy the church, God removed him.
Luke went on to tell us. Not long after Herod’s death, Barnabas and Saul arrived in Jerusalem with the famine relief from Antioch church.
• 12:25 “When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.”
• Luke is setting the stage for us to see the next phase of God’s work.
• The next chapter tells us Paul and Barnabas, will be called by the Spirit of God to take the Gospel to the Gentile world, on their first missionary journey, accompanied by John Mark.
The enemy is dead, the Word of God lives on and the work of God continues.
• God’s agenda has not been derailed. His hands were not tied. His message was never muted.
• Luke made it plain to his readers then and to us today:
We may feel oppressed and overpowered by the forces around us, but stay strong and be encouraged because God and His work will triumph, and His Word endures.
Herod’s power might look daunting but the earthly throne has no real power, except the power God gives it.
• The throne in heaven presides. God removes kings and sets up kings. (Dan 2:21)
• This reminds me of what God said to King Nebuchadnezzar when he boasted about his power in Daniel 4:29-32
29 … as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"
31The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes."
There are TWO key takeaways from this chapter:
GOD’S RULE IS NEVER RESTRICTED
• We trust in the Most High, the Lord who is sovereign over the kingdoms of men.
• God’s power and authority are never at stake. He reigns supreme.
We do not understand why James was killed and Peter delivered, or why Herod was not removed earlier and the church kept from persecution.
• And why would God let John, Jesus’ beloved disciple and younger brother of James, mourned for his brother’s death? God did not explain.
• And there wasn’t much said about James, one of Jesus’ closest disciple, just one simple line “he was put to death with the sword” (12:2).
The Lord says in Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. 9As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
• Not that He has no plan but He has divine purposes that are unknown to us and beyond our understanding.
• Isaiah 55:10-11 "10As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
• He is fulfilling His purposes. God can do anything, take any action, intervene in any situation, OR choose to act indirectly, remain passive, allowing things to simmer, for reasons of His own. Ultimately, His will is fulfilled in any case.
Those who teach that it is always God’s will to deliver us from sickness, pain or death are wrong. They are mistaken and they are misrepresenting God.
• God does not exist only to bless us with health, wealth and success. He exists to fulfil His will and purposes, to the glory of His Name.
• God does not love us less when there are pain and suffering in our lives.
• He loves James just as much as He loved Peter. And John wasn’t angry with God because his brother died. He loves God. He says in 1 John 4:8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
GOD’S WORD IS NEVER BOUND
• No one can drown out the Gospel; no one can mute the truth of God’s Word.
• Isa 40:8 "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever." It cannot be silenced. It did not end in AD44 and it will not end in 2020.
• We might be living in a more difficult world today but the truth of God will not be silenced because the Lord said in Isaiah 55:11 "…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
We have faith in God’s unchanging Word, even in a post-modern world where everything is made subjective.
We will believe what God says, even in a post-faith world where people reject faith in God and trust only human theories and senses.
We will trust in God’s eternal truth, even in a post-truth world where people can spin the truth in whatever way they like to achieve their biased ends.
We don’t doubt the Word of God. Not in the sense that we have no question or query about the Scriptures; we study, learn and seek understanding.
• But we do not approach it with unbelief or with a hardness of heart.
• Our confidence is in His Word, because it is our only trustworthy compass for life.
• When we see the Lord face to face one day, everything else will have fallen but we can still see the truth of God standing, right before us.
Let me end with the words of apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:23-25
23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
"All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25but the word of the Lord stands forever."
And this is the word that was preached to you.
That’s our confidence! In the unchanging, eternal Word of God, anchored in His character, in WHO He is!
• Don’t let the difficulties of life cloud our vision and leave us confused and discouraged.
• Remember this, the Lord is sovereign. His rule is never restricted, His hands are not tied.
• And His Word is never bound. His truth of God endures forever. We can trust Him.
Let me close with the story of this hymn. HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD (Music 1907).
Adelaide Addison Pollard (1862-1934) wrote this hymn in 1902.
She had a strong desire to be a missionary in Africa but encountered many obstacles. She tried to raise funds to make the trip but failed. The unsuccessful attempts caused her to experience great distress.
She went to the prayer meeting and heard a prayer by an elderly lady: “It doesn’t really matter what you do with us, Lord, just have your own way with our lives.”
She realised then that it’s not about what she wants to do for God; He is the Potter, she is the clay. The sovereign Lord directs!
She went back to read Jeremiah 18:3-4. Let’s read from 18:1-6.
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2"Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."
She wrote these words (let me just quote stanza 1 and 3:
“Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Saviour divine.”
She did eventually go to Africa and became a missionary, all in God’s time and in God’s way.
Let’s pray.
Gracious God, You are our potter. You made us and redeemed us, and you are molding us into the likeness of Christ.
We trust You as the sovereign Lord who rules and is in control of all that is happening in our lives.
We submit to You and trust You to lead and guide us in your ways, through the circumstances of life.
Help us live each moment of each day for you and for your purposes.
Grant us the wisdom and strength to do the things you want us to do, so that we can fulfil your will and glorify Your Name.
All praise be to you, O God, our Sovereign Lord.
May the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with your people, wherever we are, now and forevermore, AMEN.
