Acts 12:1-11 THE SECRET SERVICE
As a child of God, you are being watched, and you are being guarded and protected, much more than you realize.
Have you ever noticed how much the candidates for president are being watched? It’s not always obvious when you see them on TV, but every where they go, they are guarded and protected by heavily armed men in suits and trenchcoats. Who are these armed men? They are the United States Secret Service, and their goal is to protect people who hold high offices in our country. Every where they go, the Secret Service is there, watching them, guarding them, and protecting them.
Would you like to be followed around like that – no privacy? As a Christian, you already are. You are being closely watched and guarded and protected, but not by heavily armed men in suits – that’s not good enough, in God’s eyes. You are being guarded and protected by something bigger and better – angels. They follow you every where you go. They watch you and protect you – there are probably some of them right here in this room right now, and you are not aware of it.
Do you know about these angels? Most people really don’t get the concept of angels. Lots of people believe that when you die, you go to heaven, you grow wings, and you’re given a harp, and then you become an angel. That’s not how it works. When you die, you’re not going to become an angel. People don’t turn into angels. In heaven, you’re going to continue to exist as a human being, but in a different way. Angels are a completely separate classification of living beings, according to the Bible, and you’ll see thousands of them in heaven.
And I hope you don’t picture them as cute and harmless little creatures. Sometimes you see little angel dolls – they look like red-cheeked toddlers with wings and diapers – cupid or tinkerbell – lovable, cuddly creatures. The Bible pictures angels as quite the opposite. In our Old Testament reading, one of the angels named Michael is described – a chief prince among the angels, a powerful and intimidating warrior. In our Revelation reading, the Apostle John was so overwhelmed by the angel that had been talking to him that he fell down to worship him. But notice what the angel said to John, in verse 9: “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” Do you see how the angel describes himself? As a “fellow servant.” Angels aren’t cute stuffed animals. They are powerful beings created by God, to serve God with you.
And angels serve God in different ways. Sometimes they are messengers – as we see on our bulletin cover – they conveyed the message that Jesus had risen. Sometimes they are protectors, God’s secret service for Christians. We see an example of that in Acts 12. King Herod was persecuting the Christians. He executed the Apostle James, and he was planning to execute the Apostle Peter too, but not for awhile. Peter was put into a high security prison, and notice what the Christians were doing in verse 5: “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” God answered those prayers by sending an angel. The night before Peter’s trial, an angel appeared in Peter’s jail cell. He woke Peter up, caused Peter’s chains to fall off his wrists, and led Peter out of the jail. The whole thing seemed like a dream to Peter, as he walked with the angel right past the guards and out the front door. Verse 11 is a key verse: “Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.” Later, an angel struck down King Herod while he was giving a speech. That’s God’s secret service. Angels are sent to protect God’s people.
This teaches us how God works. When you pray for something, when you are in trouble, when you need something, God often responds by sending angels. They are powerful beings whose purpose is to whatever God asks, and often that means helping you. Your best friends are not who you socialize with. Your best friends are actually angels. You’ve never met any of them before, but they are with you everywhere you go. They especially watch over you during your childhood. They stand guard over you every night at the foot of your bed. If it weren’t for God’s secret service watching over you, the Devil and his evil angels would cause so many bad things to happen to you that would make your life unlivable!
Our problem, as sinful human beings, is that we underestimate God this way. We underestimate God when we’re in trouble, and we pray. We underestimate how closely God is watching over our lives, and how much he cares about us and wants to help us. We forget that God has millions of angels at his disposal, to send to our aid the moment we come to him in prayer. We underestimate God. We think that we’re on our own down here. “I’m by myself. It’s up to me to figure things out. It’s up to me to be strong. I’m down here on this planet, and I’m on my own.”
But God reminds us today, through his Word, that you’re not on our own down here. There are such creatures as angels, and God sends them into your life for all kinds of reasons, to do all kinds of things for you. As the angel reminded the Apostle John, they are your “fellow servants.” And if you ever wonder to yourself, “Why would God do this all for me? I am just an ordinary human being, an ordinary sinner. Why would God go through all this, and set up a special, “secret service,” just for me?”
Do you know what makes you so valuable in the eyes of God? It’s the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you. The moment Jesus died for your sins and paid for y our soul, you became incredibly valuable in the eyes of God. You are someone that Jesus died for. You are someone who has been baptized. You are someone upon whom God has placed his name. You are not just an ordinary sinner, and nothing more. You are a redeemed child of God. And that’s why God goes through so much trouble for you. That’s why God sends angels into your life who watch you very closely, who protect you, who do whatever God says in answer to your prayers. That’s why God saved the Apostle Peter. And that’s why God has set up a special secret service for you.
A man named John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning out the missionary family and killing them. The missionary and his wife prayed during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of that tribe was converted to Christianity. Remembering what had happened, the missionary asked the chief, what kept him from burning down the house and killing the missionary’s family. The chief replied, "Well, who were all those men with you there?" The missionary knew that no men were with him - but the chief said that he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station. Whether that story is true or not, I don’t know. But it does illustrate that when Christians pray, God does send his angels to guard and protect.
Did you know that you can pick up the LaPorte paper and read about angels? They’re never mentioned, but they’re in there. This summer and fall a number of young people have been killed in car wrecks. But if you read the paper, you’ll notice that a lot of car wrecks result in no fatalities. Sometimes people just walk away. The car or the truck swerved just the right way, and hit the tree at just the right angle, so that no one was killed. The young driver will say, “Well, it’s because of my great driving that I didn’t die.” We know that’s not true – great drivers don’t crash into things. The newspapers will say that it was just a case of good luck: “She slammed into another car, and walked away. How lucky!” I don’t believe that’s the case either. I think it’s very clear - God sends angels. Sometimes God gives people involved in accidents a little more time on this planet, a little more time to repent, a little more time to come to faith before it’s too late.
Or, you can open the paper and read about the weirdo on the east side of town, cutting open screens and trying to abduct children. The newspapers will say that something scared the abductor away – maybe a dog barked. I believe that sometimes God gives children a break, and he sends angel down to protect them. If you look in the newspaper, you’ll find stories about angels.
Or what about the stories that never happen. With all the bad drivers out there who are in a hurry and not paying attention, and with all the driving that you do, how is it that you have avoided getting into a life-altering accident? Do you think that you’re just lucky? Some of you have been in dangerous situations at your jobs – working with machinery, or chemicals, or heights – how is it that you have never gotten into a life-altering accident? There are so many people out there who would love to just rob you blind – how is it that you have avoided that? God’s secret service is watching you, preventing these things from happening to you. And if things do happen to you, God’s angels are controlling everything just the way God wants.
You are valuable in the eyes of God because Christ died for you. You are one of his children, and just as a parent loves his children, so also God loves you. He’s so concerned about you that he has angels following you, everywhere you go. And someday, when you die, those angels of God will escort your soul to heaven.
There is a report that many years ago, six Soviet cosmonauts claimed that, while they were orbiting the space station, they witnessed what looked like angels. One of the scientists described what she saw this way, “They were smiling, as though they shared a glorious secret.” Whether or not those were angels they actually saw, we will never know. But I like that description – the angels were smiling as though they shared a glorious secret.” There are all kinds of secrets, I’m sure, that the angels would like to share with you, secrets about heaven, secrets about God, secrets about all the close calls you had that you were never aware of. Someday you’ll meet God’s secret service in heaven, and together with them you’ll worship Christ, whose love for you has made all these things possible. Amen.
