The Word Made Plain

Announcer: Welcome to The Word Made Plain, with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bible to Acts chapter 12, verses 5 through 11.

Tony Clark: All right, let’s dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 12. We're going to be looking at verses 5 through 11 as we continue our verse-by-verse study of the word of God. We find ourselves in the book of Acts on Sunday mornings, and as you know, we're in the book of Judges on Wednesdays and going through the Old Testament on Wednesdays, the New Testament on Sundays. Every time, I just can't wait to get up here to give the word of God.

Father, thank you so much for this great privilege to give your word to your precious people. So Lord, I pray for your anointing to come upon me to give your heart to the heart of your people, Lord. Move in our lives today. Give us ears to hear what the spirit of God is going to say to us today in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 12, looking at verses 5 through 11. The title of this message is "God's Ways Aren't Man's Ways," and this is part two of this message. Now, in part one of this study, we saw how King Herod stretched out his hand to harass some from the church, according to verse one. Now, why did he do this? We saw from last time to get the Jews to like him. Peer pressure is not a new thing. It's as old as time.

He killed one of the 12 apostles named James in verse two, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter. So we left off with Peter being put in prison because King Herod planned on killing him after Passover. Passover was that Jewish festival celebrating their liberation from Egyptian slavery. So what happened next? Look at verses 5 and 6.

"Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 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."

Now, in these verses, we see while Peter was therefore kept in prison, the church reacted the way they normally did when faced with adversity. Verse 5 says constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Is this our normal response when we're faced with adversity or troublesome times—to offer up constant prayer? Oh, I can tell you it is the last thing on our minds because all I have to do is look at the attendance when we have prayer meetings, prayer gatherings, and prayer services. People still vote with their feet.

Before you say that you can pray at home, I will say again as I've said many times: individual prayer empowers the individual, but collective prayer empowers the church collectively. Just like we see here in these verses, when James was beheaded by King Herod in verse two, I believe that they gathered together in prayer. Now that Peter was arrested, constant prayer was offered to God as they gathered together. They could have used the excuse we use today: "I can pray at home." No, they didn't pray at home. They gathered together to pray because this was a church thing. Their leaders were being taken out, so they gathered together to pray.

I just want to draw to your attention the word "constant." This adverb in the Greek language is *ektenos*. It's a great word. It's closely related to the Greek word *ektenes*, which was a medical term describing the stretching of a muscle to its limit. Luke, the author of the book of Acts, was a medical doctor. He uses the same Greek word in Luke 22:44 to describe the Lord's prayer in Gethsemane, which says, "When being in agony, he was praying very fervently, *ektenes*, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground."

So this shows us that the church poured forth their efforts in praying for Peter. They stretched their praying muscles to the maximum limit. This gives us an idea of what James would later write in James 5:16, which says, "The effective fervent prayer of the righteous avails much." Does this even come close to describing your prayer life or the prayer life of this church? It should be the prayer life of every church that believes in the power of prayer.

What does that say about the church today? Most churches don't even have a prayer meeting, a time to gather together to pray. Jesus said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," and prayer barely exists in the church today. What does that say about us? We say we believe in the power of prayer from our lips, but I'm reminded of what Jesus said: "You draw near to me with your lips, but your heart is far from me." We say, "Yes, we believe in prayer!"

Okay folks, we've got a prayer meeting on Friday, and a faithful few show up. But we believe in prayer, the power of prayer! But when it's time to pray, you come and flood us with the myriad of problems that you have. You hem up all the pastor's time to tell about the problem. If you just believe what the hymn writer said: "Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." You come and hem up everyone's time to pour out your problems to some pastor when you could have been here pouring out your problems to God.

The power of prayer—do we believe it? Verse 6 says, "And when Herod was about to bring him out to kill him that night, Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers, and the guards before the door were keeping the prison." This shows that Peter was in maximum security. This was also put here to show how humanly impossible it was for Peter to escape. Perhaps they heard about how God freed Peter and John earlier in chapter 5. They wanted to make it humanly impossible to escape, so they chained him between two Roman soldiers and posted two more soldiers at the door.

How many of you know what is humanly impossible is possible for God? Everything is equally easy to God. Did you know that? We as humans are the ones who put labels on God. We put degrees of difficulty on God. We do this because there are degrees of difficulty for us as humans. But everything is equally easy to God. We do this, and it shows up in our prayers. "Can you pray for me? I've got a headache." "Oh Lord, please touch this person. They've got a headache. Remove the pain in Jesus' name. Amen. Go take a couple of Motrin." That's what we end up telling them.

But guess what? The test came back positive, and I have cancer. "GOD! TOUCH THEM! REMOVE!" Why are we praying like that? Because we heard the C-word? Because for us, it's humanly impossible? We think a death sentence has been written over them because of the C-word. Но for the headache, we just, "Lord, touch her... okay." If that doesn't work, just pop a couple of Excedrin or something. We put degrees of difficulty on things because that's how we look at things, but everything is equally easy to God. Everything. There is no degree of difficulty for God.

God told Abraham in Genesis 18:14, when he was 100 years old and his wife was 90, that they were going to have a baby named Isaac. Sarah was in the other room, and she laughed. God asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah your wife laugh?" You have to understand the way the Hebrew is constructed in that verse—it meant that Sarah laughed within herself, in her inner self. Then God said, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" In the New Testament, when Mary was told that she was going to have Jesus without the aid of a man, she said, "How can this be?" The angel said in Luke 1:37, "For with God nothing will be impossible." I wonder if we really believe this.

I'm reminded of when Jesus went to his hometown. It said that he couldn't do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. I just wonder if our unbelief is hindering the work of God in our lives and in the people's lives around us. We read those verses where "with God nothing is impossible," but in our minds, we're like, "Oh, but this." Nothing is impossible. Look at your situation that you're dealing with and going through that you need divine intervention. Remember what God said: "Is there anything too hard for me?" It's as if God will fold his arms and say, "Okay, I'll wait until you can think of something. I'm still waiting. Oh, but God, but..." "I'm still waiting. Is there anything too hard for the Lord?"

It's a rhetorical question which has an obvious negative answer, which is no. Nothing is too hard for God. The early church believed this, and this is why they gathered together and offered constant prayer for Peter. Now, before I leave this section, I want you to see something that stood out to me, something that I thought was very unusual. Verse 6 says Peter was sleeping. You're like, "Okay, you got something more about that?" No, Peter was sleeping. What's the big deal about him sleeping? What makes this unusual?

Verse 6 says that it was at night. This is why Peter was sleeping because it was bedtime. This is what people do at night; they go to sleep. What makes this unusual? My point is this: how could Peter be sleeping at night before he was about to be executed? I believe that Peter was getting a good night's sleep because he had the blanket of the peace of God upon him. This is how he could sleep peaceably. Philippians 4:6-7—you know the verses—"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, that surpasses all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Peter trusted the words of Jesus. Jesus told Peter in John 21:18 how he was going to die and when he was going to die. He said, "When you are an old man, this is what's going to happen to you." Since he was not an old man, Peter was like, "I'm not old, and I don't have anything to fear." On top of that, every time he had gone to jail in the past, he got released. This enabled Peter to later write in 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your cares, your worries." That Greek word is translated "your worries upon him, for he cares for you." Let me unpack the word "casting" a little bit.

The Greek word is *rhipto*. It's where we get our English word "riptide" from. You know when you're at the ocean, the water goes out and comes back in—the riptide. He says casting all your cares upon him. That means the things that you're worried about, concerned about, you cast them upon him in prayer. Now watch this: it may roll back like a riptide, and you cast it again. It may roll back. You keep casting. That's why in the English it's "-ing," casting your cares upon the Lord. You keep doing that. You cast it on him; it may come back five minutes later. You keep casting it on him; it may come back an hour later. You keep casting; it may come back a day later. You keep casting until all your cares are upon the Lord.

So Peter was resting in God's promises and his past dealings with him, and this enabled him to rest peaceably. Are you staying up at night and you can't sleep because you are up worrying about what tomorrow brings? Please learn from Peter, dear people. He slept soundly because he trusted the Lord's promises for his life and the Lord's past dealings with him. So do the same thing: reflect on God's promises in his word and his past dealings with you and let this be the sleeping pill that gives you a sound sleep. Look at verses 7 through 11.

"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. Then the angel said to him, 'Gird yourself and tie on your sandals.' So he did. And he said to him, 'Put on your garment and follow me.' So he went out and followed him and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought that he was seeing a vision. And when they were past the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them on its own accord. And they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from them. 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 the expectation of the Jewish people.'"

Now Peter was sleeping so soundly and so deeply that even the bright light that shone in the prison in verse 7 didn't wake him up. It wasn't until the angel struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly," and the chains fell off his hands. Peter was still so groggy that the angel had to tell him step-by-step what to do, according to verse 8. Number one, gird or tie up your garment so you can move quickly. Number two, Peter—stay with me, Peter—tie on your sandals. I don't want you to step on a rock and yell and wake everybody up. Put your sandals on. That's the wrong foot, Peter. Switch feet. Put your sandals on. Then number three, put on your garment and follow me because it's a little chilly outside. I don't want you catch yourself a cold.

Peter was doing some sleeping—you hear me?—that the angel had to tell him step-by-step what to do. According to verse 9, Peter didn't know what was happening to him was real but thought that it was perhaps a vision. God had more ministry for Peter, and he didn't want him killed yet. So the angel led Peter past the first and second guard posts and led him out of the city through the main gate, and the angel immediately departed from him, according to verse 10. His job was done. Just like Hebrews 1:14 says, "Are they not ministering spirits," referring to angels, "sent forth to minister to those who would inherit salvation?"

We will never know until we get to heaven the number of times God sent angels to aid us throughout our lives. You know why? Because they appear to us as men, according to Hebrews 13:2. It says, "Be careful to entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unaware." We just write it off as, "Oh, that was a nice stranger who came along to help us out." But we will later find out that it was an angel. Now, I've got to preface this: please do not go fooling around and thinking every stranger is an angel. They could just be a stranger. That could just be who they are.

Herod was about to learn what the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, found out earlier in chapter 5: that no prison could hold those whom God wants out. Do you feel like you're in a prison today? Maybe you feel like you're in a situation that there is no human way out of, and you're losing sleep over it. Let these verses bring comfort to you that no prison can hold those whom God wants out. There's no situation or circumstance that can hold those whom God wants to set free. Do what the early church did and offer constant prayer to God for your situation and watch the Lord begin to loosen the chains and open the prison doors and walk you through those who tried to imprison you.

He did it for Peter. He's no respecter of persons. He'll do it for you as well. And finally, when Peter came to himself in verse 11 and realized that God really delivered him yet again from King Herod and, notice, and from the expectation of the Jewish people. God delivered him. There are people who expect to get you fired. They're doing things behind the scenes, and they're waiting. They're sitting back waiting for you to walk out the boss's office with that pink slip with a big box, cleaning out your cubicle.

God has a way of delivering you right through the eyes of these people who are watching you. There is no prison situation that God can't deliver you from. Remember we talked about—everything is equally easy to God. We're the ones who put degrees of difficulty on the Lord. Look at your situation, no matter what it is. There are times I'm praying and God has to check me because I'm putting some level of difficulty on the situation. And the Lord had to remind me and say, "Okay, as you're praying, is there anything too hard for me?" "No, no it's not, Lord, but you know, hey, but this is a tough one."

The Lord's like, "Okay, that's for you is tough, but everything is equally easy to me." Then what I do is what that man did when he had the demon-possessed boy. I say, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief." God still moved in that man's life, even when he didn't have the faith to believe it all. He said, "I believe, but help my unbelief," and there are things that I'm praying about that I have to put a level of difficulty on. I'm like, "Lord, I believe you can do it, but just help my unbelief in this area." There's nothing too hard for him. Nothing. He's the all-wise God. He knows why he allowed certain things to happen. That's why he's God and we're not. And I'm just thankful that he's that type of God.

So what happened next? Well, you've got to wait until next week. We pick up the story in verse 12 because there are some great things that happened. I can't wait to get to that message. Let me conclude with this: "God's Ways Aren't Man's Ways," we looked at part two of this message. In this message, we saw how King Herod put Peter in prison and that the church had constant prayer going up for his release. Make prayer a priority in your life this week.

When you sense the Lord tugging upon your heart to come away to pray or to read the word, trust me, Satan will never, ever whisper to you to go pray, go read your Bible, and go to church. Satan will never tell you to do those things. So if you sense—and you're in front of the face, that's the TV—you're having face-to-face time with the face, and all of a sudden you just sense a commercial or something, and the Lord says, "Why don't you just come away? Why don't you just pray to me?" "What was that?" "It's me. It's I, Jesus, who's calling you away." Satan will never tell you.

God is wanting to talk to you and talk to us, share things with us. He wakes you up in the middle of the night because you're so busy during the day to speak to you. Sometimes for you to go get a snack, a sandwich, get caught up with *SportsCenter* or something, and you're up to pray, to seek his face. So spend time in prayer this week. And finally, don't forget, no matter what prison situation you find yourself in, the Lord is able to set you free. If you want to be free today, Jesus is the one who said in John 8:36, "Whom the son sets free is free indeed." He wants to set you free from the prison that you're in, no matter what that is. Lord, set your people free today in Jesus' name. Amen.

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