Acts 12:1-24--God Raises Up and God Casts Down (November 19, 2023)

Amen. If you have your Bible, turn with me to Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12. We're going to read verses 1 through 24 in just a moment. But one quick note that the end of Acts chapter 12 is a really good kind of transitional point in the book.

It's a good stopping place. So what we're going to do is after we finish Acts chapter 12 today, we are going to hit pause on our series through the book of Acts. Next week will just be a standalone sermon and then we'll begin our Advent series Knowing Christ on December the 3rd.

So that's just so you know what is ahead. But we're going to finish Acts chapter 12 or at least through verse 24. We'll pick up verse 25. It kind of goes more along with chapter 13 when we get there in January.

But for now let's hear the Word of God. Acts chapter 12 verses 1 through 24. And the Word of God says this, 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.

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 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 your sandals.

And 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 what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard post, 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. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.

So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer.

When she recognized Peter's voice because of her gladness, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the.

Gate.

But they said to her, You're beside yourself. Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, It is his angel. Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, tell these things to James and the brethren. And he departed and went to another place.

Then as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.

And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. But they came to him with one accord and.

Having.

Made Blastus, the king's personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. So on a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.

And the people kept shouting, The voice of a God, not of a man. Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.

God Raises Up and God Casts Down

This is the word of our Lord to us this morning. It was around the same time, what we saw last week, about the same time that the Antioch church was sending relief to the Jerusalem church because of.

The.

Prophecy of the coming famine. And around this time more violence breaks out against the Christians, this time by the hands of Herod. Now there's been a few Herods that we have read about so far in the New Testament.

A few Herods that have ruled in Judea, the same family. So there was Herod the Great. He was king when Jesus was born. He's the one who was responsible for the slaughter of babies. Then you had his son, Herod Antipas.

He was the king who beheaded John the Baptist and was king when Jesus was crucified. And now here we have the grandson, Herod Agrippa. He's the one here in this story. And then there's another grandson, Herod Agrippa II.

He's the one that Paul will.

Appear.

Before later in the book of Acts. And so we got a family of Herods and we see that they are doing evil things. Herod Agrippa killed James, the son of Zebedee. To be honest with you, I find it just a little bit odd that the martyrdom of one of the.

Apostles.

Doesn't get more than a sentence's mention here in this passage. But it's not the death of James that Luke chooses to focus on. He mentions it. He said that Herod had killed James and then, because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he went for more.

Because you see, Herod was the type of guy who was easily swayed by popular opinion and he was very much motivated by political expediency. And so what did he do? He arrested Peter and he was going to put Peter to death also.

That's where our story takes place. That's the context of the story that we read about of Peter's escape from prison. This passage contrasts Herod and Peter. They represent the antithesis between good and evil, between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

And so Peter is loyal to Jesus. He is, Jesus is the seed of the woman foretold about in Genesis 3 .15, the kind of the first mention of the gospel in.

The Bible.

There will be enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. While he shall bruise his heel, the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Herod is the serpent figure in this encounter.

And so in Peter and Herod, what we have is a proxy showdown between Yahweh and Satan. And like every other showdown between the Lord and Satan, the Lord wins. So here's the big truth that I want you to hear this morning.

That's this, God raises up and God casts down. God raises up and God casts down. God raises up the righteous and God casts down the wicked. God delivers his people and God defeats his enemies. God vindicates his children and God judges those who raise their hands against the Lord.

You see the big difference between Peter and Herod is that Peter submits himself.

To Jesus.

In humility and is willing to suffer for the name of Jesus. He counts it as honor to be worthy of suffering for the name of Jesus while Herod sets himself up as God in arrogance trying to make a name for himself.

And as we'll see, Peter is delivered while Herod is cast down. For what we read about in Proverbs is true. God opposes the proud, but God gives grace to the humble. So the first thing I want us to see in this passage is that Peter's deliverance is a recapitulation of the resurrection of Jesus.

These stories have a lot of similarities. I want us to see a few of those as noted by commentators Keener and Roberts. We see both the crucifixion of.

Jesus.

And the seizing, the near killing of Peter happen, both of them happen around the time of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Both of them involve a king named Herod. They were both arrested and delivered or handed over to sinful men.

We see that in Acts 12, we see that in Luke 23 and 24. Jesus was crucified between two men, the two thieves. Peter was in prison between two men, the two guards. After his death, Jesus was laid in a sealed tomb under the watch of a Roman guard.

Peter, whose imprisonment was a symbolic death, was locked in a sealed prison under the watch of Roman guards. An angel of the Lord removed the stone from Jesus' tomb. An angel of the Lord awakened Peter to lead him out of prison.

The angels announced the resurrection to women in Luke 24, 23, while an angel guides Peter to announce his freedom to a woman in Acts 12, 13. Jesus appears to women in Luke 24. Peter appears to the slave girl Rhoda.

There in verse 13, the apostles do not believe the women in Luke 24. And even Peter doubts what is happening to him in Acts 12. He's not even sure if this is real or not, if it's a vision or a dream or if he's actually being set free from prison.

He wasn't sure about that at first. And the disciples in Mary's house, they do not believe Rhoda, the servant girl, when she comes to tell them that it's Peter at the gate. When Jesus appears to the disciples, they thought they saw a spirit, Luke 24, 37.

And the disciples in Mary's house believe the slave girl saw Peter's angel, a spirit, verse 12, 15. Luke 24 says the disciples, after Jesus appeared to them, disbelieved for joy, Luke 24, 41. Rhoda left Peter standing at the gate because of her gladness.

That is her joy, Acts 12, 14. Peter tells those in Mary's house to go tell James and the brethren. The angel tells the two women named Mary at the tomb to go tell Peter and the disciples. And after his resurrection, Jesus makes very few appearances and then ascends into heaven, handing off the mission to the apostles.

And after Acts 12, we're only going to encounter Peter one more time in the book of Acts. Acts 15 at the Jerusalem council, because the focus of the ministry shifts to Paul in his missionary journeys.

Now why do we take all that time to see the connections and the similarities between these two stories? Well, the point is that Peter's being delivered, his being delivered from prison was like Jesus being delivered from death.

Peter is being resurrected, so to speak. That is, God raised him up from the grip of death by Herod the serpent. And so this is in contrast to what happens to Herod. And in fact, Peter and Herod, they are in juxtaposition throughout this whole passage.

You see, Peter goes from Caesarea to Judea, while Herod goes from Judea to Caesarea. Peter went to Gentiles and ate with them. We see that in Acts chapter 10. He goes to Cornelius and he eats with them.

But Herod was angry with the Gentiles at Tyre and Sidon, and he refused to supply them food. Peter refuses worship in Caesarea. This is when he first goes to Cornelius's house, and Cornelius bows down to him.

And Peter says, no, no, no, I'm a man just like you. Don't worship me. Acts 10, 25, and 26. But Herod, when he goes to Caesarea and those from Tyre and Sidon come and appear before him, they say, a voice of a God and not a man.

He doesn't refuse the worship. He accepts the worship of the Gentiles. So whereas Peter lived in submission to Jesus, refusing the worship of men and willing to die at the hands of a wicked government, Herod puts himself in the place of God and accepts worship from Gentiles.

Peter knew God, and he knew he was not God. Herod pretended to be God, and God related with them both accordingly. It's also interesting that both Peter and Herod were said to be struck in this passage.

So verse 7, if you read verse 7, it says, now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and light shone in the prison, and he struck Peter on the side, raised him up, arised quickly, and his chains fell off his hands.

But if you go to verse 23, it says, then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, being Herod, because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms, and he died. You see, both were struck, but Peter was struck and raised up to life.

Herod was struck, and he was cast down to death. God raises up, and God casts down. Now we read this passage, we might pick up on a few Exodus themes as we read through it. For example, like the Israelites in Egypt, who were instructed to eat that first Passover, again remember this occurs at the time of the Passover, they were instructed to eat that first Passover, dressed with belt on their waist and sandals on their feet, ready to depart Egypt.

The angel told Peter to gird himself and tie his sandals and follow him out of prison. And like Pharaoh, that serpentine king of Egypt, the serpentine Herod was also struck down. God's people raised up, God's enemies cast down.

We also might be reminded of the story of Haman. You remember Haman in the book of Esther. He built a gallows for Mordecai, but then God acted and intervened through Esther, and Mordecai was lifted up in the king's palace.

What happened to Haman? He was hung on his own gallows that he had built. There's a reversal. In this story, in the beginning of this story, Herod had James executed, and he intended to do the same to Peter.

In other words, he's attacking the church of Jesus Christ by attacking the apostles. He's attacking God by attacking the apostles. But by the end of the story, Herod is executed by God, while the church is lifted up.

What does verse 24 say? But the word of God grew and multiplied. He attempted to snuff out the word of God. He attempted to strike down the church, but God raised up, God lifts up his people, and he cast down Herod.

And so I want you to be encouraged this morning by this big truth that God raises up and God casts down. You see, God raises up the righteous, God delivers his people. We see this in the miraculous deliverance of Peter from prison.

But what about James? What about James? James, does not his death prove the opposite of what we're saying? Sometimes God doesn't deliver his people. I mean, what kind of encouragement is that? What happened to James?

Now, someone made that argument to me. I think I would say, are you kidding me? James's deliverance was even greater than Peter's. See, Peter, he was merely delivered from prison, while James, having been saved by grace, that means that he was delivered unto everlasting eternal life.

He was delivered in such a way, death cannot touch him. His soul is in heaven with Jesus, for as the scriptures say, to be absent from the body, be present with the Lord. And so yes, James was killed, but James was not abandoned.

James was raised up to heaven. You see, this is why Christians ought not to fear death, because of the resurrection of Jesus. First Corinthians 15 54 through 57 says it like this, so when this incorruptible, excuse me, when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus took the stinger out of death. Death is not final, because God raises up the righteous in Christ. And so we see deliverance both in Peter, who was delivered out of prison, we also see deliverance for James, who was delivered out of death.

There's a proverb I love, Proverbs 13 8. It says that the ransom of a man's life is his riches, but a poor man hears no threat. The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but a poor man hears no threat.

In other words, you can't take away a poor man's money because he doesn't have any, and so he's immune to your threats. Likewise, you can't threaten to kill a dead man. He's already died, and so Christian, I want you to remember what Galatians tells us.

You have been crucified with Christ. You've already died, and you share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so don't entertain any threats of what anyone can do to you. Rather, be bold in Christ who raises you up.

Peter refused to fear man who could kill the body. Meanwhile, Herod refused to fear God who could cast his soul into hell. So the encouragement to you this morning, one of the encouragements to you this morning is fear God, do not fear man.

Whatever happens, trust God, the God who raises up the righteous and the God who casts down the wicked. As we engage in the mission of Christ in this world, we can expect opposition. Like the early believers here had opposition from Herod.

We can expect opposition. The ancient antithesis between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is ongoing. There is good and evil. There is light and dark. There is Christ and there is Satan.

Jesus Christ has won the victory by his life, death, and resurrection, but Satan does not go quietly into the night. His death rattle still pierces the eardrums, and he still writhes and wrangles in defeat, inflicting blows upon God's people.

There are still serpentine rulers in this world. Those who still kill babies like Herod the Great, who attack God's prophets like Herod Antipas, who attack the church like Herod Agrippa, who attempt to shut down the worship of Christ's church, who promote all sorts of debauchery and call it pride, who permit the chemical alteration of children in the name of gender fluidity, who pervert justice and deny due process, who wrongfully arrest the innocent, who make war unjustly, who tamper with elections, who use the bureaucratic administrative state to to strangle the righteous with red tape.

And these are the ones who do their deeds out in the open because they have three letters from the government on their shirt. This is not to mention the fact of the regular brand of criminals who do all of their devious deeds under the cover of darkness.

And so yes, there is much evil in the world, and that could scare us, and that could wear us down. But remember Christian, God raises up and God casts down. So trust God because God vindicates His people and He judges His enemies.

The wicked will not ultimately prosper, but you, you're in Christ. You're seated with Him in the heavenlies. You rule alongside Him. You will live forever with Him. And so what can man do to you? I said earlier, I'll say it again, God opposes the proud.

And so we see in the Exodus story, He drowned Pharaoh, and He hung Haman, and He struck down Herod. Psalm 711 says that God is angry with the wicked every day. The wicked and the ones who, the one who loves violence, His soul hates.

Psalm 115. And so this ought to be a comfort to God's people. For those who oppose you will not prosper, but they will meet their just end if they do not repent. And this ought to be a warning to those who are proud.

Maybe those who are proud in lesser ways, but proud nonetheless. If you think you know better than God, if you put yourself in the place of God, which if you ignore His word to keep your own word, that is putting yourself in the place of God.

If you raise your hands against God and His people, God will oppose you. So fear God, because God opposes the proud. But the other half of that proverb, that God gives grace to the humble. God gives grace to the humble, to those who submit themselves to Christ, turning from their sins and forsaking them, believing in Christ, trusting in Christ, doing justice, and walking humbly with their God.

To you, there's grace. And the grace of God is strong. It is strong enough to raise you up. It's strong enough to deliver you from your earthly trials and troubles. But even if He, in His infinite wisdom, doesn't do that, His grace will still raise you up from death into everlasting life.

And so how can you submit yourself in humility to Christ? You turn to Him with your whole self. You trust Him with your whole self. I want to end with one example of such humble trust in God, no matter what the circumstances.

Daniel chapter 3, if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you know the story. They were arrested, and they were set to be thrown into the fiery furnace that was turned up seven times as hot as normal. This was because they refused to worship the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar that he had set up.

The king was enraged at their disobedience, and he asked them in his tantrum, and who is the God who will deliver you from my hands? We find their answer in Daniel 3, 16 and following. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

If this is the case, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

But if not, three of my favorite words in the Bible right there, but if not, God can deliver us. They had all the confidence that God could deliver them out of Nebuchadnezzar's hands, but if not, if he chose not to, they still wouldn't give in.

They're still not going to worship the false gods. They're still not going to bow down to the golden statue, because they would rather suffer than to sin. For they knew that God would ultimately deliver them, even from a burning death.

If you keep reading that story, you know that there was a fourth figure seen in the fire with them. Christ was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in their fiery trial, and He will be in the fiery trial with you.

Trust God. He raises up the righteous, and He casts down the wicked. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we praise you, and we are fully confident that you could deliver us from any trial that we would face.

But if not, we still trust you, knowing that you ultimately would deliver us, even from death. I would ask that by your spirit you would give us the grace to trust you, you would give us the grace to remember the things that are true, that we remember that you vindicate your people, you deliver your people.

You raise up, and you also cast down. Therefore, we can trust you. Help us not to fear man, but to fear God, and keep your commandments. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.