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biblestudy: Acts (Part Twelve)

Acts 11-13 Relationship Between Prayer and God's Response
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 06-Dec-88; Sermon #BS-AC12; 80 minutes

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Let's get back into the book of Acts. Well it's been 2 weeks since we had a Bible study, and I, I want to review just some of the highlights of the things that we have already passed through during the book, during the course of the book. And after laying the foundation in the early parts of the book, how the church got going in Jerusalem. Uh, the book took a turn and Luke began to show how the gospel spread out away from Jerusalem. And we saw that one of the key events at the very beginning was the martyrdom of Stephen. Now, this is going to pop back into the context once again, I, I believe it's in chapter 12. Right at the beginning of chapter 12, but the martyrdom of Stephen played a very definite part in moving the gospel away from Jerusalem because a persecution arose following the martyrdom, and the Hellenists were scattered and they went to various areas in the, in the Roman Empire and they took the gospel with them. So that was very important. Then in chapter 8, we began to see the gospel spreading out even away from Jerusalem but still in the area of Palestine as it was taken up into Samaria, and it was also in Chapter 8 that Philip was sent to the Ethiopian eunuch. Then in chapter 9, a key chapter involving the conversion of the apostle Paul, who is going to be the apostle to the Gentiles, and the greatest amount of work in the area of spreading the gospel was going to be put into his hands. So we see his conversion there in chapter 9, then in chapter 10. We say that God had not forgotten the original apostles, and he then works through Peter to be the first one to take. The gospel to a Gentile directly, and it was taken to a gentile as far as we are able to see had no previous Jewish connection. That is, that is he was not a proselyte. Uh, who had converted to, to Judaism, but rather God directed through these angels and through the visions that both men had that Peter go directly to, to him. And he did that. Cornelius and his household was converted and we saw there that that the same signs, maybe not every one of them, but certainly enough signs that Peter was able to, to get the point, were given to Cornelius and his household that was given to. The original group that was important. It was not just the original converts of the original group that is those people who were converted in Acts the 2nd chapter, but it was the same signs that were given to the 120 who were in that upper room there in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. That's very important because it established in Peter's mind that there was no. Status difference between a Gentile convert and a Jewish convert. They were all on the same level. God was going to deal with, with each in exactly the same way. So, That was an important step. Then in chapter 11, we have the, the reiteration of what happened in chapter 10. And it had to be reiterated because there were those in Jerusalem who criticized what had been done, that has been done through Peter. And it just simply states that it was the circumcised. Who made this dissension. And they accused him of going into uncircumcised men and to eat with them. Well, the circumcise simply means the Jews, that's all there did not seem to be any particular click that was involved there. It's just simply a group of Jews that, that did this, and then Peter goes through the whole thing. And then in verse 18, when they heard these things, they became silent and they glorified God saying, then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life. Now as I mentioned to you before, This was a A radical move for the for the early church. Because even though they accepted what was done in the sense that they rejoiced at that time, the question was not really resolved. That is Uh, dozens, undoubtedly, maybe scores of Uh, we call them technical points. That these Jewish people had in mind regarding whether or not Peter had, had done the right thing. And so this is going to surface again and again as we go through the book of Acts from time to time it will be within the true church and at other times it will be from the outside, from Jews who are questioning what the what the Christian church is doing, but it is not settled by by a long shot yet, even though they rejoiced at what God did at that time. Now, in verse 19 begins another section. And in my Bible, it's entitled Barnabas and Saul at Antioch. Now Antioch is about 300 miles north and a little bit west of Jerusalem. And it had the distinction of being the 3rd largest city in the Roman Empire. Rome was 1st, Alexandria, Egypt was 2nd, and Antioch was 3rd. It's estimated that its population during the 1st century AD was about 500,000 people, which makes it all about the size of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And about 70 to 75,000 of those people were Jews. Now during the the reign of Claudius. Claudius ranged from 41 AD to 46 AD, and there was a persecution that came upon the Jews that were in the city. It doesn't seem to be any connection made against the Christians because the Christians were there then, but there was a persecution against the Jews and they began to, I guess you might say fall from grace. Uh, they suffered devastating losses of people. Almost seems as though it was more warfare than it was just merely a persecution. And we find that it was so great that by about 60 AD, the Jews in Antioch, they had lost virtually all influence in the city. And they never recovered. Uh, from that. Now, Antioch was a, a major trading center. It was a crossroads kind of area. A melting pot of all different kinds of cultures as a result of sitting astride some some caravan routes. I was just the kind of city that was made for. That's a beginning Uh, or maybe expanding the work that the church was going to do with the Gentiles. Now in the early church, There was no other city. Uh, apart from Jerusalem, which played such a large role in the continued growth and development of the church Antioch became The base of the apostle Paul's operations, and it was the base apparently of, of virtually every what we would call today missionary journey that went out, uh. The church in Jerusalem was, was still headquarters. But it seems as though Antioch was the one from which which everybody worked, so uh. It played a very large role in the growth of the church. It's very likely that the church there was begun by Hellenistic Jews who were scattered by the persecution that resulted from Stephen's death and that. What's so interesting One of the interesting things anyway. Is that Peter had to be practically Dragged By he literally was not. He went willingly, but it took a great deal of convincing from God to convince him to go to the Gentiles. And even when he did, the Jews in Jerusalem. had a difficult time accepting it, raised a dis dissension among them, became convinced, or at least they accepted it, but in Antioch, there is no indication at all that there was any kind of problem. With the Jews who took the gospel there, spreading the gospel to the Gentiles. Which is interestingIt's very likely that that this was partly because the people in Antioch, the general population in Antioch, was what we would call more cosmopolitan. Uh, we would call the people in Jerusalem parochial. That is that they focus narrowly in on one way of life, and that was the Jewish way of life. Uh, cosmopolitan means at home in the world means kind of worldly cosmos of the world. And so a person who is considered to be cosmopolitan is somebody who is home anywhere. He can go to Paris and he does all right there. He can go down to Athens and he does just fine there. You go up to Berlin or to Moscow or New York City and, and this person kind of fits right in. Well, Antioch, apparently was the people were more cosmopolitan there, they were more tolerant. I get the impression that they, they were kind of like Southern Californians. There is no more tolerant area. I mean, you can be a nut, an absolute idiot. And everybody just kind of. Well, that's old Joe, that's the way he is, and there is no problem. I mean, that's your thing, go ahead and do it. Doesn't affect me. But it's the kind of area in which something like this could take root. Without the persecution that would take place in a place like, like like Jerusalem. So let's begin there in verse 19. Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, which is present day Lebanon. Cyprus and Antioch. Now the mention of Cyprus is interesting because we are going to find in chapter 13 that the apostle Paul and Barnabas go to Cyprus, but this indicates that already there were, there were evangelists operating in Cyprus. Because they went to Phoenicia or Lebanon, and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. We're going to find it established very clearly as we go along. That the early church's modus operandi was always to go to the synagogue first. Now at the synagogue, they not only came in contact with Jews, but they also came in contact with Gentiles because most synagogues had some gentile converts and that's going to play a big part in the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles. Now Let's say in, in verse 20 then. But some of them were from Cyprus and Cyrene. Uh, Cyrene is in North Africa in what is today Libya, Muammar Gaddafi's area, but some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists preaching the Lord Jesus. Now, The Hellenists that are mentioned in verse 20. Contrary to what the majority of the book indicates, were probably not Jews. Now, the reason they probably were not Jews was because of what it says in verse 19. That those people who originally went there preached to Jews only. The Hellenists here are probably the Greek speaking Gentiles who were a part of the synagogue. Now verse 21, And the hand of the Lord was with them, and great numbers believed and turned to the Lord. Now, then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas as far as Antioch. Uh, There is no indication here that That the church in Jerusalem was critical of what was going on. But they certainly were curious about what was going on. And they wanted to make sure that everything was on the up and up, and so. Barnabas was the man chosen to go and scout things out and see if everything was OK. That was a good choice. Uh, because Barnabas was a Hellenist to begin with. Uh, he was a Levite from Cyprus. Uh, he is. Characteristic his major personality characteristics seems to be that he was an encouraging person, someone who consoled. He was trusted by the church in Jerusalem as well as being trusted by the Hellenists, and everybody agreed that Barnabas was a good man. Incidentally this is just a little aside in the whole book of Acts. Despite all of these mighty characters who were there, Peter, James, John, Paul, Barnabas is the only one in the whole book who is called Good. Which is interesting. He must have been a man of outstanding character. Uh, he was not the preacher, let's say that Paul was. He was not the writer, did not have the dynamic personality of the apostle Peter, but he was a good man, just outstanding character, and everybody trusted him. And so there could not have been a better choice to send there to see how things were going. Now this was a crisis point really because much depended on Barnabas's report. If Barnabas turned thumbs down on it because he was of such character that everybody trusted him, it probably would have stopped the expansion of the church for a considerable period of time. But his report was good, that he was encouraged by it himself and as a result of that, it was, it was just like the green light was turned on and, and the church could begin to explode into the gentile areas. Verse 24, here, here it is where it says, for he was a good man. Full of the Holy Spirit and a faith, and a great many people were added to the Lord, and then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. That was kind of interesting because apparently things were going so well there. In Antioch, that Barnabas remembered his old friend Saul, remember it was Barnabas who took Saul by the hand and introduced him to the to the Jerusalem church and kind of paved the way for Paul's acceptance by the Jerusalem Church. And so Paul goes out and he recruits, or I mean Barnabas goes out and he recruits the apostle Paul's help. Now at this point, I think we should ask a little bit of a question here. What Was the apostle Paul doing in all those years in Tarsus? Was he practicing preaching? Did he have Uh, an evangelistic campaign, a whole series of them going around the area, you know, the area of, of Antioch which was, there is another Antioch. We'll get to that in just a little bit. Uh, in Tarsus, in all of Silesia, in Galatia, what was he doing in those years? And we are going to find a little bit later that he was there a considerable period of time. From the time that he left Jerusalem, says he went up to Antioch and from Antioch he went back to his, his home area of Silesia in Tarsus of Silesia, and he was there for a considerable period of time. Before Barnabas came and, and got it. In the Philippians 38. The apostle Paul says here, But indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. Now Tarsus was Paul's home area. What did he lose there? Now he describes himself here in being Of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law of Pharisee. He was a man of considerable pedigree. There is strong indication that he was a part of the Sanhedron. To be in the Sanhedrin, you had to be married, which means that he had a wife. The Bible doesn't mention a wife. Is it possible that during this period of time that the apostle Paul lost his wife? How did he lose her to death, or did he lose her to divorce? Were there any children involved? he, he said he lost everything. What kind of lands, what kind of properties? Uh, what kind of business? He lost everything and it was probably centered in the city of Tarsus. In 2 Corinthians, In II Corinthians chapter 11. There are a series of persecutions listed that he went through. He says from the Jews, 5 times I received 40 stripes minus 13 times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, 3 times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have been in the deep in journeys often in pearls and so forth. Most of those things are not mentioned in the Book of Acts or in any of his epistles, except here in 2 Corinthians. Is it possible in the, in the, in the number of years that he was in Tarsus? That many of those things took place then when he was kind of, you might say out there on his own. He even says that he fought beasts in Ephesus. Apparently he was thrown in into an arena, had to fight lions or something. Maybe maybe he was referring to demons, I do not know. But it's entirely possible. But many of the things that that occurred to the apostle Paul in the way of persecutions took place during those years between the time that he left Jerusalem and the time that he resurfaces now here in Acts the 11th chapter when Barnabas goes and recruits him. OK, now if he was in Tarsus, to whom was he preaching? Was he preaching to Jews there? He's clearly told by Ananias. And by Christ, That he was going to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Was he preaching to Gentiles there? If he was preaching to Gentiles, was he preaching to them? Let's say directly in that. Some of the things that later became doctrines of the church. Regarding the Gentiles transition into the church. Were those things formulated during that period? The apostle Paul have time to think about justification by faith. In the blood of Jesus Christ and to begin to to develop those doctrines based upon the things that he was experiencing there in that area. Possibility But it's a blank and all we can do is guess about what was going on. But then it says that Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So so it was that for a whole year, they assembled with the church and taught a great many people, and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Now the indication here in verse 26. is not so much that he was evangelizing. In Antioch, as he was being used to what we would call pastor a church. Which is also kind of interesting. It does not mean that he did not. Uh, do any evangelizing there, but the teaching seems to be that he was teaching a congregation rather than evangelizing. OK, we find them. Also in verse 26, that the Christians were first called called that name in Antioch. Uh, Christian is Is the name Christ. With a Latin suffix attached to it. And it means followers of Christ. It's very similar to another word that you have seen in the Bible, Herodian. Uh, that too is a proper name with a Latin suffix to it. It means followers of Herod. So here it's followers of Christ. OK, verse 27 and 28. In those days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch, and then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. In my whole world it does not mean the entire earth. It just means the general area of the Middle East is going to be uh. severe enough that it was going to cause shortages of food. Now Josephus says that a severe famine took place in 46 AD. There are 3 Roman writers, Setonius, Cassius, and Erosius. And each of them tell of a number of bad harvests and famines, but they do not give any dates. They say that all of these things took place during the reign of Claudius Caesar. Remember I told you that Claudius range from 41 to 46. Now we feel that we are dealing with the 46 AD because that's when Josephus says that that the famine occurred in the area of the of the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Now verse 29. And then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the to the brethren dwelling in Judea, and this they also did and sent it by the elders or to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Now the disciples means those members of the church in Antioch. Now they gave up their Free will, as much as they felt that they could sacrifice. And it's a, it's a very interesting twist. Because here is now a Church that is becoming largely gentile, sending aid. The the largely Jewish church in Jerusalem. They undoubtedly sent money. There is no indication that what they sent was. Uh, Anything in the way of fruits or vegetables. They sent money. Which means that if they did this, there must have been something available to be bought. There may have been some shortages, but apparently there was enough. That the price tended to rise as it always does when when there is a shortage. The people could not afford to buy what even was available, and so they supplemented them with money coming from Antioch so that the people in Jerusalem would not starve to death. OK, now if this is 46 AD. It begins to give us a little bit of a handle on some of the the dates in the apostle Paul's ministry, beginning with his conversion. Now, hold your finger there and let's go back to Galatians first chapter. And let's pick it up at the beginning of a sentence here in verse 15, chapter 1. But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace to reveal his Son in me that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. And then after 3 years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. In chapter 2, he says in verse 1, and then after 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took also Titus with me, and I went up by Revelation and communicated to them that the gospel which I preached among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation lest by any means I might run or had run in vain. One of the key words Is the word then in verse 18. I'll tell you, most commentators feel. That the word then in verse 18 and also in, in chapter 2 and in verse 2. verse 1 where it says then after 14 years. that both of these dates Relate to the time of his conversion, that is, each is measured from the time of his conversion. That Whenever the then was. OK, now we have a date of 46 AD. If we count back 14 years, that puts Paul's conversion sometime around 32 AD. Now if it was 32, 32, 33, you know, if we could round these figures off a little bit because we do not know for sure. Then the, the dates in, in verse 18 would mean then that he was in Jerusalem at that time, sometime around 36 or 37 AD. Now that's when he made his first visit to Jerusalem. Now that first visit is the one that is recorded in Acts 9 and in verses 26 through 30. See where it where it says and when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road and so forth and so on. Well, that would have been then 3637 AD. OK, now, at the end of that, let's see, let me check back there. Yes, verse 30, chapter 9, verse 30. When the brethren found out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him to Tarsus. OK, if the apostle Paul then went back to Tarsus, After being in Jerusalem, let's say during the time of 36 AD. 9 years would bring him up to around 45, 46 AD. I say 9 years because that's when the apostle or when Barnabas went and got him, brought him first to Antioch. And then from Antioch down to Jerusalem. So we know then the number of years that he spent in Tarsus was about 9 years. Where he was Pretty much cut off from the general activity of the church. OK, now let me just put that all in order for you. Using Galatians 1:15 through 22. And accepting it's actually an assumption. But I would have to bring other things to show you why the commentators believe that the then there in both verses reversed back to his conversion. OK. From 46 AD back 14 years, he was converted sometime in 32 AD. Three years later, we will say roughly 36 AD, he was in Jerusalem the first time after spending 3 years out in Arabia, where he was taught of Jesus Christ. Then he spent After escaping with his life, he was sent from Jerusalem to Caesarea and then up to Tarsus. He spends 9 years in the city of Tarsus. Then he is recruited by Barnabas, who comes up from Antioch, brings Paul back to Antioch. He spends roughly a year in the area of Antioch. And then he is sent by the group there from Antioch to Jerusalem with the money that was collected for the saints in Jerusalem. He goes there with Barnabas and arrives back then in Jerusalem in 46 AD. So that's where we are in the book of Of Xs. OK, back to Xs. This time we will go to Chapter 12. A large portion of the remainder of the book is going to be concerned with The churches And specifically the apostle Paul's mission to the Gentiles. But before we leave the church's mission to the Gentiles, there is one. Last Thing I guess you might call it episode, which which Luke records. To let us know that God was not ignoring the Jews. And I think that we are supposed to get from this that all the while that the work was going on. To the to the Gentiles, the work was also going on to the Jews. That God was working just as mightily with them in that area as he was with the Gentiles throughout the rest of the Roman Empire. So God was blessing the church's activities there, and one of those blessings is shown here in in the 12th chapter. Now it also shows that even though God was blessing the church, That his servants were also undergoing persecution. But their prayers were answered and the work went forward, so it's a very encouraging chapter. Now, what this chapter does, very important for you and me, it underlines the relationship between prayer and God's response. It also shows God's retribution against those who set themselves against Him. Now, if this story was left out, there is probably not a great deal, uh. That we would think would go with it. In other words, it doesn't really in a sense fit into the story flow. Yet God considered it important enough that even though it doesn't fit into the story flow, it kind of interrupts the story flow. See, here, here, here the gospel is going to the Gentiles. They're beginning to make giant strides and all of a sudden there is a flashback to Jerusalem. So it doesn't fit into the, into the ch chronology of the events here. In fact, it's very likely that what we are seeing here is just what I said, a flashback. There is something that occurred a little bit earlier. And I'll tell you when in just, just a little bit. But Even though it doesn't appear to fit into the into the story flow. It does. Now the rest of the story that that follows chapter 12. Isn't told us in the book of Acts. But what it does do is show us what event. Forced Peter out of Jerusalem. What did he do after he left Jerusalem? That's a story that we are going to have to hear. When Christ returns, and I'm sure that it's a very fascinating story. But God for some reason wanted Peter out of there. And it took this event. To get him out of there. Peter was hard to convince, I guess. And This threat on his life did cause him to leave the city, and so we are left hanging. But nonetheless it was important to the church, apparently that Peter get out of there and in a sense, the daily operations of the, of the Jerusalem Church, the headquarters church were then turned over to James. And he occupies more space in the lives of those people there, and then the spreading of the gospel around Jerusalem than does Peter. Well, I am sure of this, that Peter was not inactive. Later on in one of his books, he says that those from Babylon greet you. Where was it? Was he in the, in the real city of Babylon? Now that's possible. Because if, if he was there, he was at a place where there were a lot of Jews. Remember, Daniel was there. Ezekiel was somewhere in the general area because when the Chaldeans conquered the Judeans, that's where they took their captives. They took them back to Babylon. There were a lot of Jews there, just a very small number of Jews came back from Babylon from the captivity under Nehemiah and Ezra. There were a lot of Jews there, or was it? Was a Babylon metaphorically, you see, which would be Rome. Where was he? Wherever he was, I am sure that he was preaching the gospel to Jews. But this is the event that caused him to move out of there. Now as I mentioned to you a little bit earlier this chapter underlines the relationship between prayer and God's actions. And it shows you that when the church prays, God does something. That God responds. And we will get into this just a little bit more as we go along. OK. Chapter 12, verse 1. About that time, Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some of the church. And now this Herod Is Herod Agrippa. Now Herod Agrippa was the grandson. Of Herod the Great. He was the son of Herod Antipas. Now Herod Antipas. was executed in 7 BC. He was executed in incidentally at the behest of his own father. Herod the Great Real nice people. Loved one another. OK, when he was orphaned, at least he no longer had a father. His mother, his mother's name was Bernice. And Bernice took Hero Agrippa. He was not Hero Agrippa yet, but he was, he was Agrippa. She took him with him to Rome. And I do not know whether there was a relationship between Bernice And the, the emperors or not, but There may have been Because Hero Agrippa was raised. as we would say today, right in the castle. So he grew up with the royal family. And he had royal tastes. He was considered even by those people to be a playboy. He amassed such a mass of debts that by the age of 23, he had to flee Rome. He had so many creditors chasing after him that he had to flee Rome, and he fled to Idumea, see, which is back in the area of Palestine once again. Well, he kind of knocked around there. And finally his uncle I think it was Philip. Who was the tetrarch of that area, gave him asylum. And gave him a pension to live on. And But they did not get along. So finally he was able to finagle his way back to Rome. He did this. In 36 AD. He got there and he immediately offended the Emperor Tiberius. Tiberius had him thrown in prison. But alas, For the Jews anyway, Tiberius died in 37. And along comes. Uh, Agrippa's friend, Caligula. Crazy Caligula. He was crazy. He left a grip out of prison. You not only left them out of prison. But he sent him back to the area of Palestine. And he made him king over the north end of the area there. Well now Agrippa was, was coming into his own. Well, Caligula died in 41 AD. And along comes the kid he grew up with, Claudius. You've probably heard of Claudius. He was the guy who had the epileptic seizures. Remember the story I, Claudius on, on television? And Claudius was his boyhood chump. Claudius makes Agrippa king over the whole area. He adds the southern part of Palestine to Agrippa's area, and now, Agrippa not only rules. Northern Palestine, southern Palestine, but also the areas of what is present day Lebanon and Syria. He had a pretty good empire over which he was ruling. And the guy was nutty as a fruit cake. He was as nutty as Caligula was, at least. Well, He did not get along with anybody. He tried hard though. But nobody trusted. But he played the political game, you know, right up to the hilt. And so in Rome he became as the Romans. But when he was in Palestine, He did a complete about-face and he adopted all of the customs of the Jews. OK. So in Rome, he'd bowed down to the emperor, and he had worshiped Minerva or whoever it was there that they worshiped in Rome. But then when he got the, the Judea, he kept the feast. On at the Feast of Tabernacles, he'd get up and, and because it said in in the in the book of Deuteronomy that the king was supposed to read the book, you see, he would get up and read the Bible to, to the people there in Judea. I mean, he and his wife went the whole smear, you know, they, they offered the, the animal sacrifices and everything. He was, he tried hard to make friends with people, but nobody would cotton up to him because his reputation went everywhere. I mean, he was a chameleon if there ever was one. So, it says in verse 2. That he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword, 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. Now, James became The first apostle to fulfill. One of the prophecies of Christ, one that is given back here in in Mark. It marked the 10th chapter where You know, they wanted to sit one on the right hand and one on the left hand of Christ. The sons of Zebedee, They said to him, grant us that we may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your glory. Jesus said to them, You do not know what you ask, and you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. He was referring here to his crucifixion. And they said to him, we can. And then Jesus said to them, you will indeed. Drink the cup, right out of their own mouth. Watch what you say. You know that's what Solomon said. He said, watch what you say before God, because he might just hold you to it. That's in Ecclesiastes 5, I believe it is. You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with, you will be baptized. So James becomes the first one. And he is martyr. OK, now. Now Herod saw that that worked pretty well. But the Days of Unleavened Bread slowed them down, and that's why that's mentioned there. Because Of the kind of chameleon that he was, once he was in Judea, he had to follow. In order to curry their favor, he had to follow what the Jews would expect him to do because in Judea, he was a pious Jew. Now, what he was doing, he was following the tradition. Of the Jews that on a holy day, nobody would be crucified. That's what they did with Christ. You see, that's recorded that the Jews wanted to hurry up the whole thing with Jesus' crucifixion because the holy day was coming on. And they wanted to get this over with, and indeed they did. So they killed him on the Passover, had them in the grave before the holy day act actually came. Well the holy day came. And Peter was actually saved by its coming. Because Herod could not work fast enough. He had to stop and make all the preparations for the holy day and then go through the, the, the routine of celebrating it. And this allowed Uh, got to work something out. In verse 5, Peter was therefore kept in prison. If the holy day hadn't come along, and God had not intervened, Peter would have been dead too. If God was timing the whole thing. But constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. Now we might ask the question. Was constant prayer offered for James? Well, I'm sure it was. This was a praying group of people. As the book of Acts shows. In verse 6, And when Herod was about to bring him out that night, Peter was sleeping. The holy day was over, and so the next day, Peter's execution was planned for. So 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 on 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 that he was seeing a vision. So the night before Agrippa Show trial An angel takes charge of affairs. It's interesting that Peter was not sleeping fitfully. If it was me, I would be worried that tomorrow I was going to lose my head. I was going to get beaten half to death and then crucified or whatever manner of death that they had plotted out for him, I would probably be tossing and turning. I'd probably be pacing the cell, dragging those soldiers with me or something or bothering them. But Peter is sleeping soundly, so soundly that he thinks that this whole thing is a dream. So, The angel comes in Peter Wake up! Huh. Well, Peter was Dressed in his night clothes. And he was bound to two soldiers. Which I understand was a little bit unusual. Usually they only bound you to one soldier. But he was a special prisoner because he was going to win more favor. For Agrippa in the sight of the Jews. And he was, he was feed on both sides. But when he stood up, The chains just fell off. Or whatever they had him tied with. Why did not the soldiers wake up? They were really in a deep sleep. You would think that somebody struggling around on the end of a chain. And maybe the clanking of of something falling to the ground. Uh, or if it fell off so that it just laid on the ground, so it was quieter, just trying to put this all together as to why these men did not. Didn't wake up. But at any rate, they did not. And they go right out the doors. And finally they, they apparently were 2 or 3 sets of doors that they had to go out, and then finally the last one just opened up like the supermarket door. And out they were on the street, and Peter still thinks he's asleep. And it said that they had to go one street away where Peter finally, it finally dawned on him that this really was not a dream that he was walking through, but it really was real. And then the angel disappeared, gone. Uh, it's in verse 10 that the gate opened automatically. Incidentally, that's what the Greek says there, the gate opened automatically. The word auto in Greek means self. It's self-opened. So Peter now is awake. In verse 12, So when he considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. And Peter knocked at the door, and a girl named Rhoda came to answer. So it's interesting that this Mary is identified by the name of her or by the relationship or association with her better known son. Her better known son is the Mark. Who is the author of the Gospel and the mark, who was Paul and Barnabas's companion. But It seems to give the indication that that perhaps these people were pretty well off. And that's given in, in verses 13 through 16 when Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer and 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. You know, this was not a house that sat right on the street. But it was a house that had a courtyard in front of it. And was well wealthy enough to have a gate in front of it as well. So I get the picture of a gate being on the street and it was not the kind of gate that one maybe could easily see through, but maybe rather solid. Uh, at any rate, Peter knocked on the thing and she had to come out of the house. Into the courtyard and out to the gate. Now it says that there were a considerable number of people there, so the house must have been fairly large. No. And would give one the indication that there was a fair amount of welfare. OK Peter, she She went out to the gate, and Peter identified himself. She did not unlock the gate, but she ran back to the house. Verse 15. She tried to explain herself. They said to her, you are beside yourself, yet she kept insisting that it was so, and they said it is his angel. All the while, verse 16, Peter continued knocking. You can't just see him getting more and more insisting, you know, hey, open up, it's me, Peter. And then again, maybe he wouldn't have yelled because that would have attracted attention, and you see now he was an escapee from prison. And they saw him and they were astonished. Uh, it's kind of a funny situation, this girl running back and forth and trying to convince these people that that Peter was really out there and they wouldn't believe it. Apparently nobody would go out for for a while, and this phrase, it is his angel. Where does that come from? Does it indicate that the Jews believe that somehow or another angels or our angel looks exactly like we do? I mean, How would they identify it with Peter if if they did not think that an angel looked just like Peter? So or there was an angel that looked just like Peter. Nobody has any answers for that. But there is no indication at all in the Bible of any such thing. It does not mean that we cannot have angels assigned to us. But we do, you know, says they are ministering spirits, you know, sent forth the minister to to the heirs of salvation. However, surely they must not look the same as we do. Do they? I mean, I can see that they look like us, generally, but do they look exactly like us? If they do those 4 things. Uh, OK, verse 17. But Peter, you know, that's interesting. I just happen to think of something. If they do look like us. During life, if we get heavier, do they get heavier? If we lose weight, do they lose weight? When our hair turns gray, is their hair turn great? When we have to wear glasses, do they have to wear glasses? It gets a little ridiculous, doesn't it? If we get a tumor, do they get a tumor? If we would have an operation and get a an organ cut out, would they lose one too? Ah. OK, verse 17, 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 said, go tell these things to James and to the brethren, and he departed and went to another place. OK, Peter sums up the story and it's interesting, I believe that this is Is James' first mention in a, in the book of Acts in what seems to be an official capacity. Why would Peter single James out? Amongst all the other disciples that were in the city. It seems to be that that by this time. It's already Apparent that James has risen to a place of quite a bit of prominence in the, in the in the group there in, in the city of Jerusalem. OK, then Peter departed, and he went to another place. And then as soon as it was day, there was no no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. But then Herod, when Herod, when he had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. That was Roman law. That a guard who allowed a prisoner to escape suffered the escapee's fate. That is what was intended for the the escapee. And then it says that he went from Judea to Caesarea, and he stayed there. That is that Herod went to Caesarea, not Peter. It doesn't tell where Peter went to. verse 20. Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tire and sight. Herod was angry at everybody. He played the game well. Anybody who can do the kind of things that that Harry Agrippa did playing in the kind of society that he played in, or let's say moving about in the kind of society in which he played in in which some of these men had the power over life and death, and always this man seemed to be able to escape. And to somehow come out, you know, always turned up on the good side of things. But yet everybody knew his game. And he got to the place where nobody trusted him at all. People tried to curry favor with him, but nobody trusted him. So he was angry with the people of Tyre and side and nobody knows why, what was behind this. They came to him with a with one accord, having made Blastus, the king's chamberlain, their friend. You know, when Agrippa got mad, bad things could happen. And so these people understanding this, decided to try to to make peace with the man. And the reason was we find here because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. they could not grow enough food to take care of themselves and their livelihood depended upon trading with this area in order to get food. So it was to their best interest to make peace with this man. So on a set day, Herod arrayed in royal peril, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting. The voice of a God and not of a man. And 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. Now there is a a very interesting account in Josephus and I read it today and I wished I, I intended to bring it with me because he has practically a blow by blow account of what went on here. I doubt very much whether Josephus was an eyewitness, but there probably were enough eyewitnesses to uh. Give him a pretty good idea of what occurred. OK, first of all, the date. It seems as though it's still 46 AD. It might have been into 47. But at any rate, Uh, it says that let's see if I can. Pick this up here. So it's not not in here. It must have been in Josephus that I read this. But in Caesarea, They celebrated Uh, every 5 years, they celebrated the founding of the city. Every 5th year with having something like some Olympic Games. Now, if indeed that was what was being celebrated, that would have occurred on March 5th, you see on the Roman calendar. OK, now, if it did, It seems as though this would have occurred then roughly about 5 or 6 months after the occasion in which Peter was released, well, no, pardon me, about 11 months after the occasion in which Peter was released from prison. Remember that took place during the Days of Unleavened Bread. OK, now we know That Agrippa died in 46. Which means then that chapter 12 is a flashback. It, it took place somewhere about the time these things were going on in Antioch. And it's actually parallel in time wise to to what was going on in Antioch. So Peter was down here in in Jerusalem and he was having a rough time with, with Agrippa, see, and then he left the area, and now we have Herod up in Caesarea somewhere around March 5th, the following year. Now there is one other possibility. And that is That These games were celebrated, not the games, but the party, the spectacle that occurred here was held on August 5th. August 5th is a possibility because that was Uh, Augustus Caesar's birthday. And Caesarea was named after Augustus Caesar. Now, if that's a possibility, then we find this thing taking place with Herod, roughly about 17 months or 18 months after this thing occurred with Peter. Now the dating here is not all that important. I am just doing this to show you how that it is possible to get reasonably accurate dates from these things that are occurring. And But at any rate, what Josephus says is this. Is that Herod came to this occasion. And he ordered everything to occur or to begin at sunrise. OK. Sunrise occurs and he shows up. In a gown, in a robe, it was made completely of silver threads. And so the the light of the sun striking on that silver, you can imagine what it did, you know, was reflecting and sending beams of light, you know, like a mirror all over the place, you see, and so he looked like somebody who was being glorified, you know, the appearance of an angel, the appearance of a God. You see, and he gets up on this dias where everybody can see him and where the sun is sure to strike him, and then they he starts. Uh, you know, the people start saying why he's not a man, he's a gun, you know, he's not a man, he's a God. And that's when whatever it was struck it. It, it hit him in the abdomen. Now there are natural explanations. Of this and the natural approach is that Uh, Agrippa was suffering from a super bad case. Of roundworms. Now, I'm not going to say that this is not a possibility. The Bible says that God struck him, and it says he was he was eaten by worms. The only thing we do not know is whether the the appearance of the worms in it was something that was supernatural. Or whether God just caused them to multiply all of a sudden, or, you know, brought everything to a head. Now roundworms, They're pretty ugly gory things. And they will get up to. 1516 inches long. And they are crawling around in your in your intestines. Gobbling up all the food that you eat. And so that they are living off the things that are passing through your intestines but are not digested by your intestines. And I know that I have read of occurrences where they get up into the stomach and they cause cause the person to regurgitate, you know, and worms come out of the mouth, these big long tapeworms come out of the people's mouth. Well, that's what Josephus records, that that's what was occurring and that this lasted for 5 days that he was constantly vomiting. Up these tapeworms, but they just kept. chewing away on him until finally the 5th day he died in terrible agony. What a way to go. It just doesn't sound pleasant at all. But uh, you know, as I mentioned to you earlier that this chapter shows God's retribution against those who blaspheme his name. And apparently he held Herod responsible in a way that that he does not hold many others responsible. Maybe he felt that Herod should have known better. And ought not have done what he did. OK, we find in verse 24. That the the work went on despite the persecutions and the martyrdom taking place in Jerusalem. And verse 25, Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem where they had fulfilled their ministry, that is they took that offering from the, you know, the donations from the people in, in Antioch to Jerusalem when they fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John, whose surname was Mark. Verse 25 is is pretty much a bridge over into the events of chapter 13. chapters 13 and 14. Constitute a bridge themselves. Over into the very important chapter 15. Now chapters 13 and 14 show the church's first concerted effort to take the gospel to the Gentiles, know where it is, uh. really something that was was well planned out and organized and in this case they are taking the gospel to the Gentiles without any prior commitment to to the Jewishness or evangelists without any Jewish stance at all, that is not taking the religion as a Jewish religion. OK, verse one. Now in the church that was not Antioch, there were certain prophets and teachers. Of Barnabas Simeon, who was called ***, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaan, who has been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. And then, having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they sent them away. Now we can begin to see here that This is a planned strategy. It's all guided and directed by God, but rather, Than taking place with God giving people visions we see on the other hand, a deliberate church decision inspired by God's Holy Spirit. What I get is a picture of, of men sitting down and planning out what we are, what we are, what are we going to do, who are we going to use, where are these people going to be sent what is going to be the essence of the message that they go with. And you know, where are we going to try to establish congregations and how are we going to approach this thing? Where is the money going to come from, who's going to go on this, and so forth and uh. This was something new, with the church really planning things out very well. So we find here an evangelistic campaign that is not a reaction to persecution. So that's its significance. All the other evangelistic campaigns seem to have been something that was the result of being persecuted, the Christians being scattered, and it's kind of happening in an AD hoc way. Now they are sitting down and planning things out. OK, prophets and teachers were there. Now, who was who and what was what? Was Barnabas a prophet? Was Barnabas a teacher? How about Simeon? Well, there is no way to know. It doesn't really define. Very clearly who was what? So we just take them all together. OK, now this simian It was mentioned here, who was called ***. *** means black, or it can mean dark complexion. Now it is felt that it means dark complexion rather than black. Uh, it is Most of the commentators feel that it is highly unlikely that there was a black proselyte from Syrene, who had been converted into the church by this time. It's not that it was impossible, but highly unlikely. Now Syrene Let's see, let's go back to an occasion here in the book of Mark. In March 15. In Mark 15 and in verse 21. Now they compelled a certain man, Simon, a Syenian, the Father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by to bear his cross. Now, is this the same man? Well, it's a strong possibility. And This is one of the reasons why most commentators feel that he was a Jew. A Hellenistic Jew. Rather than a black man. That he was uh. In Jerusalem, For the holy days. As any devout Jew would try to be. He was there for Passover and he just happened to get stuck with the job of of carrying. Uh, the cross for Christ. Now in Romans, 16. Romans 16 Every once in a while just become all thumbs. And in verse 13, Now we have a Rufus named here. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine. Now, was that the same Rufus? As is mentioned as being a son. Of this Simon of Cyrene. Again, because of secular writings. Uh, the commentators have a tendency to feel that it was. Because there was an Alexander and a Rufus in the Roman Church who were brothers. That's not in the Bible, but it is in secular writings. And these men lived there about the time that they, that this would have been taking place. So it it's felt just putting all of these things together. That this sim, now this is the Uh, one thing that is, that is a question mark. Why did Luke, who wrote both Luke and Ax, why is it spelled Simeon here? And it spelled Simon back in the book of Mark. I do not know. Well, that's no big deal. OK, we have him then. Then there is Lucius, another Syenian, and Manaan, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul. Now this Manaan. It says This had been brought up with. It can actually mean foster brother. Unusually close relationship, either a very close friend or even a foster brother. Of Hero. In verse 2. They ministered Now who is they? That's a question. Is it Is it just these men here? Or is it the church? Now it's felt that Again, that that it involves the whole church. It was not just these men who were fasting and praying, but it was the whole church that was fasting and praying. OK, this word minister is also very interesting. It means in other places it is translated worshiping. In other places, it is translated survey. The word in the Greek means doing public service at one's own expense. Doing volunteer work. Now to you and me, the application is this. Is that when you are praying, you are serving God. That's worshiping God. It's serving, it's worshiping God. It's doing you might say a voluntary offering. It is a sacrifice to God. You know, how did the spirit make known? It says the Spirit said, now separate to me Barnabas and Saul. How did the Spirit make that known? Well, my guess is this. is that it led the people to observe the outstanding qualifications of the two men who were eventually sent. Just as we see in I Timothy 3. Where the qualifications of an elder are listed and then the qualifications of a deacon, it says very clearly let these first be proved, which means that somebody is observing what is going on and this person or persons are watching their qualification. How do they deal with people? Is their counsel generally wise? Are they people of good character? Do they have a drinking problem? Is their marriage in good shape? Do they have their children under control? Do they seem to understand the script scriptures well? You see, are they people have good repute on the outside. They began to put all these things together, and I think that God was leading them and guiding them and beginning to lay the foundation for Elders. And not just elders, let's say elders in the broadest sense, which eventually became Let's say the divisions of the ministry. And these men were seen to have the qualifications of evangelists, or we might say apostles. Verse 3, then having fasted and prayed. And laid hands on them. They sent them uh. They sent them away, so. I think the prayer here is something that took place after they were separated and it was made to God, interceding with God for the success of their, of the work. So then they were set apart by the laying on of hands. OK, we are just on the verge of a new section there, so I'm going to stop right there, and we will pick up there the next time in chapter 13 verse 4.

JWR/aws/drm

 

 

Sermon Topics

False Gospels

Jesus Christ's Return

Life after Death

Repentance

Resurrection

The Gospel

The Kingdom of God