By divine intervention this proud Herod Agrippa I is soon to be "eaten of worms" (verse 23). Surely it was true of all who really believed and knew His glory. It was not only right, but recorded of God that we might see and profit by it. We know that Paul thanked God that so it was with himself at Corinth; and we see that Peter here did not baptize, but simply "commanded them to be baptized." He would have His people, where they give, to have a voice. But for himself and his household, what could he do but pray till the rich blessing came? He was not only (as Herod Antipas was) tetrarch of Galilee, but had also the government of Judea committed to him by Claudius the emperor, and resided most at Jerusalem, where he was at this time. Herod accepted the praise as if he was God, and was punished for it (20-23). And Jesus said, "Are you able to be baptized with the baptism whereof I will be baptized?" John Mark who is the author of the Gospel according to Mark. After all, though it seems so simple as to be a truism, though nothing can well be conceived more certain; nevertheless, practically it is not always the plainest and surest truth that carries all before it in our souls. Accordingly the rejection of the very witness of Christ, speaking by the Holy Ghost the rejection of Him to heaven becomes the turning-point; and then by the Lord from heaven is now called forth the witness of grace as well as of the glory of Christ. (iii) Archelaus ( G745) . Prayer to God for him was earnestly offered by the Church. Web1. This is an essential feature of Christianity. The Passover Feast was on 14th Nisan; for that day and the seven following no leaven must be used and the week was called the days of unleavened bread. Cornelius, I apprehend, was just in this case. But Saul does arise from the earth. Scripture does show, though it does not sanction as divine, a faith that is founded on evidence. He had no confidence in the Lord for himself not a particle; for just as those who have confidence in the Lord have not an atom in man, his sole hope of blessing for his soul lay in the influence of another man, not in Christ's grace. Pray we hate evil and cling to what is good (12:9). I quote from the original edition (Edinburgh, 1807): "Acts 11: 31. It is thought that her house was pretty much the headquarters of the church in Jerusalem. WebVerse Acts 12:1. Society's edition of his Comm. And no wonder. And in the present case this requirement is the more reasonable from the circumstance that the Apostles uniformly identify themselves, as regards their Christian standing and hopes, with those to whom they write. Verse Acts 12:1. He spent some thirty years of his early life in Rome, but then came back and loved living in Jerusalem and was seeking to curry the favor of the Jews, living as the Jews lived. Prayers Against The Spirit Of Backwardness 17. Matthew 20:23). It was not a question of being saved in the day of judgment; nor is this the meaning of the term "salvation" in the New Testament. He is mentioned in Matthew 2:22. Pray that all the world would be saved and come to a Of any typical or sacrificial element, St. Paul makes no mention: the whole service, with the exception of the Lord's Supper, was manifestly homiletic or verbal. He said, "He's beside Himself" and they came down to rescue Him. (cf. A zene vegyes felhozatal volt egy kivl Dj-vel. It is little wonder that this Herod has murderous intentions toward the people of God. 407.]. ACTS Prayers (Adoration, Confession, T Genitive case of hos as adverb; at which place, i.e. We see that the Church had some short truce, that it might, as it were, by a short breathing, recover some courage against the time to come, and that it might then fight afresh. Now the reason, as it appears to me, why divine wisdom led to this striking difference at Samaria, was the necessity of hindering that independence to which even Christians are so liable. See Luke 3:1; see also an account of the Herod family, see in Clarke's note on "Matthew 2:1". And he commanded us to preach unto the people." So from experience we know there is many a man that you cannot doubt to be truly looking to the Lord, yet far from resting in the peace of God. It was as thoroughly according to God that the apostle should not lay his hands on any this day, as it was according to His wisdom that they should lay their hands on the Samaritans. Such was the faith of Simon. The greatest precautions had been taken to see that Peter did not escape. Herod the Great left three sons, between whom his kingdom was divided - Archelaus, Philip, and Antipas. It was no longer simply a cleaving to a God of goodness who could not deceive and would not disappoint the soul that hoped in His mercy, "but the conscious joy of knowing his sins all one, and himself distinctly put on the ground of accomplished redemption as a known present thing for his own soul in this world. He martyred James, seized and imprisoned Peter, planning to execute him publicly after the Passover festivities. *The copyists of old seem to have confounded in writing, as the Latin and most other ancient translators did in rendering, (Greeks) and (Hellenists), here and elsewhere. Apparently a primary word; a 'mother'. Power of Prayer (Acts 12:1-12) Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. All these things were pressed home by Stephen; indeed, I have simply touched on a very small part of his most telling address. He figured that they would be coming to Mary's house looking for him and so he, no doubt, went to hide out from Herod. There are accessaries ex post facto--after the fact; and those will be reckoned with as persecutors who take pleasure in others' persecuting, who delight to see good men ill used, and cry, Aha, so would we have it, or at least secretly approve of it. Without pronouncing upon the state of individuals in the sight of God, he assumed the whole body to be what they professed to be a body of real Christians. If you don't have faith, God's not going to answer your prayers. Except on this assumption the apostle could not have proceeded to enforce Christian duties by Christian motives" (pp. Acts 12 It says Easter there, and that's a King James translation. Peter had not long learnt it himself. But the testimony of miracles is apt to act upon the flesh. There was a bringing out of that which belonged to Christ, not merely the place which Christ took, but that which He is from all eternity, consequently that which is most of all intrinsically precious. Hence it is there were mighty powers that wrought by those who were employed by the Holy Ghost; as, for instance, by Philip himself; afterwards also by the disciples, when Peter and John came down and laid their hands upon them with prayer. Mvsz belltottsg s egyben riport jelleg kpekkel gazdagthatlak benneteket. Acts 11:18), Herod took advantage of an opportunity to please his subjects by mistreating some believers and by executing the Apostle James, the brother of John (cf. ( Acts 12:1) Herod harasses the church. Now don't try to figure out an answer, because we don't know.The ways of God are beyond our finding out. There are, of course, imperfect expressions, inasmuch as the truth itself is but partially apprehended; but one is glad to see views so decidedly in advance of ordinary evangelicalism, with equal decision against more churchism. To Antipas, Galilee and Perea; and to Archclaus, Judea, Idumea, and Samaria. In fact, it is thought by some that the upper room was actually in the house of Mary the mother of Mark. So then these people succeeded in gaining the ear of Blastus, the king's chamberlain, and in due course a public session was arranged. "It can't be real. In fact, it tells us much aboutprayer. Great workman as Peter was, he required the intervention of God in a vision to send him to do a work that these unnamed brethren undertook in their confidence of His grace, without any vision or sign whatsoever. When they opened the door and saw him they were amazed. 1. To kill an apostle now was killing he knew not how many. There can be little doubt that, even in the apostolic age, the church of each considerable city such as Rome or Ephesus consisted, not of one congregation, but of several, who were collectively styled the church of that place; certain it is that such was the case towards the close of the first century. Conscience would have been searched by the truth of God; and the heart would have been filled with praise at the grace of God. It has been about eight years since the martyrdom of Stephen. 3. There is no show of doing great things; nor do we read of daring in any way: what is there of Christ in the one or the other? Undoubtedly throughout these districts churches existed; but it was all one and the same church too, and not different bodies. II. A body of believers indeed had been by Christ gathered out of the Jewish people to be the first recipients of the Pentecostal effusion; but before that event, this body could not be called distinctively His Church. 14 When she recognized Peters voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and Nowhere in the New Testament does the intervention of Almighty God on behalf of his church appear any more timely and dramatic than in this chapter. It is of interest to see, and should be better known, that among the Gentiles were not wanting such as worshipped no idols but served the true and living God. "And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." The death of Stephen, therefore, has in various points of view a great significance. Accordingly, among the train of those that received the gospel and were baptized, Simon is found. During this time the church has enjoyed relative peace, but now severe persecution again raises its ugly head. But because Easter takes place during Passover season, because Jesus was crucified at the time of the Passover, He also rose again three days later. Neither one nor other ever entered into the thoughts or feelings of Simon. The first of the New Testament Herods (see Herodes G2264) is Herod the Great who reigned from about 41 B.C. One must be born again; but, like many others who had really been quickened in those days (and it may be even now, I presume), a soul might be born again, and yet far from resting in peace on redemption, far indeed from a sense of deliverance from all questions as to his soul. Acts 9:1-43. Pray and say: Father, here am I, take me and use me. That one name, through faith in it, what could it not accomplish? Legtbb ismersm s jmagam is egy ltszlag teljesen idegen szakterletrl rkeztnk. At the passover, when the Jews came from all parts to Jerusalem to keep the feast, they irritated one another against the Christians and Christianity, and were then more violent than at other times. At once, with the instinct of flesh, he sees a good 'opportunity for himself, and, judging of others' hearts by his own, presents money as the means of acquiring the coveted power. Merrill F. Unger gives the following comment on the name Herod: It belonged alike to all the Herodian house as known to the Scriptures. Gird yourself means to tie your skirt on up. "It was known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord." I've never really tried it, but I can imagine it would be difficult to run in a robe. And he said unto him, Put your garment on, and follow me. Now at this point we are introduced to James, who became one of the leaders in the early church, who was a half brother to Jesus. How essential to the idea of a Church the exercise of discipline is, may be seen from the embarrassing contrarieties between theory and practice which the virtual suspension of it in the Church of England is constantly occasioning" (pp. Even now, although it is the gospel that God sends out, we know well how many, through a misuse of Old Testament teaching, plunge themselves into distress and doubt. "All that dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord." Surely He is always wise and consistent with Himself. One of the chief means was prayer. Help me torecognise the different audiences that are being addressed in different Bible passages. The Spirit puts us in presence of the freedom of the servant, as he pleads with the Lord, for neither man nor even the child of God ever reaches up to the height of His grace. Had he not read or heard those words in the prophets? Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church ( Acts 12:1 ). Persecution & Prayer Acts 12:1-24 | Grace Bible Church Now all of you that have visited the Holy Land are familiar with the theater that is in Caesarea. For every particular church is so, called on the supposition of its being a manifestation, more or less true, of the one holy Church the body of Christ. An event that is unique, and vividly presented as such, takes on the importance of the typical when it reminds us of other similar events. In this chapter a new wave of persecution, instigated by King Herod, broke out against the Church, and especially against its leaders. He had been educated at Rome, but he sedulously cultivated the good graces of the Jewish people by meticulously keeping the Law and all Jewish observances. Rengeteg kivl tterem alkalmas a nagy nap lebonyoltsra. 0UR hearts are thrilled by the remarkable deliverance of Peter from prison, recorded in Acts. What in our Lord's discourses is a matter of anticipation or prophecy, here appears as a matter of fact. Acts 12:12 And when he had realized this, he went to the house of "And the hand of the Lord was with them," as we are told, "and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord." To Philip was left Iturea and Trachonitis. Mirt is kell az eskvi fots a kszldsnl? At Joppa too was wrought a still more striking miracle of the Lord in Tabitha's case, already dead, than in that of Eneas, who had been paralysed for years. Accordingly Peter and John, two of the chiefs among the apostles, come down from Jerusalem. The personal holiness of the Christian is a property of the individual, not of the society as such; hence a professing Christian society, however large a proportion of holy men it may contain, does not predicate of itself that it is a part of Christ's holy Church as long as it exercises no formal official act implying that assumption. He was one of the twelve who were commissioned to disciple all nations; and to take him off now, before he had removed from Jerusalem, was like Cain's killing Abel when the world was to be peopled, and one man was then more than many at another time. The exercise of discipline is the true and legitimate expression of the sanctity of a visible Church considered as a society. See Luke 3:1. The place once so famous for its nicknames was now to give a name that will never perish a name of incalculable sweetness and blessing, connecting Christ as it does with those that are His. A. Then follows another grave fact. Paul tells us in Galatians how he came to the church in Antioch, caused some trouble that Paul had to rebuke him for. It is therefore our wisdom to take heed of the beginnings of sin. Religious persecution is invariably ruthless and blind even to the commonest feelings of humanity. All descendants of Herod the Great down to the fourth generation, who were identified with the government of Palestine and are mentioned in the New Testament, are known in history by the surname Herod; Herod Archaelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip II, Herod Agrippa I, and Herod Agrippa II (470). I call your attention to this. "And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man." He said, "Tell these tidings to James and to the brethren." The very same people had done it who had so lately received with the utmost favour (not the truth, nor the grace of God, which is inseparable from His truth, but), at any rate, the mighty impress of the grace as well as of the truth which had produced unwonted largeness of heart, unselfishness of spirit, and joy and liberty, that struck the minds of the Jews accustomed to the coldness of death in their own system. Clearly they were not Christians; but God has all hearts in His keeping. 4. For according to the Roman law, if you were guarding a prisoner and he escaped from you, then you received the sentence that would have been given to the prisoner. Ananias, wholly unprepared for the call of such an enemy of the gospel, slow of heart to believe all, expostulates, as it were, with the Saviour. But he had heard the voice of His mouth, and His words were spirit and life, eternal life, to his soul. Beheading was not ordinarily used among the Jews; but, when kings gave verbal orders for private and sudden executions, this manner of death was used, as most expeditious; and it is probable that this Herod killed James, as the other Herod killed John Baptist, privately in the prison. 515-517). The Spirit given to the believer was a privilege over and above faith, and supposed, therefore, their repentance unto life. The believers prayed for guidance in making decisions (Acts 1:1526), 2. 4. The gospel of Luke also describes what is similar; that is to say, a faith not insincere but human, not wrought of the Spirit but founded on the mind yielding to reasons, proofs, evidences, which are to it overpowering; but there is nothing of God in it: there is no meeting between the soul and God. First of all, the apostles and the disciples themselves received it as they were waiting. But the word of God grew and multiplied. He acts on that of which he afterwards wrote. And so he went out, and followed him; and he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision ( Acts 12:8-9 ). The gift of the Spirit is not at all the same thing as the gifts. (ii) Herod Antipas (see G493) . In the remarks sometimes made upon this subject it seems to be assumed that there is no medium between our affirming of persons that they are not perfect Christians, and that they are not Christians at all; whereas in fact there is no Christian, however holy, who comes up to the ideal of Christian practice. Though He did see fit and purpose that Peter should be delivered from Herod's sword. The Syriac so renders it expressly, and the chronology requires us so to understand it. And because this was translated by the King James translators in 1600 and by this time this pagan celebration of Ashtar had invaded the church and was changed slightly to Easter instead of Ashtar. In almost every chapter in Acts, you find a reference to prayer, and the book makes it very clear that something happens when Gods people pray. Such is the unfolding of the ways of God at this point. Isn't it interesting how much emphasis we often put on faith. One of his wives, Miriam, had a son, Aristopollis that was murdered by Herod the Great, as was Miriam. This phraseology would have been somewhat like this, 'The church had rest throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria,' i.e., the part of the church that lies in these countries." The final result of what took place when God sent an angel to destroy Herod Agrippa was realized some 20 years later when Titus and Vespasian destroyed Jerusalem. This is the brother of our Lord. "Nor is there any weight in the objection that many of these primitive Churches were very defective in doctrine or in, practice, or in both; that St. Paul speaks of the Corinthians as being, on account of their divisions, 'carnal,' and not 'spiritual,' as 'babes in Christ,' and sharply reproves them for their laxity of discipline in the case of the incestuous person, and their want of discipline in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Now when Peter was come to himself, he said, I know of a surety, that the Lord has sent his angel, and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews ( Acts 12:10-11 ). His preaching Christ was the fruit of the Lord's call. Acts 6:1-15; Acts 6:1-15 shows us the party in question murmuring. This is just a vision, it's not really happening." When Peter escaped the soldiers were led away to execution because it was the law that, if a criminal escaped, his guard should suffer the penalty the prisoner would have suffered. Observe that, although the next words are beyond a question scriptural, and so far the case differs from verse 37 referred to in the last chapter, the last clause of verse 5 and the first of verse 6 belong properly speaking to two other chapters (Acts 22:1-30, Acts 26:1-32) rather than to this. Nlam barti hangulatban zajlik a fotzs, garantltan izzads-mentesen Lendletes, prgs s vidm fnykpezs a mottm. Of course, they were seeking to flatter him in order that they might gain his favor and his help. afterwards the Apostles preach and organize. 3. "About that time was A.D. 44, as Herods death occurred in this year" (Boles 187). And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him ( Acts 12:4 ); Now a quaternion was actually four soldiers. How startled this good man but excessively keen controversialist must have been, had he learnt that, beyond all just question, the only tenable text here is destructive of the notion of independent churches, and in reality gives the appellation to the entire body of the disciples throughout these regions, as standing on one common ground, and enjoying full intercommunion, though in these different districts. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. . B. It was not enough that they had rejected the Messiah, nor even that He was made Lord and Christ on high. The Spirit of God alone quickens a person by faith in Christ. 12:1-17. If the blood of his saints, much more the blood of apostles, is precious in his eyes, and therefore, we may be sure, is not shed but upon a valuable consideration. But "as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and dragging off men and women, committed them to prison." When Philip died, this region was granted by the Emperor Caligula to Herod Agrippa. Clearly the Jew is meant. It's all set. So says the Spirit to Philip, "Go near and join thyself to this chariot." A honlapunk hasznlatval n a tjkoztatsunkat tudomsul veszi. WebTHE POWER OF PRAYER. The purposes of God are going to stand. Surely you cannot accuse these people of praying the prayer of faith. stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church; Beza's ancient copy adds, "in Judea": it seems to be the church at Jerusalem; perhaps some of the principal members of them; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, the rulers of the house of God. Acts Chapter 12 See the notes on Matthew 2:19. Was his faith nothing more than a profession of Christian doctrine? But why would God permit it? From sun and athroizo; to convene. We are given a striking prefiguration of the evil king that will be found in the latter day; he that will reign over the Jews under the shadow and support of the Gentiles as Herod was, and not less but more than his prototype bent on the murder of the innocents, and with his heart full of evil for others who will be rescued by the goodness of the Lord.