. SERMON POINTS Acts 12:1-19 records an example of how the Lord answered the fervent prayers of His people and shows us how we too can pray effectively. All depended upon this. It may well be the story of a thrilling rescue; but, however it happened, the hand of God was most definitely in it. Certainly the Ethiopian received the truth; but verse 37 had better be passed by in your minds, at least in this connection. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." Pray that all the world would be saved and come to a Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and the truths that it contains. "Were the question put to a person of plain understanding, unacquainted with the controversies which have arisen on the subject, What, according to the Apostolic Epistles, is a Christian Church, or, how is it to be defined? But this detects the man. First, there are saints, or men in whom Christ is formed by an invisible operation of His Spirit, whose origin, however, is not unknown; then these saints proceed to execute their appointed mission" (p. 272). In the East it would have been the natural thing for the next brother to take on the work of an elder brother who had been killed; but from the gospels we learn that Jesus' brothers did not believe in him ( John 7:5) and that they actually thought him mad ( Mark 3:21). But in the sense in which they supposed themselves to be Christians, do they, to all appearance, apply that title to those to whom they write" (pp. Father, I declare that I walk in the wisdom of Christ today in Jesus name. Yet the Holy Ghost was given in especial power on that day. O LORD, Where Is My Future Partner 19. "That word ye know," says Peter, "which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him . Observe here, 1. * Thenceforth the Church becomes a matter of history; and its history is nothing less than that of the vicissitudes, prosperous and adverse, which the kingdom of God upon earth has in the lapse of ages passed through. A comparison of the last verses of Acts 11 and this chapter (Acts 12) suggests that Barnabas and Paul made that trip to Jerusalem with relief for the victims of the famine at about the time of the events given in Acts 12, this being in 44 A.D., a date determined by the death of Herod Agrippa I. After this comes no slight discipline for Saul. The Jews in general were becoming restless concerning the free mixing between Jewish and Gentile Christians, and were angry at the apostles for encouraging it. Peter was the one then, not Paul, that announced the gospel to Cornelius, who by the Holy Ghost received it, and was not merely safe but saved. Barnabas was quite justified in seeking Saul. So there were sixteen soldiers altogether watching Peter in three-hour shifts, at all times chained to two of them while two were watching the door. I cite from the Calvin Tr. Pray we exercise our gifts according to the grace given us (12:6-8). He was the second husband of Herodias (see G2266) and consented to the death of John the Baptist. See Josephus, Antiq., book 19, chapter 5, section 1. And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace [Don't make too bit of a stir, fellows. . In the meantime, the church waspraying, and in answer to theirprayers(v. 5) God supernaturally awakened Peter from a sound sleep (v. 6). Prayers To Get A Permanent Job 15. Jerusalem passes as the center of the church's activity and now moves to Antioch, and all of the missionary activity in taking the Gospel into all of the world centers out of the church in Antioch. Observe, The Jews made themselves guilty of the blood of James by showing themselves well pleased with it afterwards, though they had not excited Herod to it. James sheds his blood, as Stephen had before; for this Peter was destined by man, but the Lord disappointed him. Could it be otherwise, when, spite of proud unbelief and conceit of distinctive privilege, they were forced to feel that they were none the less the constant resisters of the Holy Ghost like their fathers, who had been guilty themselves, and suffered the consequence of their guilt in their prostration to the Gentiles; to feel now that they themselves were no better, but rather worse; that there was the same unbelief bringing out its effects even more tremendously; that they were guilty of the blood of their own Messiah, who was now risen and exalted in the highest seat of heaven? It is needless now to dwell on the scene, more than just to point out that which is familiar, no doubt, to many that are here the manner in which the Lord judged the apostate; for Herod owned shortly after by the people whom he had sought to please, disappointed in one place, but exalted in another was hailed as a god; and at that moment the angel of the Lord deals with his pride, and he is devoured of worms a sad image of the awful judgment of God that will fall upon one who will sit "in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.". Now about that time - That is, during the time that the famine existed, or the time when Barnabas and Saul went up to Jerusalem. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had completed their errand of mercy. Philip, besides being one of the seven, was an "evangelist," as we are told expressly in another part of this very book (Acts 21:8). 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. When Caligula was slain, he was at Rome, and having ingratiated himself into the favor of Claudius, he conferred on him also Judea and Samaria, so that his dominions were equal in extent to those of his grandfather, Herod the Great. 449, 450). 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. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary, Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. At first they were more timid; they spoke only to Jews. But this manifestation and fruit of gracious power silenced even the unruly and hard spirits of the circumcision. He was made king by the Emperor Caligula, and was put in possession of all the territories formerly held by his uncle Philip and by Lysanias; viz. There would be no particular force in giving it to Jews, for all Jews professed to be looking for Christ. It was not to be done by mere systematic rule of a human pattern. One of the chief means was prayer. 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. Iturea, Trachonitis, Abilene, with Gaulonitis, Batanaea, and Penias. 12 rakor kezdtnk egy kis kreatv fotval. Szeretek a termszetes fnyekkel fotzni, de ha nincs ms megolds, marad TovbbEskv fotzsa Sopronban Egy fergetes buli a hatr mellett, Itt az l plda mirt nem kell ktsgbe esni ha szeszlyes az idjrs.Tbbek kztt azrt sem mert olyan fotid lesznek ami msoknak nincsen. For all that God took precaution to bind up together the work at Samaria with that which He had wrought at Jerusalem. Herod's design was, after Easter, to bring him forth unto the people. See Luke 3:1; see also an account of the Herod family, see in Clarke's note on "Matthew 2:1". Note what the Christians were doing. Acts 12:1-17. Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Thus was the plot laid, and both Herod and the people long to have the feast over, that they may gratify themselves with this barbarous entertainment. Prayer was a normal part of their daily ministry (Acts 2:4247; 3:1; 6:4), 4. The apocryphal Gospel according to the Hebrews tells that after the death of Jesus, James made a vow that he would neither eat nor drink until he saw Jesus again; and that Jesus did appear to him. Clearly they were not Christians; but God has all hearts in His keeping. WebActs 12 shows that Peter and James put God first in their lives, regardless of the punishment they might receive. Where, whither, when, in what place. "When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." With this view He Himself instituted certain external badges of Christian profession, to come into use when they should be needed, and took measures to qualify a small and select company of believers, by attaching them constantly to His person while His earthly ministry lasted, and giving them a formal commission with extraordinary powers, when He left the world, to preside over the affairs and direct the organisation of Christian societies. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever," etc. (iii) Archelaus ( G745) . theology. It is not the church of Judea, the church of Galilee, and the church of Samaria, but the churches of Judea, etc. During this time the church has enjoyed relative peace, but now severe persecution again raises its ugly head. . Philip acts at once, with alacrity hears the eunuch read the prophet Isaiah, and puts the question whether he understood what was read. Thus we find the utmost simplicity and quietness. I merely make this remark lest any should draw from this the inference that there is a necessity for men commissioned from God to lay on hands now in order to confer such a spiritual blessing. I mean, they woke up and here Peter was gone, and you can imagine the stir that this must have created among these guards to find Peter gone. At the same time there is the pity that belongs to one who knew the grace of God, and saw the end of all in His judgment. 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. And because he did not give God glory, he was smitten by an angel and there died.So the end of Herod Agrippa I. It was plain enough to see the Christian assembly in a city, even if it were as numerous as in Jerusalem, where it must have met in not a few different localities and chambers. This contrariety doth cause me to expound it of the Gentiles." "It was known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord." Herod the Great had ten wives. Prayer Points 1 Father, I thank you for sending Jesus Christ to us. A quaternion was a squad of four. He was a grandson of Herod the Great, and one of the sons of Aristobulus, whom Herod put to death (Josephus, Antiq., 18, 5). Herod had James, the brother of John, killed (v. 2) which pleased the Jewish leaders immensely (v. 3). arise and bring an end to the plaques on the land as a result of these evil acts in Jesus name. We will deal with Herod Agrippa II, his son, in a few weeks as we move on in the book of Acts. Vincent says the word "vex" is used "in the older and stronger sense of torment or oppress rather than its modern usage of petty annoyances" (508). He is mentioned, under the name of Philip ( G5376) , in Matthew 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19. The time for the call of the Gentiles strictly was not yet come, though the way is being prepared. "The Church of Christ was not properly in existence before the day of Pentecost; much less did she, before that era, go forth on her mission to evangelize* the world. There was to be a testimony to an the nations. Josephus, the Jewish historian, describes how, on the second day of the festival, he entered the theatre clad in a robe of silver cloth. He would have Saul to return good for what I may venture to call a measure of evil towards him. It was at a prayer meeting in Philippi that God opened Lydias heart (Acts 16:13), and another prayer meeting in Philippi that opened the prison doors (Acts 16:25ff), 13. So at this day there is no cause why the faithful, having borne the brunts of one or two conflicts, should promise themselves rest, (748) or should desire such a calling (749) as old overworn soldiers use to have. This precisely Cornelius had not known, nor could any one have known it till the work of redemption was done. [Note: Bock, Acts, p. Note, Blood to the blood-thirsty does but make them more so, and the way of persecution, as of other sins, is downhill; when men are in it, they cannot easily stop themselves; when they are in they find they must on. 'Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria,' etc.
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