2020 Vision: A Praying Church (Acts 12:11-17)

2020 Vision
“A Praying Church”
Acts 12:11-17

INTRODUCTION:
Abraham sent his servant back to his homeland, to Mesopotamia, to find a wife for his son, Isaac. On the way there, roughly a month’s travel, the servant prayed to God to give him success in his endeavor. That is the first prayer recorded in Scripture in which a person asked God for guidance, for success in life. The Bible says, in Genesis 24:15, “Before he had finished speaking…” Before the man had finished speaking, God was already at work, answering the servant’s prayer, answering Abraham’s desire for a wife for his son.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “It will come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear” (Isa. 65:24). God is at work in our lives, perhaps before we even ask Him.

In Daniel 9, the prophet of God was praying for the sins of himself and his people and he writes: “while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. He gave me instruction and talked with me…” (9:21-22). While Daniel was still speaking, God was working to answer His prayer.

On April 12, 1981, a little 10-year-old boy named Paul was baptized into Christ in a small church in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, in Hayesville, NC. About one year later, that little boy moved across the state lines to Hiawassee GA. Two years after his baptism, that little boy understood enough about prayer that he asked God for a Christian wife.

I do not know how God works. I do not know when God works. The only thing I know about God’s works is what He has revealed to me in the Bible. Everything else is mere speculation and opinion. But, it could be that when I prayed for a Christian wife that God immediately began working to influence a little girl 83 miles away; maybe there was even an angel involved in His work. But about a year after I prayed that prayer, that little girl obeyed the gospel of Christ.

We would not meet for another 11 years but, it seems to me, that God was preparing me for her and preparing her for me.

Family, do you believe in the power of prayer?

Today is the last sermon in our “2020: Vision” series. I have concentrated on a dozen things we ought to focus on if we want to be the church of Christ. I gave you this definition: “The Swartz Creek church of Christ exists, by the blood of Jesus, to share the gospel with the lost, strengthen the weak, encourage the members, and worship God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Prayer is not mentioned in that definition but we need to understand that those actions can only be carried out properly if they are all bathed in prayer.

We have seen that we need to focus on:

Honoring God.
Glorifying Jesus Christ.
Following the Holy Spirit.
Building up each other.
Worshipping God in spirit and in truth.
Reaching out into our community.
Being united with each other in Christ.
Raising our youth to serve Christ.
Taking the gospel to the world.
Taking advantage of the Bible school program.
Serve one another.

Now, let’s conclude our series today with a study of Acts 12 along the theme: A Praying Church. We had a special prayer service before Thanksgiving this year, which we ought to be doing every year and probably more frequently. We need to pray publicly and privately. We need to pray in big groups and small groups. We need to pray at home and at worship.

Let’s take a look at Acts 12…

THE NEED FOR PRAYER - 12:1-5:
King Herod Agrippa I was a politician who tried to walk the line between keeping the Romans pleased and keeping the Jews pleased. At around the time Acts 12 takes place, King Herod Agrippa is around 54 years old. We know from secular history - primarily the Jewish historian named Josephus, that Herod was born in 10 B. C. and died in A. D. 44. King Herod observed Jewish traditions scrupulously.

Around the time the church was spreading among the Gentiles, as we talked bout last week, in Acts 11, King Herod decides he is going to make the Jews happy by persecuting the church, persecuting Christians. Verse 1 says that he laid his hands on some in the church in order to mistreat them. We do not know how broadly this persecution was, but two apostles are targeted: James and Peter. James, the brother of John of the sons of Zebedee, was put to death with the sword (vs 2), probably beheaded.

Herod saw that this action pleased the Jews and, being the consummate politician, decided to do even more. He arrested Peter and he did so during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which, of course, would have been the anniversary of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, something like 11-14 years earlier. Let me make a point here, especially if you are using the old KJV because the translation here is “Easter.” That is a wrong translation and should not be understood that way. Chronologically, the celebration of Easter comes very much later than the NT times; plus, the reference here is to the Jewish feast of Unleavened Bread and not to the celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

King Herod took Peter and put him into prison under the oversight of four squads of soldiers and one squad had four soldiers so Peter was under the oversight of sixteen soldiers. He was taking all the precautions he could possibly take.

But the key statement is in verse 5: Peter is in prison but prayer was being made fervently by the church of God. That’s the point I am trying to emphasize to us today. We need to pray; we need to pray more; perhaps we need to pray more fervently. Perhaps we need to be reminded of the power of prayer.

The Christians did not know if God would answer their prayer as they desired; they did not know how God might answer their prayer. God did not save James’ life. Would God see fit to save Peter’s life?

You and I have all types of things that bother us, that affect our spiritual lives and our emotional lives (I’m going to preach on stress tonight), that affect us financially, psychologically. We could handle all of this much easier and things would work out much better for us if we would pray as this congregation in Jerusalem was praying.

Look how God answers their prayer:

THE ANSWER TO PRAYER - 12:6-11:
On the very night Herod was going to execute Peter (so we don’t know how long Peter was in prison, how long the Christians had to wait before God answered their prayer), Peter was being guarded extremely closely. Nobody, no human, could get to Peter.

But a messenger sent from God can. Verse 7 - an angel of the Lord was sent from the throne of God and appeared to Peter in a bright, shining light. The angel woke Peter up. The chains fell off his wrists. The angel tells Peter to put on his sandals and his cloak and follow him.

Peter followed the angel somehow through the prison where he was confined, not knowing if the events were real or in a vision. Eventually, they get out to the iron gate which led out to the city of Jerusalem and the gate opened by itself and suddenly the angel left Peter.

It finally dawned on Peter that he was not experiencing a vision, that in fact, God was saving him from Herod and from being murdered at the expectation of the Jews.

Family, God answers prayers. The church was praying for Peter’s freedom and God answered. God answers prayers. Maybe you should write that on an index card and tape it to your mirror: “God answers prayers.”

Now, when God answers prayers, how do you react? Look at how this congregation of Christians reacted…

THE REACTION TO PRAYER - 12:12-17:
Peter went to the home of a Christian, probably a widow, named Mary who was the mother of John Mark. The early church tells us that this John Mark is the author of the Gospel of Mark. The home of Mary is where the church was assembled, praying for Peter. The church did not have church buildings in those days; they met in homes and the church of Christ in Jerusalem, at least some of them, were assembled in Mary’s home and were praying for Peter’s release.

Yet, when it happened, they were not quite ready to accept it! They were surprised. Peter knocks at the door of the gate, outside. I think we need to picture the house as being behind a large gate with a courtyard. A young servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Apparently the gate was designed in such a way that she could not see Peter’s face. Obviously, they did not have street lamps but the light from the moon was not bright enough or in some way Peter’s face was not visible. Rhoda recognized his voice. She was so excited, she was so happy, she was so relieved, that she did not even allow him to come in!

She ran back to the others, announcing that Peter was at the gate! But the church, the Christians did not believe her! Notice in verse 15: “You are out of your mind!” They thought Rhoda was seeing things or hearing things that weren’t true. She kept insisting that Peter was at the gate and they kept denying her. They said that it must be his “angel” - or “ghost” as we might say today, or his “spirit.” In other words, they thought that Peter was dead already. Well, if you are going to answer prayers yourself instead of trusting God, then why pray to begin with?

If you’re not going to believe God is going to answer prayers, then why pray? James cautions us in James 1:6 not to pray doubting. I guess the Christians in Jerusalem prayed believing but they were shocked when God answered their prayers. Rachel is a daily reminder to me that God answers prayers.

Peter kept knocking. Eventually, they opened the door and let him in. And they were amazed (vs 16). They were amazed that God answered their prayer! What about that! Many of those very Christians were probably eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Christ and yet they were amazed that God answered their prayers. Yes, sometimes I’m amazed at just how God answers prayers.

In verse 17, Peter took the time to describe to the Christians how Jesus saved him from prison, from death and he told them to tell James what had happened and then he left. After verse 18, we will see Peter again one more time in Jerusalem in Acts 15. Otherwise, Peter goes on with his life, loving God supremely and serving his fellowman sacrificially.

But God is not finished with King Herod…

THE JUDGMENT OF PRAYER - 12:18-23:
The penalty on soldiers for letting prisoners escape was death. Of course, there was no finding Peter if God was directing things. King Herod had the soldiers put to death. Then King Herod went to one of his palaces and, we don’t know how much time has passed, but verse 20 picks up with Herod engaging in politics.

Herod gives a wonderful speech and the people cry out “The voice of a god and not of a man” (vs 22)! So, God sent an angel, perhaps the same angel who delivered Peter, and the angel of the Lord struck King Herod because he did not glorify Jehovah God as he should have and, Luke writes, King Herod was eaten by worms and he died.

I do not know if the Christians were praying for God’s judgment on King Herod. Whether they were or weren’t, God decided to give them two “answers” to their prayer for the price of one. Not only did He free Peter, but He also punished the man who had intended to harm one of God’s children. Now, we do not always know why God does what He does or how He does what He does.

In two difference situations here in Acts 12, God sends an angel to take care of business. We do not know what God does with angels today and we should never glorify, exalt, worship, or otherwise honor angels. We do not trust angels; we do not depend on angels. We trust God. We depend on God. We worship God. He’ll send His angels when, and where, and how He knows is best.

So, what happens after the church prays and God answers those prayers? Good things happen…

THE RESULT OF PRAYER - 12:24-25:
The gospel continued to grow and to be multiplied. By the phrase “word of the Lord,” of course, Luke means the church. The church is always the result of preaching the gospel.

And, we have a mission team starting in verse 25 as Barnabas and Paul decide to go back to Antioch from Jerusalem and take John Mark with them. We had a sermon earlier this year on Acts 13 and the first mission team. That team grew out of a praying church in Jerusalem.

Take home message: Let us be a praying church, from the elders to the children. Let’s pray privately and publicly. Let’s pray at home and at worship. And, let’s believe in the power of prayer!