Sermon: Acts 12:1-25; "One Persecuting, One Martyred, One Delivered, Many Prayed"
Date: March 6, 2016
Pastor: Michael Howard


Scripture: Acts 12:1-25

12 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged
to the church, intending to persecute them.
2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded
to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened
Bread.
4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be
guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring
him out for public trial after the Passover.

5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to
God for him.

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping
between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard
at the entrance.
7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.
He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said,
and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And
Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel
told him.
9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what
the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a
vision.
10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate
leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went
through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly
the angel left him.

11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt
that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches
and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the
mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and
were praying.
13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came
to answer the door.
14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back
without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting
that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw
him, they were astonished.
17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how
the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other
brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another
place.

18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as
to what had become of Peter.
19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him,
he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now
joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the
support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked
for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food
supply.

21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his
throne and delivered a public address to the people.
22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”
23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of
the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned
from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.


Cowboy Church of Ennis Texas
A Church of the Western Heritage Culture
Committed to serving people with the Good News of Jesus Christ

website: http://www.cowboychurchofennis.com