 So with that we're going to be looking at a portion of the book of Acts as we've been looking at acts and we're in chapter 12 And we're going to be looking today at the first six verses Acts chapter 12 Verses 1 through 6 and I think that this is a portion of scripture that we'll see Has practical implication to us believers even as we are here right now in the 21st century and as I normally do I'm going to read the passage from verse 1 to verse 6 to you and I'm going to share some some foundational things to Bring us up to speed to enter into our study here in chapter 12 And you'll see as we go through these verses that there are going to be verses that I'm going to stop and share some things Hopefully to help us to have some hope in insight into the God that we worship And so we'll begin reading here in Acts chapter 12 at verse 1 I'll read to verse 6 and we'll get into our study acts chapter 12 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 6 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church Then he killed James the brother of John with a 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 So when he had arrested him He put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him Intending to bring him before the people after Passover Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church Now when Herod was about to bring him out that night Peter was sleeping Bound with two chains between two soldiers and the guards before the door were keeping the prison So let me give you a An introduction to develop a foundation and it's going to be basically a couple stages And so bear with me as I do that So we'll begin by simply pointing out something that is obvious history is filled with stories of those who try to resist God Resistance to God began first with Satan He's also known in scripture as Lucifer has various names that that we know him by but in scripture He's also known as Lucifer. We know him best as Satan. We know him best as the devil, but again, he's known as Lucifer So in the book of Isaiah chapter 14 Isaiah speaks concerning rebellion his rebellion Isaiah 14 12 through 15 says how you have fallen from heaven. Oh Lucifer son of the dawn You have been cast down to the earth you who once laid low the nations you said in your heart I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God I will in sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain I will ascend above the tops of the clouds. I will make myself like the most high But you are brought down to the grave to the depths of the pit Lucifer had what is called the five eye wills You see that as I've read them to you just now in Isaiah 14 And what it is is Lucifer desired to steal from God the worship that belongs Only to him and he tried to become God and that's one reason he is referred to as Lucifer the word Lucifer is actually taken out of the the Latin translation it means morning star light-bearer or morning star, so What he was trying to do is he was trying to take the title of Christ for himself You see morning star is the title warned by Jesus in Revelation 22 16 It says I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches He went on to say I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star So a morning star speaks of the first light that appears in the sky just before sunrise Why would Jesus be called the morning star the bright and morning star? Well, God created light and in the purest sense Jesus is the one who brings light in John 8 12 Jesus said I am the light of the world So in a very real sense Jesus is a true morning star He is the light bearer and Lucifer Rebelled and because he did that he was cast out of heaven and it seems as we read our scriptures that he Insided other angels to rebel along with him because in Revelation 12 verse 4 He is described as that the serpent He's a great dragon and it says his tail swept one third of the stars out of the sky and Flung them to the earth and and theologians will point out that this one third would represent Angels who rebelled along with him So when he came to earth he instigated rebellion in the Garden of Eden He tempted Eve to take up the fruit Adam partook of it with her and as a result We have what is called an Adamic nature the Adamic nature is what is also called the fallen nature and Fallen man with our fallen nature has rebelled against God ever since as a matter of fact our fallen nature is the core of our Being we have sinful natures and we're enemies of God Sometimes people think that you train people out of a fallen nature You cannot train them out of a fallen nature the nature has to be redeemed the people have to be born again And we look at kids and we say to ourselves how could they be so bad because we know they're like their mothers and that's the answer That's the Bible Now we have sinful natures because we received them from Adam in Romans 5 verse 12 it says therefore just as sin came into the world through one man and Death through sin so death spread to all men because all sinned so we Men we have what are called the Adamic nature as well as our wives or girls or ladies and and all of that But we all have a fallen nature Ephesians 2 verse 3 says all of us also lived among them at one time gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and Following its desires and thoughts like the rest we were by nature objects of wrath So sadly those who fight against God in our society and it's been this way throughout history are often held up as heroes That you should emulate or be like Our political and cultural landscape is filled with the heroes who are actually Rebels against God The fact is it's always unwise to fight God Proverbs 21 30 says there's no wisdom no insight no plan that can succeed against the Lord In Daniel 435 it says all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth No one can restrain his hand or say to him. What have you done? So in this chapter chapter 12 We get a glimpse of a man who's fighting with God and this man's name is Herod a grip of the first Now he reigned from 37 to 44 ad. Let me give you a second part of the foundation So you know who we're speaking about here when it says in verse one at that time Herod the king stretched out his hand This portion of scripture occurred in 44 ad How do we know that because it's dated by the death of Herod? Herod a grip of the first was the grandson of one in Scripture known as Herod We also know him as Herod the great. It is Herod the great who is known for his work He was a builder. He was known for his work on the temple He was also the one responsible for killing the children when Jesus was born Herod a grip his father's name was Aristobulus who was a son of Herod the great Aristobulus was murdered by his own father and Herod a grippa was sent to Rome to live So in AD 37 Rome gave a grippa rule over northern Israel into Samaria Judea, which is to the south as well as across the river Jordan His father was an Edomite, which is a Jordanian today His mother's name was Maryam and she was Maccabean, which is Jewish So when he arrived at Jerusalem He acted as he was an observant Jew and so being seen as devout made him acceptable To the Jewish people and so this is a person. We're looking at right now He's a person that is in rebellion against God and we're gonna see what takes place here as we enter our study So it says in verse one chapter 12 About that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church He killed James the brother of John of the sword and because he saw that it pleased the Jews He proceeded further to seize Peter also and it was during the days of unleavened bread So at that time the believers in the church were going through great changes now. We've been seeing this as we've gone through acts There's already been long-standing opposition by Jewish religious leaders Persecution had erupted and when persecution had erupted many of them had begun to travel and spread and preach the gospel in different areas And as that took place Samaritans had come to faith in Jesus and when the Samaritans began to come to faith in Christ It could have caused some unrest Amongst the Jewish people because Jews as we know had no dealings with Samaritans now on top of that Gentiles had been brought into fellowship as believers and That caused believers in Jerusalem to question what was going on and they wanted to speak to the apostle Peter about that And we saw that we saw how Peter came and shared with them would have taken place So after speaking with Peter about it the majority had accepted it and even went so far as to glorify God So in spite of opposition and outright persecution the church as we see it up to this point continues to grow Now in Antioch Syria, which was 300 miles to the north from Jerusalem many had come to faith in Jesus We saw last time in chapter 11 verse 21 how it says a great number believed and turned to the Lord You know acts 1124 it says that through Barnabas many people were added to the Lord and then in verse 26 of chapter 11 For a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people So many people are coming to faith in Christ as this is taking place So there's no doubt that Herod had heard that Gentiles were joining the church and that was causing unrest He could also please the Sadducees now the Sadducees were opponents of the body of Christ It was the Sadducees who tried to keep the believers from preaching the gospel They even went so far as commanding us commanding them as believers not to preach But they kept doing so remember that they jailed the apostles for preaching and an angel had broken them out When they once again took them into custody They said to them in Acts 5 38 we gave you strict orders not to teach in this name Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood So there was a lot of opposition The people were getting upset over the fact that some maritans were being ministered to the people who are Hearing in the church that Gentiles were coming to faith were having difficulty. There's a lot of unrest that's taking place And so while this is happening happening Herod a grippa is working hard to maintain good relationship with the Jewish people So one way to receive favor was the persecution Christians, especially the leaders So he harassed the church. He killed James the brother of John Now Jesus had made it clear that martyrdom was something his people had to prepare for In Matthew chapter 10 verses 16 through 18 Jesus said behold i'm sending you out like sheep among wolves Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and be as innocent as doves But beware of men for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues on my account You will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them And to the Gentiles in John 16 verse 2 they will put you out of the synagogue. In fact The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they're offering a service to God So what he does is he stretches out his hand and he's harassing some from the church Now he would have been doing that at first through his soldiers Perhaps some servants they began to abuse believers. They were striking them Sometimes they may have even broken up worship services They came in and disturbed them and they were making it very difficult for believers to live in peace And so that was taking place then that kind of thing takes place now It's nothing new I recently read that governments and major corporations often shut down the speech of christians In support of secularization Along with the Along with upholding the views of the lgbtq plus community and other minorities that disagree With the christian worldview. So we know that takes place now. We know that under covet and all of that There are restrictions and regulations. We have seen the that attempt to shut down the voice of the church That's nothing new But what is he doing? Well, it says in verse 2 he killed james The brother of john with the sword. So it got worse than simply the harassing now it's killing And he killed james He beheaded him. That's what it means that he he killed james with the sword. He beheaded him Now that gives us some insight by the way It reveals that it was under roman law that he was put to death For what would have been called a civil infraction If if it would have been a jewish method of of capital punishment, it would have been for blasphemy or heresy It would have been that he had been stoned to death. So this tells us that it was a civil infraction And so it says he killed james the brother of john with the sword now again, who's james? Now james was the brother of the apostle john. He was also jesus's cousin James was one of jesus's closest apostles along with theater john and andrew He was with jesus when jesus raised jeres's daughter from the dead as you see in mark 5 He also was with jesus on the mount of transfiguration where jesus was Transformed before him transfigured before them and they saw his glory as it's recorded in matthew 17 He was one of the three who went further into the garden with jesus and the night that jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane He also stands out for a nickname that jesus gave to him. He and his brother. He called them sons of thunder Now that's interesting. I've read different reasons why he may have been called son of thunder There are those who say well, he was called a son of thunder because prophets were known to speak in a way that was Thundering well, that may be so but he also probably had a temper And so this is a man. How do I know that? Well, I'll tell you why On one occasion jesus was going through a samaritan village He was going to go through it and he said james and john you remember the story to prepare but the people rejected Well in luke 954 when the disciples james and john saw this they asked lord Do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? that's a kind person now There have been times when somebody cuts me off in traffic Could you send fire from heaven and destroy them? You know not what spirit you're of but it shows you something of the temperament of these people Now one of the things that stands out about him is this his ambition Remember he and his brother had sought prominence in jesus's coming kingdom Lord what happened is the mother came and spoke to jesus and said i have something to ask you Would you grant that my sons may sit one on the right hand one on the left when you entered your kingdom you remember that And so jesus responded to that request. It's recorded in mac mark chapter 10 verses 38 and 39 by saying you do not know what you're asking Can you drink the cup? I will drink or be baptized with the baptism. I will undergo We can the brothers answered You will drink the cup that I drink jesus said you will be baptized with the baptism that I undergo So what happened? Well the fulfillment of this prophecy was james being the first apostle who was martyred In the case of john he was the last survivor Now it's interesting an apostle is martyred and nothing's really said about it More attention was given to steven's death than the death of james little said of his death But the one that matters took note of it and saw him 116 verse 15 precious in the side of the lord Is the death of his saints? And so he reaches out he begins by harassing some from the church He sees that nobody's responding So he kills james And then in verse 3 because he saw that it pleased the jew speaking of the jewish authorities and perhaps some of the population He proceeded further to seize peter also Now it was during the days of unleavened bread and so it begins to escalate it begins with harassment Then it begins with him beheading and now he reaches out for the other Apostle the apostle peter in order that he might be able to proceed further He's becoming bold in his persecution now He's arresting peter because it pleases jewish opponents. He he wasn't necessarily an activist against the church What he was is a politician He's wanting favor from the people as well as religious rulers Now i want to develop that thought for just a moment We wouldn't expect anything of him other than what he did scripture refers to us as temporary residents on planet earth This is something i want to talk about for a minute scripture refers to us as temporary residents on earth We ought not to be surprised when we're rejected. We ought not to be surprised when even government entities are in Our opponents of our faith. We shouldn't be surprised by that The apostle peter in chapter 2 verse 11 of first peter said this He said beloved i beg you as sojourners and pilgrims abstained from fleshly lusts which war against the soul Now peter was writing concerning the hostile attitude of unbelievers towards christians As he was writing this christians were being persecuted And so he's saying even though you are being persecuted Be careful with the way you act Guard your conduct They were being rejected. They were being slandered Remember last week. I was speaking to you. They were actually being Persecuted for being christians They suffered as christians and i mentioned to you that the word christian Beings the one who has owned by or possessed by christ And i was sharing with you that that was a slam It was a slur to be called a christian was to be called a slave And during that day when the lowest things you in their economy and society could be was a slave So in antioch they first called them christians not because they were identifying them because normally they were members of the way Or they were believers or or whatever there were different ways to speak of us But there they're using a nickname there. They're slandering them there They were persecuting and that's why the apostle peter said if you suffer as a christian Because it was something that was taking place at that time The government was against christians during the writing of first peter and nero was a fanatic antichrist And so during that day they were going after them to destroy him So he's saying believers are to remain strong by remembering who they are He said we are sojourners the word sojourner speaks of a temporary resident and a sojourner Is one without the rights of citizenship We are also called pilgrims the word pilgrim speaks of the person who is wandering the person who is traveling He doesn't have a home He's not at home in the country that he's in so peter was saying and this is important to think of right now Peter is saying christians have no permanent home on earth Our citizenship Is not here We are merely passing through We need to remember that because some of us seem to think that this is our permanent home We're passing through when I first got saved There were artists who liked to draw different things Kind of imprint us with ideas and one of them was a guy who'd taken a walk and you see his Foot walking out and he would it just it said just passing through We needed to remember that why because it's easy for us to get enslaved to the materialism and the culture of the age It's easy for us as believers to begin to become so Lukewarm in our faith that would just basically adapt to the things that are being done around us And so if those people are doing it and they go to church and they're still going to heaven. Why can't I do that? And so at one time when you got saved and you said i'm not going to smoke dope anymore. I'm not going to get drunk anymore I'm not going to go party anymore. I'm not going to sleep around anymore. I'm not going to be losing my temper anymore I'm not going to be fighting with anybody anymore. I'm going to change my life. My life's going to be different people will know that Well, we used to be told crisis coming at any time So we were being prepared and we were awaiting him But he didn't come in a week. He didn't come in a month. He didn't come in a year We stopped going to churches often as we did. We stopped going to bible studies. We stopped serving We stopped doing those things before you know it. We've been infiltrated by the culture of the world And we become like the world and so we need to remember that there is mortal combat taking place We need to remember that the enemy is after us He's a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour And we need to be aware that we are citizens of heaven and not citizens of earth We're just passing through in Philippians 3 20. It says our citizenship is in heaven And we eagerly await a savior from there the Lord Jesus Christ That simply means we should not regard earth as our home. We have to be careful to travel light And not overpack So here's an illustration my wife's not here. Let me tell it to you Actually see she's here We're going to go for three days somewhere I can take a backpack And then Two big 60 pound luggage because we're going after all for three days And you've got to have all of this stuff in case, you know, so Marie had to learn to pack light You know guys a lot of guys. I know not every guy but a lot of guys we can just put we're only going to go for three days We can put just the bare necessities. We do that. We travel light If you're going somewhere, especially if it's going to take some effort on your partner calls for some sacrifice Say that you're going to go up into hills. You're going to do a hiking trip to a particular place You're not going to carry a large You know rolling luggage up the hill. You're going to put it on your back if you can you're going to travel light But a lot of Christians don't A lot of Christians are carrying a lot of baggage They're carrying things with them. Well, I need this and I got to have that and I want this And what happens is we overpack And so if we're aware of the fact that we're passing through That means we're going to travel light That means we're going to be aware of the things that are around us And we're going to seek something more than the right here and right now We're going to be seeking first the kingdom of god now the fact is The loss for power Often drives politicians What at one time Might have been a noble desire to care for for people Can be can be transformed into a lifestyle Where you don't even remember the people Where you're not even aware of their needs And again, you know without trying to offend anybody. It's just the truth There are a lot of people who For example with the gasoline prices and things just just for general things are going on right now they uh Many of our politicians don't even drive themselves anywhere And the gasoline that's being put in the vehicles that drive them you're paying for i'm paying for it through our taxes So they're not pulling out their their card and paying for gas and at the end of the month having to pay that bill Up they don't have to do that And when they go out to eat, they're not thinking what can I afford today? I've got four kids and and my family and and my goodness when we look at the cost because marie and I will go every week To to grocery shop and all of that and you'll look at milk and it's going up and up and up Even milk itself or bread and you look at it and you say when they say it's going to cost you $110 to make a bologna sandwich you think my goodness That's a lot. You know what i'm talking about. It's true I mean you go and you put gas in the car and you just watch that thing just spinning and you're saying You know just three years ago. It was two seventy nine a gallon And now it's six something a gallon And and we know these things but but those who are quote-unquote representing us as servants to the people they don't They don't have an idea So they get in a big plane they fly wherever they want and they do what they say and they say Oh, i'm a person of of the people and all of that, but you have never even actually paid your own bill for your own meal You don't have a clue what's going on Politicians and i'm set to say there are godly politicians I'd like to meet one but there are i believe that there are who really do care But they're few and far between Because the lust for power Is that immense? And the inability to communicate and understand what somebody else goes through Is that they become almost invulnerable to those things and that's just a fact and we know that And so the lust for power often is the driving force Behind their decisions and first john 519 we know that we are of god The whole world lies in the power of the evil one So as believers we're careful to seek first the kingdom of god We do exercise our god given rights But we remain aware that we're rejected by the world In john 1633 these things i've spoken to you jesus said that in me You may have peace in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world And so that's where our hope is Because there is an array of enemies spiritually Opponents of the gospel and it's been for for centuries Now by now the apostle peter who's being arrested again verse 4 when he had arrested him By now he's becoming familiar with jail I used to call him a jailbird Because this this is his third arrest in the book of acts. He was arrested in chapter 4 as well as chapter 5 So herod had arrested james and now he arrests the apostle peter To gain greater favor He arrested peter during the days of unleavened bread the scripture says now that's a week-long feast Immediately following Passover So there would be crowds that were gathered and the larger the crowd the better his image to the jewish people So verse 4 says when he had arrested him he put him in prison Delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him intending to bring him before the people after Passover So four squads each squad was composed of four soldiers So there were 16 guarding him And he was placed in prison to await his execution after Passover or what is commonly called today easter They normally would not execute anyone during a religious festival and so peters in jail notice verse 5 Peter was therefore kept in prison But constant prayer was offered to god for him by the church constant when it says constant prayer the word constant speaks of persistent and fervent prayer Peter was in prison, but constant prayer was offered So in instead of protesting the unfair treatment they took this to god The church knew only god had the power to set him free And with great agony they petitioned the lord for his safe rescue Now james 5 16 says the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much Now we've seen that prayer is one of the building blocks of the early church. They were devoted devoted to the word They were devoted to Fellowship to communion and to prayer that was the mark of the church in acts 242 And so the people had seen god answer prayer And so fervent prayer is being offered up on behalf of him now in chapter 4 We saw how the church reacted when opposition first began Remember how the Sadducees were upset that peter was preaching the resurrection So they arrested peter and john and forbade them from preaching But after release they went back to the companions and they reported all that had happened And when they began to report it prompted the people to pray In acts 4 25 and 26 they said why did the nation's rage and the people plot vain things The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the lord and against his christ And so they're quoting scripture. Why are the people raging? But they went on in acts 4 29 and 30 to ask god to look upon the threats They asked him to grant to your servants that with all boldness They may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal And that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant jesus Once again the church begins to pray fervently And they're praying on behalf of the apostle They're meeting in the house of mary the mother of mark And as this is taking place verse 6 says when herod was about to bring him out that night peter was sleeping Bound with two chains between two soldiers And the guards before the door Were keeping the prison He was bound with two chains But notice with me. He's asleep. He's sleeping between two soldiers There are also two guards that are posted at the door Now obviously herod was taking no chances that any sympathizers might break in and set him free But i want to develop something with you and this is pretty much the heart of what i wanted to say I want you to notice that peter was calm enough to sleep That reminds me Of how jesus was asleep during a storm on the lake In mark 4 he tells us how jesus was in a boat and a storm arose And the storm was bad enough to almost swamp the boat During the excitement Jesus was in the back of the boat and he was asleep The fact that he was asleep bothered his men And they woke him up and they said don't you care that we're perishing And in mark 4 39 and 40 Mark tells us he got up. He rebuked the wind. He said to the waves quiet be still Then the wind died down. It was completely calm and he said to his disciples Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? Why are you so afraid? We're sitting here soaked to the bone The waves were crashing over the the ship. We thought we were going down I mean the water is still dripping off of us even though the storm has gone the storm in our heart isn't Why are you saying to us why we were afraid? We were afraid because We were going to die I was sharing just the other day With the church i said And many of you already know the answer, but i said What is in the bible? What is the opposite? Of love Now in our culture if i said what is the opposite of love? What is it? It's hate people say it's hate What is the opposite of love? I'll say immediately i'll say the opposite of love is hate and the bible doesn't teach that What is the opposite of love? The opposite of love is fear Why because fear has torment and he fears has not been made perfect in love What is the opposite of love fear and what does satan use in our lives the most fear? He he controls us because when we have fear and we take our eyes off of god The only thing i can see is the storm The only thing i can see are the waves the only thing i can hear is the sound of the wind The only thing i know is i'm about to die because i've taken my eyes off the lord And i think he's sleeping and i begin to say within my heart. Are you are you asleep? Uh, aren't you why don't you care that i'm going through this? How come you aren't aware? How come you're not awake? How come you're not doing something? and so Peter had to learn a lesson like that Because jesus stood up and he told the storm to be quiet and be still Like you would a naughty child who was running around the house be quiet and be still And jesus did that to the waves he controlled it And and peter was there peter saw it peter was part of that And he saw how the lord silenced the storm he was able to silence the storm before he silenced their storm They had a storm he had a silence and that's why he said to them. Why are you afraid? Why you have no faith? Why did you doubt? I had said we're going to go to the other side. I can rest while we do But you in the middle of the road you want to say he's not here You want to say he's not helping why because he didn't do it on my timetable because he didn't do it The way i said he he should because he's not moving to the way i think he should And that's where a lot of people fail in the walks is that they think god should do it the way he The way they want him to do it and so we say how come you didn't deliver me? I can tell you that the lord will work in his time It's always his time There are things That you've gone through That you wish you had never gone through now But i promise you in the future if you hold fast to the lord In the future you're gonna say i learned so much from those times That's where i learned I i said i could walk through the valley of the shadow of death Because i could quote the psalm But when i began to walk in that valley is when i discovered your rod and your staff they do comfort me I i that's when i realized you were going to take me by the rivers of still water That's what i knew you were going to take care of me That's where i knew that that that you were going to bless me and see a lot of times We're in the middle of the storm a lot of times when we're when we're being shackled Like peter is between two guards with two standing at the door saying you're not going to get out Instead of sleeping we're weeping instead of trusting we're fearing and and that's not true with him He simply slept why because he remembered what jesus said He trusted his word now remember he had gotten the message to trust god like it says in i i say at 263 where it says you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on you because he trusts in you You will keep him in complete peace whose mind is resting in you because he's confident in you The psalmist said in psalm three verse five i lie down in sleep i awake again for the lord sustains me And that's what you learn i can sleep in the midst of a storm i can sleep when i'm in a situation That i don't want to be in not because i am apathetic But because i know i can't do anything but i trust the one who can And that's how it works He trusted in god's promise What promise well jesus had made it clear He's going to grow to be an older man. How do we know that? How do you know that? john 21 verse 18 Jesus speaking to the apostle said this Most assuredly i say unto you When you were younger you girded yourself and walked where you wished But when you are old You will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish When you are old peter wasn't old So peter knew god is going to break him out God is a god who does jail breaks And is going to break him out And by the way through this experience He was later able to encourage believers He said in first peter five seven Casting all your care upon him why? Before he cares for you For he cares for you in a time When he wrote this when nero was wreaking havoc on the church When persecution was intense When people were suffering for being christians Peter was able to say cast your cares on you Why he cares for you? You see peter had been in jail before but he got an early release In acts 519 an angel of the lord opened the prison doors and brought him out And he knows god is able to set me free again When you feel like you're in a prison and sometimes emotionally we do I may be speaking to somebody right now who is in a prison literally When you're thinking you're in a prison God is able to take you out God is able to set you free And even if you remained in that prison he still sets you free Because it's not the walls that keep you in It's yourself And when you're free in christ you're free indeed So no matter where you are you're always free You need to remember that Peter knew He wasn't to die Jesus said you'll go to be an old man So he could trust his word Isn't that something we all have to do Is trust his word