 I'll begin by reading at verse one where we read verses one and two and get into a prolonged introduction, but we will We will look at chapter 12 today Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some of the of the church. He killed James the brother of John With the sword now as we begin let me give you an introduction here When you read history history is filled with stories of those who have thought That they could resist God the fact is rebellion against God actually began with Satan now the word Satan Actually literally is translated adversary and Satan is an adversary an opponent of God and In scripture when you look at this one who we refer to Satan There are actually different names for him that are Associated with him throughout the scripture. He's not saying words as as Satan He is called a badden, which literally means Destruction or destroyer. He's referred to as Apollyon, which is destroyer He is called Beelzebub, which is Prince of flies or Lord of flies. He's called Belial Which means worthless. He's called the devil, which is slanderer He's referred to as the God of this world He is a serpent the wicked one and he's also referred to as the tempter Those are just some of the ways that we see him identified in scripture, but he's also called Lucifer When you look in Isaiah in chapter 14 verses 12 through 15 We read how you have fallen from heaven. Oh Lucifer the word Lucifer there means morning star That's what it's translated how you have fallen from heaven. Oh morning star. 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 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 This has been referred to in theological studies as the five. I wills of Lucifer This usurpation this attempt to take from God would belong to him And to take it for himself So again, he's referred to as Lucifer or morning star. We need to know that morning star is actually A title of Jesus Christ in Revelation 22 verse 16 It says I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star And so Lucifer usurps attempts to usurp the authority that Jesus himself owns And the bible teaches us that he rebelled. He was cast from heaven And he also incited other angels to rebel It would appear that he he took some one third of the angelic hosts with him because in revelation 12 verse 4 It says his tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth Which would be a picture of the rebellion So when he came to earth the instigated rebellion he did so in the Garden of Eden We read our bibles. We know that he tempted Eve to take of the fruit We also know that adam partook of it with her And adam fell and he now has given to us the humankind his fallen nature And so fallen man has rebelled against god ever since Paul's speaking about this in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3 speaking of our fallen nature Said 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 we have a sinful nature We are sinners by nature we sin First as because we have a sinful nature. We don't become sinners When we sin we sin because we are already Sinful in our hearts our nature is already in opposition Rebellion is something we see from the beginning You see often those who fight against god Are held up as heroes to be emulated We see that today We see that In all what would be called the arts We see that in in our heroes that are In movies or heroes that are in music Heroes that are writers That isn't something new it is part of of humanity humanity has always admired the rebels Some of you have heard the name of frederick nichy frederick nichy was an existentialist And very well known in fred frederick nichy died a lunatic He died infected with syphilis And yet he's held up by many people especially progressives as an emblem to be emulated Now there's an infidel by the name of voltair And some of you had to read some of his stuff when you took philosophy or whatever In college voltair boasted that with his pen he would destroy what it took 12 apostles to establish He died in incredible pain And the nurse who who attended his death stated that she would not for all the money in france Attend the death of another infidel Years ago there was a writer by the name of sinclair lewis He he wrote a book called elmer gantry, which was intended to to Take the church to task and portray the church as being filled with charlatans and thieves Sinclair lewis and he mocked christianity but died a drunk in a clinic in rome It's uh, it's unwise It's unwise and it's always unwise to fight against god The bible tells us in proverbs 21 verse 30 There is no wisdom no no insight no plan That can succeed against the lord In daniel 4 35 it reads all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing He does he does according to his 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? Nobody can question god nobody can hold them back And yet we attempt to do so So what we have here is we have a man fighting against god a man who is identified to us in verse one of chapter 12 as herit Now let me give you a biographical sketch. It'll take a moment to do that So you get an idea of who this man is this is this man is is actually herit a grip of the first That's who he is that's his title and he reigned From around 37 to 44 ad Now he was the grandson of someone in scripture referred to as herit known as herit the great um What happened was His father had um been murdered And herit a grip of the first was sent to rome to live While he was in rome He grew close to emperor tiberius's grand nephew And he had become he became emperor in 37 So he gave a grip of rule over northern israel samaria jadea as well as parea, which is modern jordan His father was an edomite, which is a jordanian, but his his mother was jewish. She was maccabean So that made him popular with jews because he was partly jewish And so this is the man that we're looking at here in chapter chapter 12 So as we look at it, it simply says in verse one about that time the king stretched out his hand to harass them from the church And he killed james the brother of john with the sword And so this is a man who's who who slaughtered who murdered James He was working hard to maintain good relationships with the jews And one of the ways that he felt that he could receive favor from them was to persecute christians Especially the leaders of the christian church. And so that's what he's doing He harassed the church and he killed james notice within he james the brother of john Now when it says he killed verse two he killed james the brother of john with the sword that gives us some insight Uh, it may be something you might not notice, but it says he killed him with the sword That means that it was under roman law that he was killed for a civil infraction Because if he had been put to death by the jews for a religious problem, then he would have been stoned to death Now I want you to see something here. I'm going to take a moment to point this out, but I find it interesting James the brother of john is one of the twelve apostles But I want you to notice with me He gets one verse One verse And it simply says he killed james the brother of john with the sword one of the one of the apostles When you looked in in in the life of steve and the first martyr there was an entire chapter devoted basically to him But an apostle receives a couple lines in the bible It's interesting to me how that took place, but it did It would seem here that what matters most to the lord Is that uh, he takes notice of it and points it out, but I want to remind you of something There was a story that we find in scripture where James and john the two Two brothers had approached jesus with their mom You remember the story it's found in matthew 20 and uh, their mama was jesus's aunt And so she approached him and i'm paraphrasing, but she approached jesus and she said i'd like you to do something for me Kind of using that Aunt relationship And well, what is it that you want? Well, would you would you grant that my sons might sit one on your right hand? And the other left in your kingdom And jesus said anti shut up. No, he didn't say that Would you grant this And and what she was wanting was for her boys to have prominence in the kingdom of god and she was Using her family ties to try and produce that on behalf of her boys And so jesus began to speak and again you remember the story and he began to speak with them You don't know you don't know what you're asking for Are you able to drink of the cup that i will be drinking of are you able in other words to suffer In the way that i'm going to suffer and and they answered in and said yeah, how we are and uh so very often so very often in the christian life We think ourselves stronger than we actually are And we think our faith to be more developed than it really is And we don't understand the depth of cost That may be exacted If we actually receive that which we want to have in terms of prominence in the kingdom of god Because you can't wear a crown without a cross It doesn't happen that way And the one who is used much of the lord very often Suffers much as a matter of fact Very often when the lord intends to use somebody in a deep way It has been said he wounds that person deeply And faithful are the wounds of the lord because what it does is it removes from you Self it removes from you The temptation To glorify yourself through what you've achieved It reduces you to dependence on god And ultimately when whatever it is that is done is finished god gets all the glory Paul makes that very clear when he speaks to the To the Corinthians and first Corinthians And he speaks concerning the fact that there aren't many noble and rich Etc kinds of people that god has called but they are he says that they off scouring They're the people who who are really the least and not the greatest And these are the ones that the lord uses and and then he says the reason why is so no flesh will glory in his sight See the lord has a way of removing from us the things we trust most in In order to teach us to trust most in him Some people never learn that lesson Some don't Because they don't want to go there Because they want to buy into this idea that they can have that that crown without a cross But you don't find that in scripture And so you have james and you have john and you have their mama and they approach jesus I want on on the right hand. I want one on the left hand. Would you grant that? For me to grant that isn't in my in my my purview. It's something my father does But you guys are asking for something you don't understand. Are you able to drink? Are you able to suffer in the way that that it's required? Oh, yes, we are and then jesus made it very clear He said in mark chapter 10 verse 39. He said you will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism. I am baptized with You will go through a road of suffering And so what we have here is we have a fulfillment of that promise that god had made that jesus had made To james where it says in verse 2 that herod killed james the brother of john with the sword He was beheaded is how he died now verse 3 because he saw that it pleased the jews He proceeded further to seize peter also It was during the days of unleavened bread so It seems to me that at this time Peter is What we would call a jailbird. I mean he's he's been put away more than once When you look in chapter 4 verse 3 as well as chapter 5 verse 19 He's already been in jail two times. So this is his third arrest What is happening is in order to gain favor. He arrests peter and he does it during the days of Unleavened bread the days of unleavened bread represent a week-long Festival that's followed by the Passover and when this is taking place. There are great crowds that are gathered together And so from the way he's thinking the the greater the amount of people The better his image will be and to the jews. So he's doing something in order to get their favor And so what happens is he He he sees as peter. It's during the days of unleavened bread in verse 4 So 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 peter was therefore kept in prison But constant prayer was offered to god for him by the church And 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 or guarding the prison And so it speaks here about four squads When you look at these squads each squad had four soldiers per squad so speaking about 16 soldiers That are guarding him notice in verse 6 that he was bound with two chains So there were chains on his wrist and he was sleeping between two soldiers And there are also two guards posted at the door So that looks like he's pretty secure isn't isn't he so obviously They're taking no chances that any sympathizers might get to him and set him free But we have seen Already that this this isn't guarantee anything because again peter had been in jail before But he got what we would call an early release Because in acts 519 it said an angel of the lord opened the prison door and brought him out So there was a jailbreak that the lord had orchestrated before You see god has other plans Notice again in verse 5 peter was therefore kept in prison but constant prayer was offered to god for him by the church So the church knew only god had the power to release this man And with great agony the bibles telling us that they petitioned the lord for his safe rescue James tells us in chapter 5 verse 16 the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much And we've seen as we have gone through acts that prayer was was one of the building blocks of the early church From the start of the church's history We saw it in acts chapter 2 verses 42 through 47 That they remained steadfast in the apostles doctrine and in the breaking of bread and in prayers We we saw that there were elements of the early church and we followed that Practice all the way through the book of acts the early church is a praying church From the start devotion was given to prayer And the people had seen the people had seen god answer prayer And and fervent prayer was offered up constantly god is a god who answers prayer. There's no doubt about it but sometimes we We don't understand that We'll see that in a moment. I I had just gotten saved Winning the military I've shared this with you before but this is one of the foundational things that the lord was teaching me about prayer And we were driving home on leave from ford ford, ord coming south to go to To my home in norwalk we had a we're taking Coming home in a 1955 or 56 Buick And some of you are old enough to remember that Um, some of you have seen pictures of those cars They were huge Huge cars We had uh, I I know it was at least six. It could have been seven of us comfortably seated in this buick There was a ton of us and we were coming home and we're coming from home from ford ord, which is up there by monoray We've made it down about 10 miles north of santa maria Just outside of san lus abyssal And the car breaks down And we're pulled over on the side of the road. This was many years ago now 40 some years ago And The roads at that time. We're not like they are now where you have freeways going through. They were like two leaners And as we were there 10 miles out Of santa maria. There's not a lot of lights or anything out there We're there are all these guys on the side of the road and it's barren And we're thinking how are we gonna get out of here the car's broken down and so We start to walk And we're leaving two of the guys behind with the car. The rest of us are beginning to walk And I actually walk up to the side of the road. There's no cars coming, but I I'm standing there ready to try and hitchhike That's what i'm gonna do And as I do that my friend bill says to me wait a minute wait a minute We're christians God answers prayer Now me i'm three months old in jesus But yeah, that's right God answers prayer Oh great apostle bill and I God is my witness we we bow our heads and all of our friends who are with us not one of them's a christian Bill and I are the only two profess christ and bill himself wasn't even saved at that time. That's another story But we prayed Father in jesus name, you know, we want to go home Would you please help us? There's nothing out here. You've got a picture. It is like you're And you're in the middle of nowhere. There's no cars and any car that goes by you think they're gonna pull over for all these guys No Father would you please help us? We need we want to go home As god is my witness within two three minutes a Volkswagen appears on the horizon coming towards us And pulls over It's a young girl who's got to be 17 And a young boy who is probably 13 or 14 She rolls over to the side of the road and the kid rolls his window down And she speaks to bill and me a friend of my name mike and one of the guy And she says I don't know why i'm stopping But i'm a christian And god just told me to pull over and give you a right. I go, yeah And so what we do Is this will help me to remember how many guys are were because what we did is we put two of them in the back And we said she said i will take them to the bus station in santa maria And i'll come around and come back And if you guys need help i'll take you too So now we're just rejoicing god is great god is great We start walking Towards santa maria. What are you going to do now lord a Volkswagen van pulls over Volkswagen's are my friend now that i think about it A Volkswagen van pulls over And The driver says where you guys going what happened while the car broke down. Yeah, I saw it's right there. Yeah car broke down Where you guys going? Well, we're in santa maria 10 miles outside of santa maria We're going to norwalk But we have a friend named mike fene and mike is going to huntington beach The guy says i'm on my way to huntington And me and my friend will we'll drop you guys off in norwalk and we'll take your buddy home to huntington beach And so bill and i climb in the back of this Volkswagen luxury van And mike is in the front mike spends time talking to the driver the guy in the back is a christian And we talk a little bit about the lord. We fall asleep Hour and a half to ours. However long it took us to get to norwalk He pulls over drops us off. We go home mike is driven all the way to To huntington the other two guys were picked up by the young lady in the Volkswagen. They eventually got their car back Who'd want to steal it? uh, it doesn't run And that's when the lord began to try to teach me That he answers prayer Do you want to hear a sad thing is you forget? You forget how many prayers Has god answered for you And the next time you pray you act as if you won't isn't that amazing, but it's true It's true And so what we see here is an interesting prayer meeting We'll look at it in some detail as we get into this But again, they're petitioning the lord saying please release the apostle There's agony involved and it is the effective fervent prayer so As this is taking place it says uh In verse seven behold an angel of the lord stood by him a light Shown in the prison And and he struck peter on the side And raised him up saying arise quickly His chains fell off his hands The angel said to him gird yourself tie in your sandals. So he did And he said to him put on your garment follow me So he went out and followed him Didn't know that what was done by the angel was real. He thought he was seeing a vision When they were past the first the second guard post They came to the iron gate that leads to the city Which opened to them of its own accord And they went out and went down one street and immediately the angel departed from him And so that's kind of interesting peter's sound asleep Now that by itself ought to say something to us because the fact that he's there He's in in in prison if you will He's he's bound to two guards. He's being watched. There's 16 men keeping an eye on him and yet he's fast asleep In isiah it says in chapter 26 verse 3 You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you Because he trusts in you The word stayed there because his mind is anchored on you And you will keep him in perfect peace So the psalmist and psalm 4 verse 8 said it like this I will both lie down in peace and sleep for you alone. Oh lord make me dwell in safety And so You know that there's hardly anything as wonderful as the sleep of a righteous person because you know That god's in control I was asked a question recently One is what is what is uh, one of the lessons the lord has taught you In your walk with god At this point And uh, my answer was very simple I'm learning at this point And I said I think kind of like this don't sweat the small stuff You know what god's in control One of the things when I was younger that I didn't know that I know now that I'm older is very very simply this You know When I find myself in a situation that I have no control over The wisest thing I can do is trust the lord because he's in full control And I've discovered over the years and I encourage you who are young especially to learn this now God's in control. He will have his way. He's always good And he always will blow your mind at his plans. He will that's a fact. I'm not I'm yeah That's worth that's worth that huge applause. That's true Why would he be able to sleep? Well, let me give you one one reason that's probably something that Well, because you can trust the lord jesus at his word, there's something that you see is one of my favorite portion of scripture It's found in john chapter 21 um jesus is speaking to the apostle peter in john 21 and He says to in verse 18 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 Hidden within that is a promise that he's going to grow old When you're old peter is not old in this portion of scripture And so in the back of his mind jesus said You're going to grow old I'm not old. I may feel old But i'm not old So in the back of your mind you could rest because no no no i still have some things to do So i might as well go to sleep when i can We'll see what the lord's going to do by the way in that in that same passage When jesus said that to to peter, you know how the apostle responded to that some of you know the story It's one of my favorite portions of scripture because i've learned a lot from it He looks and he sees john the one whom jesus loved You remember that he looks and sees him when jesus says you're gonna you're gonna die is what he's saying But you're going to be old when you die But he looks the scripture says and he sees john the one whom jesus loved and he says what about him That's one of my favorite portions of scripture. It really is because i have a tendency of doing that You know, okay fine, but but what about him? What what about him? How come he gets away with so much? How come it seems? What about him and i love jesus's response? Mark this in your heart jesus says what has he got to do with you? You follow me Listen if more christians would understand that And leave other people's lives in the hands of the lord when they don't necessarily have to be involved There'd be a whole lot more peace in the body of christ Because sometimes we are what we call sin sniffers Of course i better hasten to say It's not as if i should ignore blatant sin because i love you i don't want you To go through pain of course i'm going to share with you But it's difference in having to approach with tears somebody who's Who's who's failing because your heart is broken for them There's a difference between that and judging people because they don't live up to your standards And so we have to be aware of that and so in this particular case jesus said to him When you're old And peter's not old yet And so he's able to sleep and god will keep him in perfect peace It's interesting how when he wrote when peter wrote first peter chapter five verse seven He said this he said casting all your care upon him for he cares from you for you So experience speaks When it says in verse seven an angel of the lord stood by him What happens is he touches him Basically awakens him the chains fall off his hands and he gets up he dresses And he leaves The the angel says you need to get dressed girt yourself and so As peter is still half asleep So far as he knows he's simply dreaming or seeing a vision He passes between the first goes past the second guard post It's possible. They didn't see him. Maybe that their eyes were blinded Then he comes to the final gate that was made of heavy iron In this heavy iron gate swings open on its own And as this happens verse 11 peter had come to himself He said now I know for certain that the lord has sent his angel in has delivered me From the hand of herod and from all the expectation of the jewish people And so he says to within himself You know god is is is released me You see the expectation of the people was for him to be executed And he wakes up and to himself and says this isn't a dream I'm free And I'd better get out of here And so what does he do well verse 12 When he had considered this he came to the house of mary the mother of john whose surname was mark Where many were gathered together praying And as peter knocked at the door of the gate a girl named rhoda came to answer When she recognized peter's voice Because of her gladness she didn't open the gate but ran in and announced peter stood before the gate They said to her you're beside yourself Yet she kept insisting that it was so so they said it's his angel Shut up. We're praying for him to be released That's what's taking place Shut up. We're praying for him to be released now. Leave us alone. Now. We'll look at a couple things here Um One thing it speaks of them He came to the house of mary the mother of john whose surname is mark And so we'll look at that for just a moment This woman here mary Is a wealthy woman. She has servants She has a large house capable of holding a great number of people And that in itself is a bit unusual because uh, there are not many wealthy who were followers of jesus even to this day And the believers in jerusalem at that time were poor. They were persecuted. They were in need of help And we just saw how that aid was sent to the church in jerusalem for relief And so mary had wealth and she used her wealth to be a blessing to the body of christ We see also john who's also known as mark. So we call him john mark John mark eventually will become well known to us when you look at him He he is peter's traveling companion. He's the cousin of barnabas And he wrote the gospel of mark It may be that he actually introduces us to himself in his own gospel because when you look at mark chapter 14 Verses 51 and 52 it reads a young man wearing nothing but a linen garment was following jesus When they seized him he fled naked leaving his garment behind and there are many bible commentators Who say that he's actually referring to himself So as this is taking place peter's knocking at the door This young woman this girl named rota answers She hears his voice and recognizes that it's him. She's glad she doesn't open the gate She runs and tells the people peter's here and their response You are beside yourself So rota is a servant of mary. She hears the voice and is excited And basically she comes into the prayer meeting and she's saying your prayers are answered peter's outside the door You know the scripture god says in jeremiah 33 3 call unto me and i will answer the and show the great and mighty things Which thou know us not Call unto me i'll answer the and i'll blow your mind with my answers They apparently Forgot and this is going to be an important point that i'm going to make here I've already alluded to it They apparently forgot that god can do the impossible God answers prayer God can do the impossible yesterday Tuesday night In the in the banquet hall At six o'clock we had a wedding and i performed it And the woman who got married 60 years old I wonder if she's planning on having kids We had We have a brother in the fellowship. He was 80 years old when he got married 80 and his wife's in her 70s and we have a general a standard You know you fill in certain things for premarital counseling And so one of the questions the standard question is do you plan on having children? He's 80 and she's in her 70s and i love his answer He writes if it happens It happens His name's abram 60 years old Never been married Never been married Her husband is one day older than she is He was born august 3rd She's born august 4th He lived Two and a half miles from where she lived He lived actually by my My grandmother My grandmother's house is on pioneer boulevard in norwalk and he lived in that neighborhood We grew up in norwalk on ornday road We used to walk to my grandmother's house. It was a mile and a half from where I lived He lived as a little boy Real close, but they never met because at an early age he And his family moved out Long story made short they went two different directions for a long time Now here's my sister walking up the aisle And there's this man her husband's name is frank standing next to me And i'm looking at frank and i'm looking at my sister And I know their testimonies And my sister Was seduced into lesbianism at the age of 18 And it occurred in a church with a music minister Who groomed her from the time she was a young teen And waited till she was 18 So that she couldn't get in trouble for doing it My sister becky went into lesbianism for 24 solid years. You know the story I don't want to tell you her husband's story But it's A movie could be made Easily about this man. I'll say one thing he spent 16 years in prison Shot three times stabbed twice and he got saved and he was Dropping cards off at houses In the neighborhood my sister lived in lives in and She began to talk to him And as they're talking He asks her what what are you all about? And she says i'm all about jesus She says i love jesus and i serve him with all my heart And he looks at her and he says Oh, that's great. Where do you go to church? I'm looking for a church So she says i go to calvary chapel in uh, was lunas And he goes there that night To go to church. She sees him. They say hi He goes around sunday. She sees him. They say hi again Before you know it. They're having coffee before you know it He says to her Look into these eyes And she looks into his eyes and he says do you know what you see? And she says what? The face of your future husband a romantic jerk So i performed their wedding yesterday Yes And a lady one of my sister's dearest friends dearest friends Walks up to me and says this Did you ever Think this was going to happen? And i immediately i answered i said no And i said no wait a minute. I guess i can say Yes But i didn't know how this would be answered because I have been and my wife and i have been praying for beggy for a long time That god Would just provide for her Just do what you would you want to do and i have said this to the lord I say this openly to you. It's it's it's kind of a private thing, but i'll share with you I'd say my my baby sister's lonely jesus She's lonely Which should do something for her? Would you And he did and the thing is My god is able My god is able i have seen i have seen What he does, but i never presume on him either I'm not telling him his business. He runs the universe. I'm his servant I'm his son So lord And this is my friend just telling you She's your baby She's lonely Do something for her would you would you And he did and i have to be honest with you When she told me david I got something to tell you and i said and what would that be She says i went on a date I thought Can such a thing be so The lord I my heart i think is like these people in the prayer meeting Praying and praying and praying and when the prayer is answered You're out of your mind Because that's what they're saying other way that's a little translation you are beside yourself Is another way of saying you're out of your mind This is not so it's again Asking and asking and asking And i'm certain they're saying lord protect him lord bring him out safely and she's saying he he did He's at the door Would you shut up or we're busy praying and we don't want you to interrupt us. So they say you're mad You're not in your right mind And yet She kept insisting verse 15 that it was so and so what is the response? Well, they get spiritual. Well, it's it's it's his angel And so she actually has to argue with them And so they think well, you know god has assigned a guardian angel and that's what it is But as all of this has taken place verse 16 peter continued knocking They opened the door and saw him they were astonished But motioning to them with his hand keep silent He declared to them how the lord had brought him out of the prison And he said go tell these things to james and to the brethren And he departed and went to another place and as soon as it was day There was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become peter When heron had searched for him and not found him He examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death And he went down from jadea to cesarea and stayed there and so He's trying to keep things quiet He doesn't want to alert the neighbors So when the people begin to make noise, he says you need to be quiet And he explains what happened. He tells them reported to james and the other brethren Now obviously this james is the lord's brother who has become the overseer of the church in the city of jerusalem And so it says in verse 17 after this he speaking of peter departed and he went to another place Because he wanted to keep them safe because he is now going to be a hunted man Now there's no small stir among the soldiers and what happens is is hered is is paranoid And he feels a conspiracy exists and so what does he do? He executes the guards And he shows you just how bloodthirsty that man is He went down according to verse 19 from jadea to cesarea stayed there now Hered had been very angry with the people of tyrant siden But they came to him with one accord and having made blast us the kings personally their friend They asked for peace because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. So On a sat day hered a raiding a royal apparel sat on his throne and gave an oration to them and the people kept shouting The voice of a god and not a man Then immediately an angel of the lord struck him because he did not give glory to god He was eaten by worms and died But the word of god grew and multiplied And that interesting how that's phrased he's dead, but good news Barnabas and saw return from jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry They also took with them john whose surname was mark. So we'll close with a few comments here Now when he stood up and he gave his oration his speech And the people began to shout the voice of a god and not a man This was taken place in a place called cesarean, which is to the north Of jerusalem the north and the west we go there every time we go to israel. There is an amphitheater there And um, there's a jewish historian by the name of josephus And josephus records that hered was wearing a robe made of silver thread And when he entered the amphitheater early in the morning the sun shone on it and it was brilliant The people cried out that he was not a man but a god Josephus states that hered did neither rebuke them nor reject their impious flattery And so in verse 23 it says an angel of the lord struck him why he did not give glory to god And he was eaten by worms one commentator said this could have been What is called the dog tape worm sheep And cattle serve as hosts for this parasite The dog eats infected meat and man gets the eggs from the dog The disease includes the formation of cysts Generally on the liver that may extend into the abdominal cavity The rupture of a cyst may release as many as two million developing worms Called scolises which can cause sudden death So josephus records that he lingered for five days and died a painful death Remember that when peter had come to the home of cornelius and cornelius had shown him such Such honor and peter rejected it Well hered received it and as a result of that he was judged and he died Now in spite of the opposition of man The word of god continues to grow and multiplies keep that in mind and i'll close with two thoughts Just because people Will put it this way just because you may read something or hear something is said on tv Doesn't mean that everybody agrees with that commentator Just because something is written in a newspaper doesn't mean that they are Factually giving to you insight into the condition of all people's hearts. That's just not true But what it does is it discourages you from actually opening up because you're saying things like Well, nobody's really interested in jesus anymore. They're not interested in the bible That is absolutely not true That is not true People are interested in the bible they may not have the same preconceived notions. I had as a kid if you said bible I'd say inspired by god They may not still have those understanding or that kind of belief they might say well, i'm not quite sure about it But when you teach them and you show them and you and you explain it You will be surprised at how many people are very interested you will be surprised And a lot of times what happens is the world is brainwashing the church into silence Oh, they don't care. They're not interested Listen two things Pray Pray for god to speak Pray for god to speak to your friends Pray for god to speak to your family Pray for god to speak to your neighborhood Pray for god to speak on your work site pray that god will use you somehow To reach people for jesus Get devoted to prayer and to trust the lord to do what god has promised Because in spite of the opposition god has a way of dealing with those who oppose because remember herod was killing The leadership of the church and god just disposes of him God has a way of removing opposition to open doors for the word to go for it Don't forget that See i didn't i i i when i got saved to this day I i didn't i didn't think that people weren't interested I i knew they must be The bible's god's word God has a plan god can do things i knew that so I innocently maybe even naively along with a multitude of others began to just share those things And the churches some of the churches that you know that are calvary chapel Are pastured by guys just like that Just like that we god saved We believe god's word And god did some marvelous things And you know what i believe until jesus comes that god will continue to do marvelous things He continues to save people he continues to set him free he continues to transform He does that because god is that is able and i trust him to do that And so even though there's opposition It doesn't mean that you can keep god from moving your arms are too short to box with god remember that It's true and then finally Barnabas and sol returned from jesus them when they had fulfilled their ministry And they also took with them john whose surname was mark So john mark A company's barnabas and sol He's helping them in ministry and we're going to be seeing him again in In a short while and you're going to see one of them one of the one of the things about him that Paul has a problem with them. We'll just put it that way And i want to show you a couple things when we get there About the problem that paul had and the attitude that barnabas had but right now We're introduced to john mark as a traveling companion. We'll leave it there, but we'll see him again shortly