The Lord who leads us out

[Acts 12:1-19]

We have hope as long as we are alive. We can only live when there is hope. Without hope, we cannot live. Especially as believers, we cannot live without the hope of salvation.

Our God is the God of salvation. He is the One who delivers us. Look at Jonah 2:9 – “Salvation is from the Lord.” No matter how deep we may go down into the swamp of life, as long as there is no hope, we are people of hope. Biblically, this is expressed as 'against all hope, he hoped,' as with Abraham (Rom. 4:18).

What are you hoping for? What are you placing your hope in? Even if we face unexpected events and difficulties in our lives this year, let's remember that our God is the God of salvation.

I want to meditate on the passage in Acts 12:1-19 today, under the title 'The Lord Who Leads Us Out,' reflecting on how the Lord led Peter, who was imprisoned, out of prison. I hope and pray that we may also experience the work of the Lord's salvation in our lives.

First, look at Peter in prison.

look at Acts 12:4 – “'When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after Passover to bring him out before the people.” The background of this passage is that King Herod Agrippa I, who reigned over Judea and Samaria, ruled during the years AD 41 to 44. He persecuted the church. He had reached out to harm the church and had James, the brother of John, put to death with a sword (vv. 1-2). When Herod saw that this made the unbelieving Jews pleased, he arrested Peter and placed him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him (vv. 3-4). The intention was to keep him firmly guarded, with one squad guarding at a time (Park). Why did Herod the king guard Peter so rigorously? The reason was that King Herod knew about Peter being imprisoned and later miraculously released by God's power during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas (5:19) (Park). One interesting fact is that the author of the Book of Acts, Luke, referred to the time when Herod imprisoned Peter as 'the Feast of Unleavened Bread' (Park). This choice of words was intended to avoid the criticism of the people, who accused Herod of polluting the feast when he executed James. He wanted to avoid the people's reproach for having done something wrong during the feast (Park).

Like Herod, there is work of Satan imprisoning us. This imprisonment is the prison of the heart. When we ask how Satan confines us in our hearts, it is by making us 'unable to love,' 'unable to forgive,' 'trapped in guilt,' and so on, preventing us from experiencing freedom in truth. In the book 'The Path to Experiencing Freedom of Thought,' it is written: 'Many people today live in prisons of the mind. Prisons of fear, worry, anger, inferiority, despondency. … They are trapped there, unable to see the light, living in misery and powerlessness. But we must remember, this prison is not a real prison, but a fantasy prison we create for ourselves' (Internet). We need to break free from such prisons. To do this, we must earnestly pray to God.

Second, look at the church that prays earnestly.

Look at Acts 12:5 – “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.” Ultimately, King Herod's persecution of the church led them to pray even more fervently to God. This illustrates a spiritual battle. On one hand, there was the violent act of imprisoning Peter, while on the other hand, the church was praying fervently for him. This contrast shows the struggle between violence and prayer (Park). At this time, two forces were fighting against each other. On one side, Peter was imprisoned, and on the other side, the church was earnestly praying for him (Morgan). So why did the church pray so fervently? The reason is that they prayed not only for Peter's release, but also for the event to be resolved in a way that would benefit the church (Park). Because God answered the church's fervent prayer, they wanted Peter to be delivered from prison, hoping that through his salvation, the power and glory of God would be manifested, bringing benefit to the church. However, it is doubtful whether this earnest prayer of the church was truly prayed in faith. How can we know? After the Lord miraculously rescued Peter from the prison, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. At that time, many people had gathered there to pray (v. 12). When Peter knocked at the door, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer (v. 13). She recognized Peter's voice and was so overjoyed that she didn't open the door, but ran back to tell the others, 'Peter is standing at the door!' (v. 15). Isn't it interesting? Rhoda, the servant girl, believed that God had answered the church's earnest prayer and rescued Peter. However, the early church saints gathered at Mary's house, including John Mark's mother, did not believe in God's saving work.

Here, we must learn some lessons from the church's prayer for Peter:

The church's prayer should follow the example of Jesus' prayer.

His prayer was fervent. Here, the noun 'prayer' and the adverb 'fervently' directly reflect Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Yoo).

The church's prayer should continue until it receives a response.

The church's fervent prayer, which started when Peter was arrested and imprisoned, continued until Peter came to their place (v. 12) (Yoo).

Like the church's prayer, we should pray together.

The number of saints who gathered to pray when Peter was first arrested did not diminish, even though there was no visible answer to their prayers. The phrase 'many people' in verse 12 should be corrected to 'a great many people' (Yoo).

Our prayers should be prayed in faith.

Ultimately, although the church's prayer resulted in Peter being rescued and coming to the house of Mary, John's mother, and knocking on the door, the saints who were praying did not believe that it was Peter.

Third, look at the work of the Lord's salvation that led Peter out of prison.

Look at Acts 12:17 – “Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. ‘Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,' he said, and then he left for another place.” If we look at Acts 12:6-10, it explains how the Lord rescued Peter from prison.

The Lord's salvation occurred on the night before Herod planned to kill Peter.

Look at Acts 12:6 – “The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while sentries stood guard at the entrance.” Dr. Yoon-sun Park says: '... it teaches the truth that when human difficulties reach their peak and it seems like no matter how much we pray, there will be no response, God's intervening power will manifest itself' (Park).

When the Lord's salvation was about to take place, Peter was sleeping peacefully between two soldiers.

How could he sleep so peacefully in such a situation? After all, by the next morning, he would likely become a martyr like the apostle James. It is truly remarkable. How bold his faith must have been. It was because Peter entrusted everything absolutely to the hands of the Lord, he could sleep without any worry (Yoo).

What we need to consider is the power of the Lord.

The reason is that even though Peter was being closely watched like a fortress, when the Lord rescued Peter, human surveillance was completely powerless. There was no room for error in the surveillance of Peter. His hands were filled with chains, two soldiers watched over Peter from both sides, and the rest of the soldiers guarded him steadfastly outside the prison door (Yoo). In the dark prison, an angel appeared, bringing light, and the angel struck Peter on the side to wake him up, saying, 'Hurry, get up' (v. 7). At that moment, the chains fell off Peter's hands on their own, and the angel urged Peter to 'put on your clothes and sandals,' and 'wrap your cloak around you and follow me' (v. 8). When Peter obediently followed the angel's instructions, he came out of the prison, passed through the first and second gates without any problems, and when he reached the iron gate leading to the city, it opened for him by itself (v. 10). Peter thought he was seeing a vision of some kind (v. 9). In the end, after Peter was rescued and the day had dawned, there was quite a commotion among the soldiers who did not know what had happened to Peter (v. 18). Herod sought Peter, and when he could not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered them to be put to death (v. 19).

The Lord who led Peter out of prison answered the fervent prayers of the early church saints who prayed earnestly for Peter. God bestowed His grace of salvation upon Peter. Our God is a God of salvation. Our God is the God who answers our fervent prayers. I hope and pray that we all may experience the salvation of God.

Living today by the God of salvation who answers our prayers,

James Kim

(God who fulfills His plan of salvation!)