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Angels and a Prison Break (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #19) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

When we began this series, we said that Acts is the continuing adventures of Jesus, that Acts is a book of action and adventure driven by the Spirit of God, and here we see that point in high relief. Walking with God is the greatest adventure.

The Text: “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword” (Acts 12:1-25).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After killing James (one of the sons of thunder), Herod arrested Peter and put him under close guard, intending to put him to death after Easter (Passover) (Acts 12:1-4). The whole church was praying to God for Peter, and if this is referring to the Jewish Passover, and if Herod was planning to kill Peter the very next day, then that “same night” would be the Saturday of our Christian Easter, the day Jesus rose from the dead (Acts 12:5-6).

Guarded by four soldiers and chains, an angel of the Lord appeared in the prison, struck Peter on the side (presumably to wake him up), and the chains fell from his hands and following the angel’s instructions, he was led out of the prison, with the iron gate of the city opening by itself (Acts 12:7-10). Thinking it was a vision, when Peter was fully awake, he realized he had been delivered from Herod and the Jews and went to one of the houses where he knew they would be praying (Acts 12:11-12). Knocking at the gate, a young lady named Rhoda recognized Peter’s voice and told the disciples but they didn’t believe her, saying it was merely Peter’s angel (Acts 12:13-15). After knocking some more, they finally opened the door, were astonished, and heard his story, before he disappeared, and the next day there was a fierce commotion at the prison (Acts 12:16-19). 

This episode closes with pagan politics, manipulation and flattery among the people of Tyre and Sidon, which ends with the people calling Herod a god and the angel of the Lord shows up once more to strike him with worms that kill him (Acts 12:20-23). And the word of God continued to multiply and Saul and Barnabas returned to Antioch with John Mark (Acts 12:24-25).

A BRIEF THEOLOGY OF ANGELS

God may have created angels when He said let there be light, or since there is a close connection between stars and angels in Scripture (Jdg. 5:20, Lk. 2:13), maybe they were made on the fourth day with the other heavenly lights, but regardless, they sang for joy as God created the world (Job 38:7). 

Cherubim are sphinx-like creatures, having some sort of beastly body with different faces (lion, eagle, ox, man), having arms like men and large wings (Ez. 1, 10). They guarded the entrance of the garden (Gen. 3:24) and their carved forms were over the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 37:7). 

Seraphim are dragon-like creatures with six wings and famously cleansed Isaiah’s mouth with a burning coal (Is. 6), and their name means “burning ones.” In Numbers 21, God sent “fiery serpents” (literally “seraphim serpents”) to bite the people and many died. When the people pray for deliverance, God instructs Moses to make a bronze “seraph” and pierce it on a pole, and all who look upon it are healed (Num. 21:7-9).  

The only other kind of angels appear as shining men (e.g. Gabriel, Michael, armies), and the “Angel of the Lord” is God Himself, the second person of the Trinity (e.g. Gen. 18, 32:24ff, Ex. 3:2ff, Josh. 5:13, Dan. 3:25). The angels of God are described as being “ministers of flame” (Ps. 104:4) whom God gives assignments to guard and protect His people (Ps. 91, sometimes incognito, e.g. Heb. 13:2), particularly the weak and vulnerable (Gen. 16, Mt. 18:10). The Bible also describes the spirits of people as having a similar appearance to their bodies (e.g. Samuel, 1 Sam. 28:14). And it may be that this is what the disciples are referring to when they heard Rhoda’s report that Peter is at the door. 

SUPERNATURAL WORLD

Related to the fact that angels really do exist: we live in a magical world. God created the world in six days by His spoken word, and He upholds all things by the word of His power (Gen. 1, Heb. 1). This means we live in God’s personal world, not an impersonal machine. This doesn’t negate the ordinary order of creation, but sometimes God suspends His usual patterns and donkeys talk, men ride into heaven in fiery whirlwinds, the sun stands still, men survive fiery furnaces, a man may walk on water, and sometimes chains fall apart and gates open by themselves, and men are supernaturally struck with worms (Acts 12:7, 23).

CONCLUSION: DELIVERED OUT OF THEM ALL

According to tradition, Peter was eventually crucified upside down in Rome under Nero, but here he disappears from the pages of Scripture a wanted man, with his letters as the only other evidence of his ongoing ministry. But Peter is clearly presented here as a type of the resurrection life that all believers are promised in Christ: sealed and guarded in a prison as good as a tomb, struck on the side, and broken out by God’s miraculous power. As Paul says at the end of his life: “Persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution… And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom…” (2 Tim. 3:11-12, 4:17).

Stories disciple our imaginations and faith. Immerse yourself in the stories of the Bible but also stories that stoke biblical imagination: Dante (Divine Comedy), Edmund Spenser (Fairy Queen), John Bunyan (Pilgrim’s Progress), C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Ransom Trilogy), J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings), John Buchan (Richard Hannay series), P.G. Wodehouse, N.D. Wilson, etc. 

By faith, we conquer armies and endure great hardships (Heb. 11). Some are murdered by the sword; others are delivered from the sword. Some go to glory devoured by lions; some tame them. Jesus has the keys to death and Hades (Rev. 1) and His angels guard our every step (Ps. 91). He is the captain of the Lord’s Hosts, and this is how the Church and the Kingdom grow (Acts 12:24). Walking in the light is walking with God and His angels. And all will be well.  

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Likeminded at the Pinch Point 
(Philippians #14)

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INTRODUCTION

Everybody thinks that likemindedness is a wonderful thing, and everyone approves of it in the abstract. Behold how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity. Oil in Aaron’s beard, and all that (133:1). But we then get caught in what might be called the likemindedness dilemma. We approve of likemindedness when we are not in need of the virtue that makes it possible. And when we are genuinely in need of that virtue, we start to feel like likemindedness is not really “realistic.”

THE TEXT

“Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:1–3). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is now gearing up for his conclusion to the epistle. And so he addresses the Philippians as “brethren, dearly beloved and longed for” (v. 1). In addition, he calls them his “joy and crown,” just before he urges them to stand fast in the Lord—and then he calls them “dearly beloved” again (v. 1). He says something very similar to the Thessalonians (e.g. joy and crown): “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19).

Paul then turns to a very practical problem in the church. Two women—who had been co-laborers with Paul in the gospel—had had a falling out. We know their names—Euodias and Syntyche—and we know that they were dear to Paul, and that their names were in the book of life, together with some others (v. 3). What we don’t know is what the quarrel was about, or who was in the right. Paul doesn’t go into that, and yet urges them to like-mindedness anyhow (v. 2). They were good Christian women, and had helped Paul, together with Clement and others. The dispute was apparently one in which it was not necessary to go into the details.

THE GALATIONS 6:1 DILEMMA

Here is a basic principle to remember. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).

Quarrels erupt when a brother is overtaken in a fault, or when we think a brother is overtaken in a fault. But whether he is at fault, or we only think he is, the injunction that Paul gives us here applies. The erring brother should be restored by someone who is 1. spiritual 2. coming in a spirit of meekness, and 3. mindful of his own vulnerabilities.

The problem is that when you meet these requirements, you are qualified to correct—but have no motivation to correct. And when you are motivated to correct, it is usually because of a disqualification in one or more of these three areas. You are not spiritual, not meek, or not considering yourself. 

This applies to child rearing, by the way. When you are motivated to let the kids have it, you are not qualified. And when you are qualified, it does seem like kind of a hassle to get out of your chair and go deal with it. When you feel like yelling, you aren’t qualified, and when you are qualified to be yelling, you don’t want to. Child discipline must therefore be a matter of obedience, and not be something that runs on an emotional platform.  

FAULTS, REAL & IMAGINED

Now these situations are tough enough without us adding extra temptations to the pile. With this many sinners in the room, and in the community, there are bound to be thousands of bumps and bruises. Not only are there actual bumps and bruises, there are also the self-inflicted bumps and bruises. These occur when you imagine why your friend didn’t text you back, after you had texted her three times. You get yourself worked up into a state over it, because if you didn’t text somebody back after they had texted you three times, it would be because you were furious with them. Or perhaps it was because they went boating, and she dropped her phone in the lake (Prov 18:17).

We have enough work to do when we limit ourselves to real offenses. The Lord said that each day has enough trouble of its own, and so we shouldn’t create new and unnecessary ones. So in the same spirit, every relationship has enough troubles—sufficient unto the relationship are the grievances thereof. Love hopes all things, believes all things (1 Cor. 13:7). This means that before you know the whole story, the only speculation you are allowed to indulge in would be the speculation that is exculpatory. You should busy yourself making excuses for the other person. You will not always be correct, but the number of your quarrels will go down.

But when the offense is real, what then? When your brother or sister really has sinned against you, how do we avoid quarrels then? The first way is to let love cover it (Prov. 10:12; 1 Pet. 4:8). This is to sweep things under the carpet . . . but it must be a magic love carpet. This kind of carpet dissolves anything that is swept under it. The carpet doesn’t get lumpy over time. But if the sin is significant enough that it wouldn’t be healthy for anybody to let it ride, then what you do is follow the process laid out in Matthew 18:15-17. These are the only two legitimate options—cover or confront. What isn’t on the table is complaining about it to others.

AVOIDING QUARRELS AS GOSPEL PROCLAMATION

When we stay well away from rancor—whether over promotions, parking spots, or politics—we are doing so on the basis of gospel imitation. 

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:31–32).

How are we supposed to be toward one another? Kind. Tenderhearted. Forgiving. Then we are told this is the way Christ was with us. Because Christ was kind to us, because He was tenderhearted toward us, and because He forgave us, so we also as Christians are called to a life of imitation. As the master in the parable forgave his servant an enormous sum (Matt. 18:21-35), so also we are to forgive those comparatively small amounts that we owe one another.

As we do this, we are showing the world what the aroma of forgiveness though Christ is actually like. And that is a gospel aroma.  

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