Lord, help me to think about some real answers toprayerI have had. We see that the Church had some short truce, that it might, as it were, by a short breathing, recover some courage against the time to come, and that it might then fight afresh. That one name, through faith in it, what could it not accomplish? The Jews in general were becoming restless concerning the free mixing between Jewish and Gentile Christians, and were angry at the apostles for encouraging it. Wherefore, we must think with ourselves that he was tied by one that had the rule over him, that he might not more vehemently oppress the Church. "In proportion to the apparent simplicity of the question, would be his surprise to hear it affirmed that he is mistaken, and that, in addressing a Christian society as a congregation of Christians, St. Paul merely regards it as a society of men professing the same faith, and participating outwardly in the same sacraments (it being immaterial to the idea whether they possess saving faith or not); a society invested with spiritual privileges, but not necessarily realizing those privileges, and that, consequently, we must lower the import of the terms, 'saints' and 'faithful in Christ Jesus,' to signify outwardly dedicated to God, and professing with the lips the doctrines of Christianity . Yet his masculine good sense held to the truth, though he did not know the solid basis on which it here stands. Acts 13:5,13 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister, Acts 15:37-39 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. That monarch had succeeded in putting together the whole domain of his grandfather Herod the Great, and had also been given the title of king by Claudius. Apologetic: Writes a defense of persecuted Christianity (Acts 13:6-12). There are accessaries ex post facto--after the fact; and those will be reckoned with as persecutors who take pleasure in others' persecuting, who delight to see good men ill used, and cry, Aha, so would we have it, or at least secretly approve of it. The presence of the Holy Ghost was a new and quite unexampled thing even among believers. It is scarcely credible that he should lay hands on any of them himself in person; but it is very likely he encouraged his soldiers, or his servants, to abuse them, reproach them, strike and buffet them, as they met with them in the streets; or when at worship, might disturb them, and break them up. This certainly demonstrates how the power of God, in direct answer to prayer, is greater than that of any Herod. But this detects the man. Help me togrow in grace and in a knowledge of the Lord Jesus. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea and stayed there. In fact, I don't expect you to keep them all straight. In verse five we read that prayer was made: To God - the aim. But before Aristopollis was murdered, he had this son Herod Agrippa. Agabus had come to Antioch and predicted a great drought was going to come, and so they took up a collection to take back to the saints in Jerusalem. ", Even here the intimation is sufficiently plain that the Gentiles were in the foreground of the work designed for Saul of Tarsus. That the gifts mentioned in the chapter were, for the most part, extraordinary, and in process of time were to cease, makes no difference as regards the argument; for it is the essential character of Christian worship, not the particular vehicle of its expression, that is the point now under consideration" (pp. "About that time was A.D. 44, as Herods death occurred in this year" (Boles 187). But they came to him with a common purpose. I believe that all of our lives are bound within the purposes of God and that God knows the day in which He's going to take me home. The great tragedy of this particular wave of persecution was that it was not due to any man's principles, however misguided; it was due simply to Herod's bid to gain popular favour with the people. But the Lord said unto him, "Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel. "You gotta have faith brother! ". For courage to witness for Christ (Acts 4:2331) 3. God is always wise. How continually too where we least think they do! For these reasons he was popular with the people; and it was no doubt in order to achieve further popularity with the orthodox Jews that he decided to attack the Christian Church and its leaders. He had before this delivered Saul from the effects of undue anxiety and distrust in the minds of the disciples. WebVerse Acts 12:1. To these the Emperor Claudius afterwards added Judea and Samaria; which were nearly all the dominions possessed by his grandfather, Herod the Great. Acts 9:1-43. WebThe following are prayer points for personal revival and spiritual awakening that you can use to pray and bring back the fire of the Spirit into your life, church and community. A Christian society which should openly profess to dispense with discipline, and tolerate on principle open and notorious evil doers [or still worse heretics, Antichrists, or their abettors] within its pale, would thereby renounce its title to one of the essential attributes of the Church; it would sever all ostensible connection between itself and the true Church [or rather Christ and His sacrifice: see1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 ], of which sanctity is an inseparable property; in short, it would unchurch itself. He was also the Herod to whom Pilate sent Jesus for trial ( Luke 23:7 ff.). God knows exactly the day and the circumstances by which He's going to take me home. C. Evangelistic: Shows the saving power of the Gospel (Acts 16). Persecution of the Christians now swung from religious to include political motivation. Prayer . Or it was to show that though the apostles were appointed to plant the gospel in the world, yet if they were taken off God could do his work without them, and would do it. [Note: Bock, Acts, p. When they were past the first and the second ward, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city; which opened to them of its own accord: and they went out, and they passed through one street; and then the angel departed from him. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had completed their errand of mercy. The church at Antioch fasted and prayed before sending out Barnabas and Paul (Acts 13:13; and note 14:23), 12. At the same time scripture shows there might be and often was an interval after the gospel did go forth. DIVINE PRESERVATION - PRAYER POINTS The following extract from the late Dr. Carson's Letters in reply to Dr. John Brown's Vindication of Presbyterianism will show how far an able and excellent man went astray in defending Congregationalism through not knowing that his argument was based, not on God's word, but on man's corruption of it. For it must be remembered that, however far his profession may be from being a true one, every professor of Christianity professes to be a true, not a mere nominal, Christian. He would do this after Easter, meta to pascha--after the passover, certainly so it ought to be read, for it is the same word that is always so rendered; and to insinuate the introducing of a gospel-feast, instead of the passover, when we have nothing in the New Testament of such a thing, is to mingle Judaism with our Christianity. The Spread of the Gospel in Judaea and Samaria (Acts 8-12), C. The Spread of the Gospel to the Uttermost Part of the earth (Acts 13-28), How did the Gospel? 4. In fact, it is thought by some that the upper room was actually in the house of Mary the mother of Mark. Unreal!" It was not that Peter did not know the same, we are all aware how blessedly he confessed Him to be (not Messiah only, but) the Son of the living God while Jesus was here below. For hence the Lord called him to a new sphere a task which, to a Jewish mind, was beyond measure strange. 14 When she recognized Peters voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and Probably he had put James to death privately, which the people had complained of, not because it was an unjust thing to put a man to death without giving him a public hearing, but because it deprived them of the satisfaction of seeing him executed; and therefore Herod, now he knows their minds, will gratify them with the sight of Peter in bonds, of Peter upon the block, that they may feed their eyes with such a pleasing spectacle. All these things were pressed home by Stephen; indeed, I have simply touched on a very small part of his most telling address. In the midst of a storm, Paul prayed for Gods blessing (Acts 27:35), and after a storm, he prayed that God would heal a sick man (Acts 28:8). Where. But not so in the ministry of the word or testimony of the Lord. And so the Jewish Passover usually coincides closely with our Easter season. "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." He was the ruler of Galilee and Peraea. . Lord give me the spirit of humility to say SORRY when I am wrong,23:1-5. It recalls the power of God to rescue those chosen for Gods mission, a power repeatedly demonstrated in the past." theology. Luke seems to have wanted to close his portrayals of the Christian mission within the Jewish world (Acts 2:42 to Acts 12:24) with two vignettes having to do with Gods continued activity on behalf of the Jerusalem church." Accordingly we find, as the testimony had gone forth throughout Jerusalem at least, so now the old rival of Jerusalem comes within the dealings of God. Prayer was a normal part of their daily ministry (Acts 2:4247; 3:1; 6:4) 4. Help me torecognise the different audiences that are being addressed in different Bible passages. Saul was consenting unto Stephen's death, and Saul was the expression of Jewish feeling in its best aspect. Cornelius prayed that God would show him how to be saved (Acts 10:14), 9. A fotzs nlunk csak amolyan szerelem volt, egy hobbi. But he was intending to bring him forth for judgment and, of course, for execution at the end of the Passover period. PRAYERS Was that word for him? See how he advances gradually. The King James translators just translated this word Easter because it does signify that same time of the year. Ha csak nem kritek kln, nem viszlek titeket msok ltal annyira kedvelt s elcspelt macskakves tra, ahol ti lenntek az ezredikek, akik ilyen fotval bszklkednek. But if the church were distrustful, the Lord was not unmindful, and knew how to give courage to the heart of His servant. After a brief visit to assure the Christians he was free again, Peter fled to a safer place (12-19).Herod, by contrast, suffered a horrible death. And when she knew Peter's voice, she did not open the gate for gladness, but ran in [scatter-brained girl], and told how that Peter was standing at the gate. He struck Peter's side and wakened him and said, "Rise quickly." Barnabas was quite justified in seeking Saul. PRAYER POINTS There was among them a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, of whom we have had a happy report before, as we shall hear many (though not altogether unmingled) good tidings to the end. Where man chooses for human things, we have the Lord recognising it. grace of God to sinners of the Gentiles as certainly as to the Jews to those who, in the judgment of the Jews, were nothing but refuse, vile, and unclean. Therefore, I think that the apostle and the son of Alpheus were all one, whom the Jews threw down headlong from the top of the temple, whose death was so highly Commended for his singular praise of holiness. The fact is, that the notion of imposition of hands being a universal medium of conveying the Holy Ghost is certainly a mistake. Legtbb ismersm s jmagam is egy ltszlag teljesen idegen szakterletrl rkeztnk. How to Pray with the ACTS Prayer Method So he came in like a shining god, making this speech to the people and, of course, the people began to cry, "It's the voice of a god, not of a man!" We know that God could have delivered James by a miracle even as He delivered Peter. From that we learn that this was the headquarters of the Christian Church. And he goes, the Lord communicating another vision to the apostle himself, in which he sees Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight. So Paul and Barnabas had come back to Jerusalem with this collection that was taken from the church in Antioch. And when Herod Agrippa saw this pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. as well as entice man. It did not escape the discerning eyes of Peter a little afterward. It was no longer simply a cleaving to a God of goodness who could not deceive and would not disappoint the soul that hoped in His mercy, "but the conscious joy of knowing his sins all one, and himself distinctly put on the ground of accomplished redemption as a known present thing for his own soul in this world. It was even, and urgently, pressed on them, but they refused with disdain the message, and rejected the messengers to blood. He kept the Jewish customs. Strikingly, beautiful it is to see the devoted simplicity with which he answers to the call of his Master. The governor at that time, Herod Agrippa I (a grandson of Herod the Great), knew it was not wise to let the Jews become too excited. But "as for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and dragging off men and women, committed them to prison." Accordingly, among the train of those that received the gospel and were baptized, Simon is found. To a reflecting believer it will be plain that the reasons for this do not hold at the present time. LOTE EN VA PARQUE SIQUIMAN A 2 CUADRAS DE LAGO SAN ROQUE. But what I want to press for our profit, beloved brethren, is that at any rate he who is the object of grace can afford to be gracious. They'll find out I'm here], he declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. II. He apparently became a believer only after Jesus resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:7; cf. But it would seem that special reasons operated at Samaria to make it necessary there. It was plain enough to see the Christian assembly in a city, even if it were as numerous as in Jerusalem, where it must have met in not a few different localities and chambers. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. Continually he tried to encourage his fellow Jews to be more tolerant of others (Acts 15:13,Acts 15:19). Oh, what a blessing it is to have and know such a Saviour! His preaching Christ was the fruit of the Lord's call. The word of God increased and was multiplied. Pray we hate evil and cling to what is good (12:9). is stricken by an angel, and dies miserably. Such was the man to whom God was about to send the gospel by Peter. the power of the Spirit to this end is lost sight of.] Herod Antipas was driven as an exile also into Gaul, and then into Spain, and Herod Agrippa received also his tetrarchy. Herod Agrippa I, the son of Miriam, who was a descendant of the Maccabeans. Chapter 15 he'll speak up and again tell how God had led him to the Gentiles, but Peter passes on from the picture. (v) Herod the Great had another son called Aristobulus (see Aristoboulos G711) ; his mother was Mariamne, a princess who was descended from the great Maccabaean heroes. Now at this point we are introduced to James, who became one of the leaders in the early church, who was a half brother to Jesus. This was precisely what God was now doing; and the remarkable fact appears, that God did not wait for the apostle of the Gentiles to bring the good news to Cornelius. 1. Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And very ambitious surely he was to please the people who was willing thus to please them! Neither one nor other ever entered into the thoughts or feelings of Simon. Christ's suffering servants are thus trained up by less troubles for greater, that tribulation may work patience, and patience experience. 298, 299). Josephus doth no where call him Herod, it may be, because he had a brother who was king of Chalcis, whose name was Herod. Power of Prayer (Acts 12:1-12) Renewing the Heart Gird yourself means to tie your skirt on up. However graciously given of the Lord as a token to attract the careless minds of men, they are dangerous when they are made the resting-place and the object of the mind; and this was the fatal mistake made then, and not merely there but by many millions of souls from that day to this. Surprised by Prayer: Reading Acts 12 Realistically BJU Seminary These essential conditions of the existence of any regular society we find from the very first in being in the Church: the Apostles were the officers, and, collectively, the organ of the community; members were admitted into it by baptism; and they testified their continuance therein by participating in the sacrament of Christ's body and blood. He had no official office. Certainly the Ethiopian received the truth; but verse 37 had better be passed by in your minds, at least in this connection. The exercise of discipline is the true and legitimate expression of the sanctity of a visible Church considered as a society. Father, I declare that Let this suffice them if the Lord grant them some time wherein they may recover their strength. (ii) Herod Antipas (see G493) . To return to the case of the Corinthians: on what principle, let us ask, did St. Paul reprove them for their inconsistencies? It could not be otherwise. Prayer Points 1 Father, I thank you for sending Jesus Christ to us. Thus, God preserved him. Veszprm is a szvem cscske, rengeteg emlk kt oda s milli lehetsget rejt egy j e-session vagy eskv fotzshoz. All descendants of Herod the Great down to the fourth generation, who were identified with the government of Palestine and are mentioned in the New Testament, are known in history by the surname Herod; Herod Archaelaus, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip II, Herod Agrippa I, and Herod Agrippa II (470). Accordingly Peter and John, two of the chiefs among the apostles, come down from Jerusalem. God will always be Himself, and cannot be other than Sovereign. 12:20-25 Herod was furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon. "Always when you get ready to run, get ready to fight, or get ready to work, you would gird yourself up or get ready to serve. When Peter escaped he took his way straight to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. But for himself and his household, what could he do but pray till the rich blessing came? Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, NT Apostles: Acts 12:12 Thinking about that he came to (Acts of the Apostles Ac). (750) In duces et capita animadverti solet, punishment is usually inflicted on the heads and captains. Nevertheless even he, apostle though he were, must enter by the same lowly gate as another. And I don't think the prayers of the church were the deciding factor, because as we noted, the prayers obviously were not prayers of faith.I believe the deciding factor was just the purpose of God, the sovereignty of God. Peter was the one then, not Paul, that announced the gospel to Cornelius, who by the Holy Ghost received it, and was not merely safe but saved. Or Mariam of Hebrew origin; Maria or Mariam, the name of six Christian females. The gift of the Spirit is not at all the same thing as the gifts. Surely it was true of all who really believed and knew His glory. Power of Prayer (Acts 12:1-12) Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. His aim was not Christ; it was all for himself. Question. And as there was reality at least in their feeling, they made suitable lamentation. Herod the king: The Herod here referred to is Herod Agrippa I. But she constantly affirmed that it was true. (i) Herod Philip the First. He was assuredly, before Peter went, a converted man. Then Peter says to them, "Can any man forbid water?" It has been about eight years since the martyrdom of Stephen. To pray like that, is to pray with Gods love on our hearts. stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church: Herod, not unlike politicians of today, must have been checking the popularity polls when he learns it will make him politically popular to oppress the Christians (verse 3); therefore, he takes it upon himself to bring a violent attack upon the Lords church. In His name I pray, AMEN. Lets all Pray through Romans 12 and 13 this week Ha klnlegesre s egyedire vgysz, ltogass el az oldalamra. 2. On the fourteenth of Nissan they began the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and so it was during this Feast of Passover that Peter was arrested. Nevertheless, care was taken to hinder all appearance of independence or indifference to unity. Though the Spirit of the Lord catches away Philip, so full is his heart of the truth that we may be sure all that occurred confirmed it in his eyes. [Note: See Longenecker, pp. He had no confidence in the Lord for himself not a particle; for just as those who have confidence in the Lord have not an atom in man, his sole hope of blessing for his soul lay in the influence of another man, not in Christ's grace. . So far from it, as we shall find by and by inActs 10:1-48; Acts 10:1-48, the Holy Ghost was given while he was yet speaking, before they were so much as baptized. They felt in a measure, and justly, the tremendous deed that had been done. Stephen prayed as he was being stoned (Acts 7:5560) 5. I pray thatI may read its pages with wisdom and understanding. When they would gird themselves, and the purpose of it is they would wear these long robes kind of things. Father, every ungodly power that has penetrated to the position of authority in the church expose and disgrace them and if they fail to repent, uproot them, in Jesus name. When they opened the door and saw him they were amazed. Thus they thought they had him fast. This is the only apostles death that the New Testament recorded. Correct, good students! In Peter's case, because they wanted to keep him sure, he was chained on both sides to guards, and then there were two guards who would stand watch at the door and four quaternions would mean that there were four groups of four soldiers. There would be no particular force in giving it to Jews, for all Jews professed to be looking for Christ. The believers prayed for guidance in making decisions (Acts 1:1526) 2. It is not His operation in enabling souls to believe, but a precious boon given to such as believed. Peter instructs them to go and tell the news to James. WebDIVINE PRESERVATION PRAYER POINTS. Here the Lord alone gives, alone calls, alone sends forth. 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ;' 'that I may be comforted by the mutual faith both of you and me;' did St. Paul, when he thus wrote, regard himself as but nominally interested in the blessings of redemption? It is not only that God uses one and another: this He does and we may bless Him that so He does; but the God who employs means is also above them, and He needs now only to draw out by circumstances the souls of some simple Christian men who had faith and love to seek the Gentiles without requiring the same vigorous and extraordinary means, under His mighty hand, as even the apostle did. If God had given them the Holy Ghost, as was manifest in sensible results, it was very evident that they must have by God's grace had repentance unto life. In the reign of Claudius also, the dominions of Herod Agrippa were still further enlarged. Without this, faith is good for nothing, nor is God Himself honoured in His own word. He ruled Judea for three years, A.D. 41-44 [Note: Josephus, Antiquities of . . Therefore, in an effort to please them he took action against the apostles by having one of them, James, executed (12:1-2).The execution of James pleased the Jews more than Herod expected, so next time he planned to kill the leading apostle, Peter (3-5). stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church; Beza's ancient copy adds, "in Judea": it seems to be the church at Jerusalem; perhaps some of the principal members of them; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, the rulers of the house of God. No doubt he had read them many a time, but no better than we have read them, and many other words likewise; and how little we understood any of them to profit until the mighty power of God gave it efficacy in our souls! A. The church, not merely in a city but in a province or country, is intelligible enough to man; but it soon became more difficult to see its unity in various and differing provinces. Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Acts 12 . There was more work for him to do. I merely make this remark lest any should draw from this the inference that there is a necessity for men commissioned from God to lay on hands now in order to confer such a spiritual blessing. The finger of God is clearly seen in this chapter. He was a staunch friend of the Jews and was no doubt influenced by them to make the move to destroy Christianity. "Herod the king" was Herod Agrippa I whom the Roman emperor Gaius appointed king over Palestine in A.D. 37. Why so much haste and impatience? Jerusalem passes as the center of the church's activity and now moves to Antioch, and all of the missionary activity in taking the Gospel into all of the world centers out of the church in Antioch. The believers prayed for guidance in making decisions (Acts 1:1526), 2. The soldiers who were the guards over Peter were put to death, taking the sentence that was to be placed upon Peter. Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Plural. Where, whither, when, in what place. But not so the word of God. Could it be otherwise, when, spite of proud unbelief and conceit of distinctive privilege, they were forced to feel that they were none the less the constant resisters of the Holy Ghost like their fathers, who had been guilty themselves, and suffered the consequence of their guilt in their prostration to the Gentiles; to feel now that they themselves were no better, but rather worse; that there was the same unbelief bringing out its effects even more tremendously; that they were guilty of the blood of their own Messiah, who was now risen and exalted in the highest seat of heaven? We must not limit, as ignorant people do, the operation of the Holy Spirit to the new birth. Here is an account of Peter's imprisonment (Acts 12:4; Acts 12:4): When he had laid hands on him, and, it is likely, examined him, he put him in prison, into the inner prison; some say, into the same prison into which he and the other apostles were cast some years before, and were rescued out of it by an angel, Acts 5:18; Acts 5:18. Prayers To Get A Permanent Job 15. . And so he did. And when they understood the bearing of that which God had wrought here below that it judged man; that it gave no countenance to the religiousness in which they boasted; that it showed most convincingly, and so much the more bitterly because convincingly, what God all through His testimony with them had expressly intimated, by the prophets as well as in the types of the law itself, that He had deeper purposes; that nothing on earth could satisfy Him; that it was in His mind, on the proved ruin of Israel, to bring in heaven and its things for a heavenly people even while here below: now that this was made manifest, above all, in the testimony that Stephen had rendered to the very man that they had rejected and crucified, seen in glory at the right hand of God, it was unbearable. He would make a spectacle of him. He was one of those sons of Zebedee whom Christ told that they should drink of the cup that he was to drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that he was to be baptized with,Matthew 20:23. Observe here, 1. (These were the days of unleavened bread). "Nor is there any weight in the objection that many of these primitive Churches were very defective in doctrine or in, practice, or in both; that St. Paul speaks of the Corinthians as being, on account of their divisions, 'carnal,' and not 'spiritual,' as 'babes in Christ,' and sharply reproves them for their laxity of discipline in the case of the incestuous person, and their want of discipline in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. He was led of God. "Suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? So introducing you now to James, half brother to Jesus, who will now begin to take a more dominant role in the early church. It was of the greatest importance that unity should be kept up practically, not merely that there should be proclaimed the truth that there is unity, but that there should be the maintenance of it in practice.
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