By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Acts
12:1-19
Matthew 16:18
And I tell
you, you are Peter, and on this rock[a] I will build my
church, and the gates of hell[b] shall not prevail
against it.
(ESV)
In nations like the United
States, Christians have become comfortable resting behind their constitutional
right to freedom of the practice of their faith. However, court rulings in recent years
against businesses like bakeries refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding,
The text of Acts
12:1-19 marks the beginning of state-sponsored persecution of the church at
the hands of King Herod. Before this
incident, the persecution came from the Jewish leaders who believed the
teaching that Jesus was Messiah was blasphemous (Acts
7). Similar to Pilate’s allowing the
crucifixion of Jesus to appease an angry Jewish mob, Herod saw that the murder of
James and arrest of Peter pleased the Jews as justification for his actions (Acts
12:1-3). However, God was not done
with Peter or the Church and as Jesus promised in Matthew
16:18, the gates of hell will not prevail against the truth that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew
16:13-19).
When we observe how the believers
in Acts
12:1-19 reacted to this state-sponsored persecution, we see a pattern for
the Church to follow today as it faces the prospect of state-sponsored
persecution. This passage shows that the church,
1) Offered
earnest prayers to God (Acts
12:5) – The death of James the brother of John and the imprisonment of
Peter could have caused to Church to further scatter out of fear but instead,
the Church gathered in prayer for Peter.
The reaction of God’s people to any situation should be faith, not fear.
2) Did
not react in fear (Acts
12:1-5) – Fear is not from God and therefore not something the Church
should give into (2
Timothy 1:7). The threat of
persecution does not mean the Church stops in its mission due to fear but that
the Church must pray for Godly intervention and direction out of faith, not
fear.
3) Failed
to recognize a miracle had occurred until it was standing in front of them (Acts
12:12-16) – It has been said that coincidence is when God chooses to be anonymous. Those in the house praying did not hear Peter
at the gate knocking and had difficulty believing God had already answered their
prayers for Peter’s deliverance. The Church
must have faith in these chaotic times, believing God is at work behind the
scenes to protect the Church and provide direction on how to continue and
thrive in an environment of increased persecution.
4) Did
not loudly proclaim the miracle but remained silent, spreading the word of the
miracle to James and the brothers (Acts
12:17) – Before this event, the Church would loudly proclaim the miracles
of God. However, this event required a
change in strategy for had the believers gathered to pray for Peter loudly
proclaiming his angelic jailbreak, Herod would have had him arrested again. Instead, Peter recommended a strategy of quietly
spreading the word of the miracle to the other believers for encouragement.
By not acting in fear at the new
tactic of state-sponsored persecution, The Church allowed the fear to transfer
to Herod who had the guards executed and ran to his palace in Caesarea (Acts
12:18-19). The fear of man lays a snare
or trap that can paralyze the people of God from doing what God has called them
to do. Instead of acting in fear
resulting in more persecution, the believers in this passage turned to prayer
and faith in God to deliver Peter from jail.
However, this did not mean the believers became careless with Peter
telling them to be silent over his miraculous deliverance from jail and instead
quietly spread the word of his deliverance among the other believers, encouraging
them to go on.
The danger of Covid19 is real and
everyone should take precautions to prevent contracting the disease but
believers in Christ need not succumb to the paralysis of fear but instead move
forward taking the necessary precautions.
This does not mean the Church should not stand up for its constitutional
rights but instead, must not become distracted in carrying out its mission of
spreading the Gospel and making disciples.
The live streaming of services online makes it possible for pastors to
continue teaching from the Word of God in areas where gathering together is
restricted but does not allow fellowship among believers to occur. To fill this gap, the Church should encourage
their congregations to gather in small groups in people’s homes perhaps linked
by video conference or even the promotion of small group gatherings to watch
live-streamed and recorded services. My
Church also has growing notes in the bulletin to promote discussion during the
week of the teaching from the previous Sunday services in small groups.
The Church needs to follow the
example of the early church facing persecution and pray, not succumb to fear, recognize
God miraculously at work providing for His Church, and adopting new tactics to
evangelize, encourage, equip, and empower believers. I carry a card with me that has some words of
encouragement from Max Lucado. It says
the following,
You’ll get through
this
It won’t be painless
It won’t be quick
But God will use this
mess for good
In the meantime, don’t
be foolish or naïve
But don’t despair
either
With God’s help, you’ll
get through this (Hebrews
11:1; Jeremiah 29:11).
Please join me in praying for God’s
direction as we go through these chaotic times and do not allow fear to
influence the decisions we must make but instead make decisions of faith. Help us recognize God’s power at work in our
lives and godly wisdom to navigate through this mess. May God bless everyone reading this
post.
1. Brammer, John Paul. Court rules against
Oregon bakers who refused to make gay wedding cake. nbcnews.com. [Online]
NBC News, December 28, 2017. [Cited: November 24, 2020.] https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/court-rules-against-oregon-bakers-who-refused-make-gay-wedding-n833321.
2. Wilcox, Kyle.
Nevada GOP accuses Gov. Sisolak of double standard for rallies in state. msn.com.
[Online] MSN, September 10, 2020. [Cited: November 24, 2020.]
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nevada-gop-accuses-gov-sisolak-of-double-standard-for-rallies-in-state/ar-BB18Un6w.
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