‘Peter therefore was kept in the prison. But prayer was made earnestly by the church to God for him.'

He was right to be worried, but wrong to think that he could do anything against it. Here we have one of those sublime contrasts that so often appear in the Scriptures. On the one hand Peter was kept safely in prison, constantly chained to his two guards. All the power of the earthly kingdom was being called on to keep him chained up. The God of the Apostles was being challenged. But on the other the church met together and made earnest prayer to God for him. They had a power the king knew nothing of. All the power of the Kingly Rule of Heaven was being brought to bear (compare 2 Corinthians 10:4; Hebrews 11:34). Thus two great kingdoms were face to face, the earthly, temporary ‘kingdom of God' (as they saw it), and the heavenly, permanent and powerful Kingly Rule of God.

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