Acts 12:7

MAN’S EXTREMITY, GOD’S OPPORTUNITY

‘And his chains fell of from his hands.’

Acts 12:7

How was prayer answered for St. Peter, and when? Not till the last moment. St. Peter was at the last extremity; a few hours more and all would have been over; he was to have been executed in the sight of all men the very next day. God’s help came late; it often does, but it never comes too late. ‘Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.’ Christ comes in the fourth watch—in the darkest hour, but it is darkest just before the dawn. So it was here, at the supreme moment Christ intervened (Psalms 146:5; 2 Peter 2:9). He has many resources. Mark the stages in His procedure here.

I. Light.—‘A light shined in the prison’ (Acts 12:7). Light ‘to make the darkness visible’; light to show the prison cell, to let you see the poor confined imprisoned life that has been yours. Light to illumine, and light to cheer! to give a hope of better things; to show you escape is possible; above all, to reveal the angel of the covenant standing at your side. A word can do it. ‘God said, Let there be light, and there was light.’

II. Leading.—With the light comes—leading. Listen: ‘Arise up quickly,’ and ‘his chains fell off from his hands’ (Acts 12:7). Yes, the fetters were gone, but he was not free yet. He must pass the foes and escape the fortress. ‘Follow ME.’ What a crisis it was! Upon obedience to that call his life, his liberty, his all depended. Half mechanically, like the man in the dream he thought he was, St. Peter responded. But you and I cannot respond mechanically. It must be an intelligent following, and it will need many a heart-searching to be obedient to the Heavenly Vision.

III. Liberty.—But it must be done, or there can be no liberty for you and me. Yet as you follow be of good cheer, liberty is nigh. Barrier after barrier yields before the angel’s noiseless touch—the iron gate most formidable of all opens of its own accord, and, saved with a wonderful salvation, the prisoner is free.

Saints in prison or saints set free, in which category are we found? Imprisoned Peters are of little use to God. Asleep, in danger, in the dark, in chains, how can He make you a blessing to the world? If not for your own sake then for the sake of others, rest not content until like St. Peter you are out of prison.

Rev. E. W. Moore.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

PETER’S DELIVERANCE

The early Church at this time seemed to be in a very bad way. Herod, son of the Herod who slew the Innocents, vexed the Church, and it might have been well-nigh blotted out if it had not been Divine. He took St. James, the brother of John, and slew him with the sword. He had got St. Peter in the darkest, deepest dungeon, and he was quite determined that he should not escape. Nothing seemed more certain than that St. Peter was to be murdered in the morning. But ‘man proposes and God disposes.’

I. Ready to die.—What was St. Peter doing? Reposing in the arms of God. He was fast asleep between the two soldiers. Was not his mind disturbed? No, not in the least. It is one of those beautiful pictures that the Scriptures give us. He was loved of God, and ‘so He giveth His beloved sleep.’ We cannot help remembering what happened on the lake the day when Christ was asleep. St. Peter woke Him up and said, ‘Master, carest Thou not that we perish?’ What a change! He was afraid of death then; here his death was imminent—but all fear had gone. It is well for us just to pause and wonder whether our religion will stand us as well as that when our time comes.

II. Praying friends.—Well now, we have seen what St. Peter was doing. What were St. Peter’s friends doing? Their very best. They were praying. They had met together, as the beautiful little bit of Scripture tells us, in a house to pray earnestly for St. Peter. If you look in the margin you see how instantly, how earnestly, they were pouring out prayer to God to save St. Peter. He was so much to them then. There are some circumstances that we cannot help. There are certain difficulties that we cannot forestall. There are certain people that we cannot save. What are we to do? Did not St. Peter’s case seem hopeless? St. Peter was safe in prison, and the Jews were waiting outside to see him put to death in the morning. So they all met together and prayed. If a mother comes to me and says, ‘What can I do? I have no influence over my poor boy: he is going to the death.’ What should I say? ‘Never cease to pray to God for him!’ If they prayed St. Peter’s chains off, you can pray like them. See the forces. Herod, the soldiers, the prison, the chains, the locks, the warders—that is the force on the one side. And the force on the other? The poor little Church kneeling down in a room to pray! See the two forces, earth’s force on the one side, and heaven’s on the other.

III. Peter’s deliverance.—Well then, of course you know the story well, the chains fell off, and St. Peter was delivered. The Angel of the Lord came—just as the Angel went into the lions’ den and shut the mouths of the lions—and awoke St. Peter at midnight, and as he got up the chains fell off his hands. St. Peter himself was amazed. He thought he saw a vision and was walking in his sleep. But the first ward was passed, and then the second ward was passed, and then the great gate of the prison opened with a clang of it own accord, and they passed out into the open air. Then St. Peter knew that it was not a dream. With the fresh air about him the fancies had gone, the free air of God had blown away the dream, and St. Peter knew of a surety that the Lord had sent His angel and delivered him out of the expectation of the Jews.

IV. Faith in prayer.—We should all remember that though the prison doors may be shut against our hopes, the gates of heaven are always open to prayer; that when circumstances seem to bind you so that you cannot move hand or foot to help, you can pray, and by your prayers put the case into God’s hands; and if you say, ‘Thy will be done,’ your prayer must be answered, because you are quite sure that God’s will will be done. It is a beautiful example of faith in prayer, and I should like you to say to yourselves as you go away: ‘Well, when I cannot do anything for anybody else, when I find that the bolts and the bars of the prison and everything is against my helping, I can pray.’ If you believe in prayer there is no limit to it.

Rev. A. H. Stanton.