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Will you take your Bibles and turn to Acts chapter 12. This morning the title of my discourse to you is “The Politics and Penalty of Persecution,” referring to the persecution of Christians. And in the text that we will examine here this morning, we will see this borne out as we continue to make our way through Luke's wonderful historical account of the early church.

Before we look at the text, I would ask you to think with me for a moment. As Christians, I would submit to you that these are very exciting, yet very difficult times in which to live. Very troublesome times, especially as we witness increased apostasy in the church.

Of course, this is to be expected. The Lord has told us that in the days leading up to His return, in Matthew 24:12, that many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. He goes on to say, “because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.”

We also see in this day and age mounting persecution towards Christians. Even in the United States, we are seeing an increasing number of lawsuits, for example, against Christians who own businesses that refuse to advance a homosexual agenda. I was reading the other day that a photographer in New Mexico refused to photograph a same-sex marriage ceremony between two lesbians, which resulted now in a lawsuit.

Homosexuals as well are suing churches for refusing to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies, appealing to state anti-discrimination laws for sexual orientation discrimination, now on the books in 20 states. And as we witness the moral freefall in America, we see, especially during this presidential nominee season, just prior to another election, we see politicians running on platforms that legalize those things that are a violation to God's standard of righteousness.

We see the same thing with activist judges. With organizations like the National Education Association, the ACLU, colleges, universities, certainly Hollywood, the mainstream media, liberal churches, and so forth, all advancing a very anti-Christian, anti-God agenda, doing all they can to silence the church. In fact, as I thought about it, Christian bashing is now an acceptable form of bigotry here in the United States.

Of course, all of this is predicted. Many passages of Scripture allude to this. 2 Timothy 3:1, Paul tells us that, “Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.” Literally perilous or savage times will come. Then he goes on to give a list of the types of things that will describe or characterize people of that day. And certainly those characterizations fit perfectly what we see all around us.

We know biblically that God allows Satan to dominate the world scene until he comes again and takes back what is his. We know, for example, in 1 John 5:19, that” the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” And in our text this morning, we are going to see once again that persecution is nothing new to the church. It is as old as the church. And as we continue to examine Luke's historical account of the early church here in Acts 12, we're going to see three dominant themes that emerge that I believe will help us understand what the Spirit of God would have us learn. Three themes, each of which attest to the glory and the sovereignty of God who has ordained all things to glorify himself.

They are very simply, number one, the politics of persecution. Number two, the power of prayer. And number three, the penalty of pride.

Now, may I give you the context so that you are once again kind of brought up to speed with where we are in this historical account? Peter has returned to Jerusalem after his remarkable evangelistic encounter with Cornelius and his family, that Roman centurion, that Gentile who came to saving faith in Christ. Another example of how the Gentiles are being brought into the church - something that greatly concerned many of the Jews. And now they're beginning to have their walls of prejudice torn down.

We also know that Herod Agrippa I is in power here. Rome has somewhat reluctantly placed him as ruler over Palestine. Agrippa's father had been murdered by his grandfather, Herod the Great, and so now Herod Agrippa is the one that takes this throne and he is no less conniving or no less vicious than his grandfather.

And for numerous reasons, Rome, and this is very important for you to understand, Rome is a little bit leery about Herod Agrippa being in power. And so, it is very crucial for Herod to maintain complete control over his cantankerous Jewish subjects. And like all shrewd politicians, the way you do that is to develop a diplomatic alliance with those people that you are concerned with, in this case the Jewish authorities who, by the way, are equally as corrupt as he is.

Both sides loved their political status and all the privileges that accompany power, but in order to maintain their selfish little empires, both sides needed each other. Herod needed peace - no uprisings, please, no uprisings, otherwise Rome might come in and remove me.

They might even remove my head.

And likewise, the Jewish leaders needed Herod's political protection to maintain their ongoing financial enterprises - their temple extortions and so forth - as they dominated the Jews and made themselves rich and so forth. So there was a quid pro quo going on here. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

Now the problem in this day is that the Christians - these followers of this Jewish Messiah, King Jesus, King of the Jews - posed a huge threat to both Herod and the Jewish authorities. So they both had an equal enemy here, which galvanized them together. You see, the Christians could be considered to be traitorous, could be considered insurrectionists to Rome, because they are now following this other king. Plus, the Jewish leaders hated them because the Christians now are friendly with the Gentiles, which really infuriated many of the Jews, along with many other things that they disdained about the Christians. And so the Jewish leaders wanted Herod to help them get rid of these characters.

So here we see Satan at work through his political and religious counterparts here with Herod and the religious leaders of Judaism of that first century period. So first we see the politics of persecution. Notice beginning in verse 1 of chapter 12.

“Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them.”

Of course, now this is going to be part of his deal with the Jewish authorities. And it says that “he had James the brother of John, put to death with a sword.” This is very sad. As you think about it, you will remember that James and John had previously asked Jesus to grant them privileged positions in the kingdom, to be able to sit on his right hand and on his left. And remember in Mark 10:38, Jesus said to them,

 “’You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?’”

And later they said to him,

“’We are able.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink, you shall drink.’”

And indeed, now James has drank from that cup, the cup of martyrdom.

We know also, according to Deuteronomy 13, that whenever a Jew was executed by the sword, that was really an indication that that person had been convicted of seducing others to idolatry, the worship of false gods. And so evidently, this would have been the trumped-up charge that Herod had against James. And of course, again, this is typical of the politics of persecution.

In fact, if you study totalitarian regimes like communist governments and so forth, you will see that they always go after the leaders first, especially where there's Christians. They always go after the pastors first. And I find it interesting in the United States today, rather than having us executed - there's constitutional rights that protect us from that - but rather than having pastors executed, rather what they are systematically doing is making it illegal for us to preach the word of God. And little by little, we will end up being incarcerated because of our boldness in preaching the word as the messengers of the Most High God. And I fully expect to see this happen within the next decade or two, maybe even sooner.

In verse three, we read,

“And when he saw that it pleased the Jews…” in other words, James's execution, “…he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread.” So this means that they could not have a trial or an execution until Passover was over.

So there's a few days here that are going to pass where Peter is going to remain incarcerated. And of course, Herod, like any good politician, is looking for a good photo op. And he's going to get one now. Herod chose just the right time for this spectacle to occur, meaning this trial and ultimate execution of Peter. The right time was when all of the Jews had come together for Passover. All of them had gathered together in Jerusalem.

But Herod was also very familiar with Peter's earlier mysterious escape from prison. You remember back in Acts 5? And so he had to take great caution here to make sure that didn't happen to him so that he would not be embarrassed in the same way that the Sanhedrin had been embarrassed. And so he takes extra precaution.

“And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people.”

Now a squad consisted of four men, and so there's a total of 16 soldiers here that were guarding Peter. Peter, as we see here, is chained between two of them, while two more stand guard. And there's a rotation basis here going on so that he is in that condition, in that form of ultimate security for every hour of the day. It's a 24-7 security situation.

Verse 5,

“So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”

And indeed, they, I'm sure, were praying for deliverance, praying for Peter to have strength to endure, probably praying for him to have a very painless death, praying for his wife, his family, and so on. And this leads us to the second theme that emerges from this text, and that is the power of prayer. I want you to notice that it says, “…but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”

The term “fervently” in the original language means intently or earnestly. The term, in fact, encompassed both the idea of perseverance, that of something that is relentless, something that never gives up, as well as the idea of extreme anguish. We see the term used elsewhere in Scripture in Luke 22, verse 44. There we read,  “And being in agony, He,” referring to Jesus, “was praying very fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground.”

Beloved, when people we love are in serious distress, we pray fervently. I think we all understand that. And like an infant that had been abandoned to a pack of wolves, the baby church had no protection other than prayer. Nor did they need any other protection than prayer. Because our strength is in our Protector. Our help is in the Lord. Herod had his centuries, and the church has hers. Sixteen soldiers rotated 24-7 to protect Peter. And likewise, these saints maintained vigils round the clock. One group would tire, and another would come and take their place.

You know, in times of great need, there must always be constant petitioners before the throne of grace. In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us in verse 18, “Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” And how blessed it is to know that, likewise, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, according to Romans 8:26, “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Dear friends, these early saints knew the power of prayer, so they labored in it. In fact, later on, in verse 12, we read that Peter goes to Mary's house where many were gathered together and were praying. Indeed, they loved Peter, and they loved the Lord, and they loved the church. And they were afraid that Herod was going to come along and take away their beloved apostle and other leaders within their church and perhaps all of the Christians.

And eventually, of course, this type of persecution mounted. Maybe they would take them away as well as their children. You know, I always find great comfort, and this certainly is a text that drives much of my ministry, when the Lord said in Matthew 16:18, He said, “’I will build My church.’” Man doesn't build the church. God builds the church. And He says, “’And the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.’”

May I remind you that Hades is the abode of the damned, and the gate of Hades is death, which is Satan's weapon of choice. And literally what the Lord is saying is, “I am going to build My church, and even the killing of saints cannot prevent this from occurring.” In fact, when a martyr dies, his very blood empowers the saints to a greater depth of prayer and spiritual awakening, crying out to God for help. And because great grief produces great passion, and because great fear breeds great dependence, great dependence gives birth to fervent prayer. So they prayed with all of their might for Peter and for the church. As I think about this, imagine if this were me in that prison.

Imagine if it were any of us in that prison. You know, there would be no more need for me to plead with you to pray. Suddenly that would be gone, at least for most. You say, “Well, Pastor, if some great crisis came upon the church, then we would also pray.” Yes, I'm sure that would be true for some, if not for many. But I fear that for many people, some even in this church, fervent prayer is typically only offered when they experience some great crisis in their life, not in the life of other people.

Moreover, I fear that even some, perhaps in this church, have little confidence in the power of prayer, evidenced by the habitual refusal to participate in prayer meetings. I must confess that sometimes I wish some great crisis would befall this church that would awaken us all to fervent prayer.

In 1945, when the USS Indianapolis was sunk in 12 minutes in the Pacific, there were about 1,200 men on board, as many of you know. They estimate that about 900 men went into the water. And my father testifies, as one of the survivors, that during the five days that they floated helplessly in that water, there were black dorsal fins of sharks that would circle clusters of men that were scattered out over about 75 miles. And many times, those fins would slice through the water and take someone in their midst.

And one of the things that he told me that I will never forget is that there were sailors and marines in those waters who had never prayed before in their life, and they admitted such. But in the midst of those black dorsal fins, they prayed with all of their might. And beloved, I would submit to you that there are black dorsal fins of satanic deception all around us.

Our missionaries today, people that we know and love, are fearing for their lives, but do we pray? Ask yourself, do I pray for them fervently? Our children are at enmity with God, many of them, being seduced by the world, and they will perish in their sins lest they come to Christ in repentant faith. But do we pray? Our young people are the targets of the enemy who is absolutely ingenious in knowing how to seduce them into the kingdom of darkness, but do we pray? Some of us have spouses, wives, husbands, family, friends that are lost and blind, dead in their sins, unable to even see the light of truth. They're haters of God. They're destined for eternal hell unless they come to Christ, but do we pray?

These early saints knew how to pray because, dear friends, they knew the power of prayer. Do you believe in the power of prayer? If you do, then you will be one that exercises prayer frequently and fervently. And if you examine your life and you say, you know, quite honestly, God, as I stand before you, prayer is really not a priority in my life, then I would submit to you that, number one, you don't see the black dorsal fins, and number two, you do not believe in the power of prayer, save what you may.

Over 100 years ago, Charles Spurgeon told his London congregation, and I quote, “As surely as any law of nature can be ascertained and proven, we know both by observation and experiment that God assuredly hears prayer. Instead of its being a doubtful agency, we maintain prayer to be the most potent and unfailing force beneath the skies. We say in the proverb, man proposes, but God disposes. And here is the power of prayer, that it does not dally with the proposer, but goes at once to the disposer and deals with the first cause. Prayer moves that arm which moves all things else. O brethren, may we gather together in the power of prayer by having faith in it. Let us not say, what can prayer do, but, what can it not do? For all things are possible to him that believeth.”

But may I remind you that these early saints came together - not just in times of crisis, it was a routine way of life - may I remind you that in chapter one, we read that they were continually devoting themselves to prayer, to determine, for example, who would take the place of Judas. In chapter four, we read that while they were praying, the house shook and the Spirit of God fell upon them. We read in chapter six, that after praying, they laid hands on the first staff members of the church, who were put in charge of benevolence. And on and on it goes.

Dear friends, again, prayer meetings were frequent and fervent. Oh, would that we have faith in the power of prayer. Now, let me bring you back to the text.

It is almost laughable to think what is going on here. Herod's high security with Peter was designed to prevent embarrassment, should Peter try to escape. But, think about it, God used that same high security as a means to demonstrate his omnipotent power.

Note the great lesson that we can all learn here. The more hopeless the trial, the more glorious the deliverance. Think of those times in your life when all seems lost.

And maybe for some of you, it's right now. Maybe some of you now are struggling with some great difficulty in life. Did you ever stop to think that maybe God has orchestrated this great difficulty to prove himself powerful, to glorify himself in some way that you cannot imagine? Do you not realize that God delights in making the impossible possible so that he can be glorified?

Now, there is something else we are about to see, and that is that regardless the forces of wickedness stacked against the child of God, they are no match to a handful of Christians on their knees in prayer. Again, may I say, I realize that many of you do not experience the war that is raging around us as I would as a pastor. You're not privy to as much of the information that I am and the lives of people even within this church. You're not aware of the same types of things that the elders will deal with, and I understand that, but oh, how I pray that you would pray to reinforce us, to reinforce the broken lines at times, to relieve those who are weary so that we could go ahead as a church and assault the enemy in full force. How I pray for times when the whole church would come together and get on its knees and pray.

In verse 6 we read,

 “On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.”

Boy, this is maximum security, isn't it? And isn't it interesting? He's sleeping. I mean, can you imagine that? It would be kind of tough to sleep with those chains and two other soldiers around you. How in the world, you ask, could a man sleep in such a situation? Well, the answer quite simply in a word is faith.

You see, faith is the greatest sleeping pill that anybody could possibly take. You see, he trusted in God to care for him. He knew, by the way, that if he were to die, big deal, absent from the body, present with the Lord. You're going to be in glory instantly. So that's nothing really to be afraid of. But I think more importantly he understood that Jesus had told him that he was going to be crucified when he was an old man; we read that in John 21:18. And since he's still young, he's relaxing, knowing, hey, this isn't my time yet.

Notice what happens here, beginning in verse 7, we read,

“And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and roused him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And his chains fell off his hands.

“And the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and put on your sandals.’ And he did so. And he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’”

Obviously, Peter must have been in a bit of a daze because the angel had to kind of tell him every step here what you need to do. I'm sure I would have been the same way.

Verse 9,

“And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

“And when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street and immediately the angel departed from him.

“And when Peter came to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’

“And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.”

Now, as we're going to see, Mary's house was a house that had servants, so evidently, she was a wealthy woman. It had to have been a rather large house to house a number of people. And it was probably a regular meeting place for the saints because Peter knew precisely where he needed to go. And isn't it interesting, he had great confidence that he knew what was occurring. He knew that the saints were gathered together to pray. So he goes to Mary's house.

Verse 13,

“And when he knocked at the door of the gate, the servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer.

“And when she recognized Peter's voice because of her joy, she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate.

“And they said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she kept insisting that it was so. And they kept saying, ‘It is his angel.’”

You must understand that many of the Jews believe that there were guardian angels that protected individuals. And so they were thinking, “You know, you're just seeing things. And if you see anything, it's probably just his guardian angel.” They're trying to dismiss it here.

Verse 16,

“But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.”

You know, there's some indication here that they probably were praying primarily that Peter have a very painless death. Because they're really shocked to see that he has actually been delivered from the cell. And you know, sometimes we pray that way as well; we understand that, but in this case, God was merciful and allowed Peter to live. And there he stands.

And notice what he says in verse 17,

“But motioning to them with his hand to be silent…”In other words, it must have been a large crowd and they see him and they begin to get excited and probably get loud. And he's probably saying, “You're going to you're going to rouse the neighbors and give away the fact that I'm here, keep it down, let me tell you what happened.” And that's what goes on here.

He mentioned to them with his hand to be silent…”he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, ‘Report these things to James and the brethren.’” James was the Lord's half-brother. We know that he was the head of the church at Jerusalem and he wanted the information to get to him. So he says,

“‘Report these things to James and the brethren.’ And then he departed and went to another place.”

Now, notice what happens with Herod.

“When day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter.”

My, what an understatement - no small disturbance among the soldiers.

“And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution.

“And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

“Now, he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon…”

By the way, Tyre and Sidon were coastal cities. They were cities that had to import grain from Galilee. And no doubt there was some type of a grain embargo going on here. We're not sure, the text doesn't tell us exactly what was going on, but he was angry with them. And Tyre and Sidon, now these people need to somehow patch things up with Herod. And notice what it says,

“…and with one accord, they came to him, and having won over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king's country.”

So they had an ally here with Blastus, the king's chamberlain, and they were trying to make amends with all that was going on. And now this leads us to the third theme that emerges from the text. We've seen the politics of persecution and the power of prayer. Now we're going to see the penalty of pride. I want you to understand what's about to happen here.

This is more politics, and all of us who understand politics, even in our country, will see this. After making peace with the ambassadors and the diplomats of Tyre and Sidon, they're going to have a great feast, and it's going to be showtime, it's going to be another photo op for Herod. They're on the Mediterranean Sea. They're at Caesarea. There's a great amphitheater there; I've been there and it's a phenomenal place. It was built by Herod's grandfather, Herod the Great. And I would tell you, if you've not seen it, hopefully you can see it sometime, even in pictures.

It's still a magnificent place, even though a lot of it is ruined. But it's time for entertainment here; it's a chance for the ruling monarch to kind of strut around and have what would be tantamount to a signing ceremony and give speeches and all this. And like all powerful rulers, Herod had his entourage of parasitic sycophants that followed him wherever he went, combined with his little political in-crowd of political toadies groveling at his feet, flattering him for their own advantage. And then, of course, there were the people from Tyre and Sidon. So they all gathered together.

And notice verse 21,

“And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them.”

I have been at this very place, I've sat in this seat. If you go there, you can do that. You can see the special spot where he would have sat. You can see the stage down below, a big amphitheater, and the sea out a little bit of the distance there. And the appointed day that he chose was one that was ultimately going to honor the Roman Emperor Claudius. And so here you have now this immoral, godless, arrogant king. And he's going to put on his finest robes to impress all of his guests and further attempt to somehow satisfy his insatiable appetite for power and prestige.

Notice in verse 22, Luke records the reaction of all those self-serving flatterers. It says,

“And the people kept crying out, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’”

Now, we have a historical account outside of the Bible that helps us know even more what was going on there. Let me read you some of this from the historian Josephus and his Antiquities of the Jews. Here's what he said, this was a festival, and I quote, “A great multitude had gotten together of the principal persons and such as were of dignity through his province. On the second day of which he put on a garment made holy of silver and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning, at which time the silver of his garment, being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner, and was so resplendent as to spread horror over those who looked intently upon him. And presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place and another from another, though not for his good, that he was a god. And they added, quote, ‘Be thou merciful to us, for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature.’” end quote.

Josephus went on to say that “Upon this the king did neither rebuke them nor reject their impious flattery. But as he presently afterward looked up, he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him, and he fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose in his belly and began in a most violent manner. He therefore looked upon his friends and said, quote, ‘I whom you call a god am commanded presently to depart this life, while providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me, and I, who was by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death. But I am bound to accept of what providence allots as it pleases God, for we have by no means lived ill, but in splendid and happy manner.’” End quote.

Josephus went on to say that, “When he said this, his pain was become violent. Accordingly, he was carried into the palace, and the rumor went abroad everywhere that he would certainly die in a little time.” And indeed, Josephus goes on to record that he lingered for five days in agony before he died.

And notice what the text says here in Acts 12 verse 23,

“And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

Now it's important for you to understand that immediately he was struck, but he did not die immediately. As I say, he lingered for five days. Perhaps God was giving him a chance to repent and believe. However, there's no indication that he did. It's fascinating to think about this issue of being eaten by worms. I've heard many descriptions. I think the one that the text supports exegetically is the one that is described by a physician by the name of Dr. Gene Sloat Morton. And I want to read you what he has to say so that you understand what God used to destroy this wicked man. Dr. Morton says, and I quote, “The phrase ‘eaten of worms’ in Greek is “skōlēkobrōtos.” The root word “skōlēx” means a specific head structure of a tapeworm. Since the word “skōlēx,” plural “scholoses,” is applied to the head of tapeworms, Herod's death was almost certain due to the rupture of a cyst formed by a tapeworm. There are several kinds of tapeworms, but one of the most common ones found in sheep-growing countries is the dog tape. The heaviest infections come from areas where sheep and cattle are raised. Sheep and cattle serve as intermediate hosts for the parasite. The dog eats the infected meat, then man gets the eggs from the dog, usually by fecal contamination of hair. The disease is characterized by the formation of cysts, generally on the right lobe of the liver. These may extend down into the abdominal cavity. The rupture of such a cyst may release as many as two million “scholoses” because the anterior region constitutes the major part of development at this stage. When the cysts rupture, the entrance of cellular debris along with the “scholoses” may cause sudden death. The use of the word “skōlēx,”” he goes on to say, “is not limited to this reference about Herod. The term also appears in Mark 9:44. A literal translation of the phrase in Mark 9:44 would read, quote, ‘Where their skōlēx dieth not.”

Let me pause here. That's where Jesus describes those who will go into hell in unquenchable fire. And he says, “…where their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched.”

So back to Dr. Morton's statement, “This usage is very interesting because the tapeworm keeps propagating itself. Each section of the worm is a self-contained unit, which has both male and female parts. The posterior part matures and forms hundreds of worm eggs. The word skōlēx in this text portrays a biological description of permanence, which the text demands for the comparison.” End quote.

What an absolutely hideous death.

And why did he die in such a way? Verse 23 tells us very simply, “because he did not give God the glory.” Like Herod, God will ultimately pour out his eternal wrath on all who refuse to give him the glory and instead worship themselves or some other false god. Certainly this is the penalty of pride. Scripture makes it very clear; we are to give God the glory because, first of all, he is holy. In Psalm 99:9, we read, “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for the Lord our God is holy.”

We are also to give God the glory because of his mercy and his truth. In Psalm 115:1, we read, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name, give glory because of Your mercy, because of Your truth.” We are also called upon as believers to give God the glory because he has done wonderful things and he is faithful and true, as we read in Isaiah 25:1, “O Lord, you are my God. I will exalt You. I will praise Your name for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.”

We are also to give God the glory because of his judgment upon the wicked. In Revelation 14:7, we read that the saints are saying with a loud voice, “’Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment has come and worship Him who made heaven and earth and sea, the sea and springs of water.” And we are also to give God the glory biblically because of his deliverance. For all who call upon him, we read, for example, in Psalm 50 and verse 15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me.”

O child of God may this be our inward longing, our daily joy. May this be our eternal privilege to glorify the living God. For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's, Paul said in First Corinthians 6:20. So here it is gone, but the politics of persecution will continue, but so, too, will the expansion of the church.

Verses 24 and 25 tell us that

“The word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

“And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.”

…who we will discover is the cousin of Barnabas. I might also add, as we begin to close this morning, Peter now disappears from Luke's historical account and the focus now will shift towards Saul, who will become the Apostle Paul.

Now, may I challenge you with something briefly before we dismiss this morning? May I challenge you to glorify God in your life in six ways? Let me give them to you very briefly. First of all, glorify God by confessing Christ to others in your life. Philippians 2:11, we read that “Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

Could I challenge you to do that?

Secondly, glorify God by praising him often in your speech and in your conduct. Let others hear about the glory of God and all that he has done. Psalm 50 verse 23 says, “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me and to him who orders his conduct right, I will show the salvation of God.”

Thirdly, will you be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ? First Peter 4 verse 14, if you were reproached for the name of Christ, “blessed are you for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”

Fourthly, could I ask you to glorify God by committing yourself to relying on his promises? Romans 4 verse 20, we read Paul saying, “I did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.”

Fifthly, could I ask you to bring glory to God by bringing forth fruits of righteousness in your life? Philippians 1 verse 11, Paul says, “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

And finally, may I ask you to bring glory to God by being faithful in your Christian service, whatever it is. Whatever gift God has given you, will you use that for his glory?

Fifthly, 1 Peter 4 verse 11, we read, “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

May the Lord convict us all to these ends, that whether we eat or whether we drink or whatever we do, we will do it all to the glory of God. Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Father, we thank you for these eternal truths; and for those who think they are foolishness, who will hear them today and will never allow them to penetrate their heart, I pray that by your grace, you will pierce their heart with the truth and they will see their sin for what it is and cry out to the Savior and be saved. And Lord, for those of us who know and love you, may we know you and love you even more fully, more deeply and more faithfully. To this end, we pray for your glory in Jesus' name. Amen.