Miraculous God by Phil Kinney
Acts 12
Herod’s Violence to the Church
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”
12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
16 Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.
18 Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. 19 But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death.
And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
Peter has previously been placed in jail and an angel visits him to set him free. Here he is again – imprisoned because of his faith. Herod is trying to gain favour with the people so he has imprisoned Peter with the aim of killing him.
But God has another plan. He is the God of the impossible. He is the God who likes to be a part of our everyday lives. Peter has no other hope but God. Yet amazingly God operates in a way that is unexpected. The church is praying for Peter to be released. Their expectation is that Herod will release Peter – they are looking for a natural solution to the problem of Peter’s imprisonment. Yet God is not a natural God – He is a supernatural God who brings a supernatural answer to our natural world.
Too often we ignore God’s supernatural solution to the natural problems of life. We have a set natural expectation that God will move in only natural ways. We experience sickness, so we look for healing only through doctors. Doctors are great – they help us through difficult times, but they don’t have all the answers. Yet God has supernatural answers to our natural situations. He is the God who heals!
We experience financial lack, difficult times financially. And the natural tendency is to cut back on our giving, to look at natural means to try and overcome our financial problems. Yet God has given a supernatural solution. He says if we tithe he will pour out financial resources and provide a way through. It could be by a new job offer, a pay rise, or someone giving to us. He will always find a way through to bless us.
Too often though we think we know what should happen and we expect it to happen a certain way. Yet we see form two weeks ago when we looked at Cornelius – someone who traditionally had not been a part of the churches plan to reach – suddenly God is touching and blessing them.
We see this week that the church had one expectation for Peter – to be released a certain way –yet God does the miraculous and suddenly Peter is free. Yet the church isn’t expecting this, and when the servant girl tells them Peter is at the door they don’t believe her because it doesn’t fit their picture of God and how he works.
But God isn’t limited to our picture, and we can’t come to him on our terms. He is God. He is bigger than anything we can ask, think or imagine (Eph 3:20). He is able to do more than we can even conceive. And he moves in amazing ways to reveal Himself and His glory to us, that we may be drawn to Him. If you step through the Bible it is clear God does the unexpected:
• He is the God who at the beginning of time itself, spoke the Word and all or creation was formed.
• He is the God of the Exodus, with the Israelites surrounded by the Egyptian army on one side and the Red Sea on another, who parts the waters of the sea taking His people through to deliverance on dry land.
• He is the God who delivered Daniel by shutting the mouths of the lions when He was thrown into their den for praying to God
• He is the God who delivers Shadrak, Meshak and Abednigo from the flames of the furnace, thrown there for refusing to bow down to idols.
• He is the God who keeps the oil flowing for the faithful widow so she can pay her debts and not loose her sons to slavery
• He is the God who kept the flour bin full in the middle of the famine for the widow who provided for God’s servant.
• He is the God who caused the deaf to hear, the lame to walk and the blind to see.
• He is the God who fed over 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
• He is the God who calms to the storm when the boat is in danger of capsizing.
• He is the God who walks on the water, and calls Peter to himself doing the same – walking on water.
• He is the God who provides for Peters tax by miraculously placing a coin in the mouth of a fish Peter catches.
• He is the God who conquered death, rising again on the third day after being crucified for us
He is the God of the supernatural, the God of miracles.
He is the same God today as He was when each of these miracles was performed. He is the God of healing, of deliverance, of supernatural provision and blessing. He is all powerful – He is the God of miracles.
So it’s great to hear of the miracles of the Bible – but how do we get the miracles of the Bible in our lives. How do we see His healing, His deliverance, His blessing in our lives today?
We ask,
We walk with Him
We obey
Discussion questions
- Have you ever seen God do the miraculous?
- Do you have a situation you have just accepted as normal, yet God could change with a miracle?
- What stops you believing God will do a miracle?
