Too Certain to be Denied

Unbelievable but too Certain to be Denied

Acts 12:1-19

By Kurai Chitima

Faith in God works wonders. Yohh!  Living by faith does not provide every explanation but has convincing efficacy. It whets an appetite for more of God.  After you have shared and heard experiences with God, something still calls within – there must be more than this. We have to dare believe God.  The church in Judea was not going through an easy time (Acts 12:1-3). About this time, they were facing severe hardship through a severe famine and now a wave of persecution from ruthless king Herod.  King Herod had James put to death by the sword. When this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter. The context suggests he wanted to appease the Jews by killing Peter also. So it was a time of shaking. Shaking comes to test foundations. But praise God whenever there is persecution look out for the best of the church.  God supernaturally intervened to rescue Peter from ‘the death row’.  The rescue was so unbelievable that Peter initially thought he was dreaming. The believers gathered to pray called news of the rescue madness and King Herod thought it was mischief on the part of the guards.

It was as Dreaming. In prison, Peter was bound with two chains to two soldiers. The jail was guarded by four squads of four each. The night before his trial Peter was sleeping.  Like the Lord Jesus he was sleeping in a storm (Mark 4:38). Peter had peace passing all understanding (Philippians 4:7, Isaiah 26:3).  Peace is an on going inner condition that is manifest in times of trouble. When overcome by fear and worries there is something you have not handed over to God. In your midnight hour watch out for the break of dawn – even in darkness light dawns for the upright (Ps 112: 4).  God moves the immovable and stops the unstoppable. Grace suddenly appears when its time.  Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared (Acts 12:7) at unexpected time, without warning, in unusual form and untraditional way. Everyone was surprised or shocked.  It was so incredible yet too certain to deny (Like Psalm 126).  In his live ‘dream’ peter was woken up by the angel. The guards went into deep sleep. Light shone. Chains fell off. Without haste, he told Peter to put on his clothes and follow but did not announce he was rescuing him.  Peter did not argue with the angel. Arguing with God wakes up the guards. Further, Peter allowed God through the angel to finish his job. He just took one-step at a time and the steps led him out of the prison.  Your daily obedience is leading to His fullness. Just dropping of chain, or dressing up or going past first guards, etc Peter needed to follow all the way to final breakthrough. The angel left Peter when he was able to continue on his own. The angel did not come to take over but to take him through. When Peter was free, he reached out to others.  He had been sustained by their prayers. You need others to pray for you. Sometimes you are too weak, too unaware of the danger you face, you need the enhanced power of agreement prayer. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail (Luke 22:32).

>It was Madness. The Jerusalem church was not new to persecution and they always responded in prayer. The church was most powerful when it prayed. They prayed until something happened. They prayed with dramatic results. That is how it was born (Acts 2).  Earlier, they prayed and the place where they were shook (Acts 4:31). This time they earnestly prayed (Acts 12:5, 12) and shook heaven, hell and the prison.  However, when Peter knocked at the gate of the house of John Mark where they were gathered to pray the answer to their prayer took them by surprise.  A servant girl Rhoda was quick to believe it was Peter knocking (Acts 12:14). To the rest it was too good and too quick and they concluded she was out of her mind. She had to persist until they thought perhaps Peters angel or ghost was outside.  Sudden breakthroughs require faith, humility and a heart to recognize God when he comes in unexpected ways. Watch out for what the Rhodas have to say. 

>It was Mischief (Acts 12:18, 19). The guards only realized Peter was gone in the morning. The King would not believe their story and executed them for negligence or connivance. The rule was they suffer the same kind of punishment the prisoner should have suffered.  God will do for you that which your enemy cannot stop. He gives you the victory and leaves confusion in the enemy’s camp.  God fought the battle. Things were happening by themselves - people praying. guards over sleeping, light shining, chains falling off, gates opening up, etc  Yours is only to cooperate by patiently obeying God’s word and leading step by