Get Out of Jail Free
Acts 12:6-17
My family loves to play Monopoly
We have the NASCAR addition
Where instead of buying properties, you purchase drivers
Instead of New York Avenue, Reading Railroad and Water Works
You have Mark Martin, Grandstands and Pit Pass
You have champion drivers like Matt Kennseth to drivers to never win a race like Dave Blaney
And the most coveted properties on the board aren’t Boardwalk and Park Place
They are Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart
So its safe to say, the only tome I can pull for Gordon and Stewart is when I am playing Monopoly
Did you know that the original Monopoly game was actually based on streets and avenues in Atlantic City NJ?
Why Atlantic City? I don’t know
Known as one of the greatest Casino gambling cities in the world
Preciously why I’ve never been there.
But one of the spots you try your best to avoid is the Go to Jail, right there in the corner
Once you land there, you must go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200
But everyone else playing loves to see you land on that corner
You can be stuck there for up to 3 turns
In our passage this morning we read of a time that Peter was sent directly to jail
And we don’t know how long he stayed
Probably at lest a couple of days
But we don’t know
But in the game of Monopoly one of the ways you can get out of jail is by obtaining a “Get out of jail free” card
And Peter, unknowingly possessed one of these cards
Because he got out of jail free and clear
READ ACTS 12:6-10
Go Directly to Jail (4-6)
This was an amazing period of time for the early church
These events occurred about 10 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection
The church was spreading like wild fire
And part of that was due to persecution from people like King Herod
King Herod related fairly well to his Jewish subjects
Because he had a Jewish grandmother of royal blood
He was grudgingly accepted by the people
An unexpected opportunity for Herod to gain new favor with the Jews was created by the Christian movement
Gentiles began to be accepted into the church in large numbers
Many Jews had been tolerating this new movement as a sect within Judaism
But is rapid growth had alarmed them
Persecution of Christians was revived and even the apostles were not spared
In the beginning of chapter 12 we read how King Herod had James, one of the 12 apostles, beheaded
The first apostle to be martyred
This pleased the Jews
So Herod thought, I’ll get Peter too
So Peter was arrested and put in prison
This was all part of what Jesus had warned the apostles about
Jesus said to be part of His kingdom would mean suffering with Jesus
In Mark 10:38-39 Jesus said they would drink from the same cup
James, John, Peter and others would indeed suffer
Peter at this time was no doubt on cloud 9
Spreading the Gospel
Seeing souls saved by the thousands
God was truly blessing His followers
Peter was working his way around that Monopoly board
He had just purchased Boardwalk and Park Place
And on his next turn he was going to place a few houses on them to increase his potential earnings
But as his piece sat on B & O Railroad he rolled a 5
Landing him on Go to Jail
Herod threw him in prison
He didn’t just lock him up
He placed a guard of 16 men over him
At all times two guards were chained to him in his cell
While two others stood guard outside the cell door
These soldiers would rotate out among the 16 in order to stay fresh and alert
There was no escaping, or so they thought
One lesson we can learn from this is even amongst the good times
When everything is going great
God is blessing your life, you are studying His word
Telling people about Jesus
You are seeing souls saved
Right in the midst of doing God’s work
Trials can come
God allows something awful to come into your life
You may not be thrown in prison
But you still experience pain
Unexplainable pain, undeserving pain
But a trial just the same
Time and time again in the scriptures we see great men of God that after great times of spiritual revival or spiritual events
These men are tested
Noah after the flood
Elijah after the defeat of the prophets of Baal
Jonah after preaching in Nineveh
A spiritual high is often followed by a spiritual test
And Peter was being tested. Are you being tested?
Are there events in your life that seem impossible?
Were you trucking right along
Around the game board of life only to land on the go to jail spot?
God may be testing you
Or maybe you are still on that spiritual high
Cruising along amidst the blessings of God
BEWARE!
A test may be on the way, it may be around the next corner
Do not forget that God is with you
Stay in His word
Continue to talk with God
He will be with you through the storm that is about to confront you
You may be sent directly to jail, without passing go and without collecting $200
Peter went directly to jail
But soon he played his get out of jail free card
Get Out of Jail (7-10)
READ 7-10
This section leads us to a question
Why did God allow James to die and yet miraculously save Peter?
Life is full of questions like this
Why is one child physically disabled and another child athletically gifted?
Why do people die seemingly before realizing their potential?
These are questions we cannot possibly answer in this life because we do not see all that God sees
He has chosen to allow evil in this world for a time
But we can trust God’s leading because He has promised to destroy all evil eventually
In the meantime, we know that God will help us use our suffering to strengthen us and glorify Him
We look at Job’s life as an example
As he struggled to understand why all this was happening to him
It became clear that he was not meant to know the reasons
He would have to face life with the answers and explanations held back
Only then would his faith fully develop
We must experience life the same way Job and Peter did
One day at a time and without complete answers to all of life’s questions
Will we trust God no matter what?
We don’t know what Peter experienced while in prison
Maybe he had thoughts like “Why is this happening to me?”
“This isn’t fair”
He may have feared for his life since his friend James was just beheaded
Herod’s plan undoubtedly was to execute Peter
But amazingly Peter remained calm
How do we know this?
Well it says so in verse 6 (READ V 6)
You see it there?
“Peter was sleeping”
He was calm enough to sleep
He rested in the comforting arms of His Lord
He may have remembered back to when His Savior was arrested and murdered
He knew of the slaying by the hands of men life Saul
And fresh on his mind was the picture of his good friend James’ head being separated from his body
But still he slept
Amidst our trials, among our troubles and pains
God is there to bring us sweet rest
As he slept, the angel of the Lord cam to him
And a bright light - the glory of the Lord - filled the prison cell
Yet somehow not waking a soul
The angel shook Peter awake and pulled him to his feet
Miraculously his chains fell off
God’s sent an angel to rescue Peter
Angels are God’s messengers
They are divinely created beings with supernatural powers
And they sometimes take on human appearance in order to talk to people
They are God’s servants, just as we are
Peter jumped up and listening to his instructions put on his shoes and coat
Then they simply walked out of the prison
But the Bible says he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening
He thought he was seeing a vision
That ever happen to you?
I’ve been known to do a little sleep-walking and sleep-talking in my time
Mom tells a story of me as a child walking into the living room in my PJ’s and commenced to playing a game of baseball
Eyes wide open even carrying on a conversation with mom and dad
All the while I was asleep
Suddenly I turned around and went back to bed
With absolutely no memory of it ever happening
And yes it is hereditable
I’ve somehow passed that on
Peter thought he was dreaming
As they strolled past the first guard he must have thought
“This has to be a dream since they do not see me”
As they passed the second guard, “Now I know this is a dream, for they haven’t spotted me either”
Then Peter witnessed an amazing display of the force
The force of God as the huge iron gate that led to the city opens all by itself
All the while going unnoticed by the guards stationed around the prison
He and the angel walked down one street and then Peter’s partner
The one that helped spring him from jail
His “get out of jail free card”, disappeared
Peter’s turn came
And as he was rolling that Monopoly dice he didn’t even realize he possessed the get out of jail free card
Finally he came to his senses, realizing it wasn’t a dream
It was really happening
Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent His angel and rescued my from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating
You see, the other players in this game, Herod and the Jews, thought they could win the game easily while Peter was in jail
They meant to take over the Monopoly board while he was detained
They had the game won in their minds
But Peter had a secret weapon, God
And His get out of jail free card
Just when you think you’ve lost
When things couldn’t get worse
God will send His angel to free you
You never know when God will send His get out of jail free card your way
Us it wisely
Rely on God’s deliverance
Often times we try to get out of the hard times on our own
We deal with the pain in our own way
According to our own understanding
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Leaning has the sense of putting your whole weight on something, resting on and trusting in that person or thing
When we have an important decision to make
Or when going through a painful period in life
We sometimes feel that we can’t trust anyone
Not even God
But God knows what is best for us
He is a better judge of what we want than even we are
We must trust Him completely in every choice we make
In every trial we go through
We should not omit careful thinking or belittle our God-given ability to reason
But we should not trust our own ideas to the exclusion of all others
We must not be wise in our own eyes
We should always be willing to listen to and be corrected by God’s Word and wise counselors
Bring your decisions to God
Bring your trials and burdens before His throne in prayer
Use the Bible as your guide and then follow God’s leading
He will make your paths straight by both guiding and protecting you
You ever lean up against something thinking it would hold you but it gives way?
I have. What happens?
You start to stumble and fall
If you leaned on it hard enough, you might even fall to the ground
That is what it is like when we lean on our own understanding
Our feeble minds and thought processes will fail us
Especially in a time of trouble and trial
Not leaning on God will cause you to stumble and fall
Making the pain even worse
When one of these huge lineman in the NFL gets hurt on the field
And have to be helped off the field
Would one trainer be enough for him to lean on?
Not usually, there are two or three helping him get to the sideline
Sometimes they even get the motorized cart to carry the player
God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is a three man team that can carry you off the field
Its like you can lean your whole weight on that cart
To avoid being hurt even worse
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Lean totally on Him, the only One able to carry you through
Nope, Sorry, Still in Jail
Sometimes when we play Monopoly I need to give the kids a little advice
They tend to spend their money unwisely at times
They need a little guidance, a little help from the other players
Peter, while in jail was receiving such help
The church was praying for him
It says in V12 many were praying
As a church the greatest thing we can do when a brother or sister is in pain is pray for them
Notice how the church didn’t put together a mob and try to break Peter out of jail
They didn’t petition Herod to release him
They simply prayed
When we know a fellow Christian is in trouble its not always best to barge in and try and rescue them
God may be trying to teach them some great truth
He may be strengthening their faith
We need to do everything possible to help them
But most of all we need to be on our knees praying for them
And the great thing is
Peter knew they were gathered together in prayer
He knew right where to go
Mary’s house
He knew he could go there for help
Are you known as someone that a person in need can go to for help?
If someone is in pain, can they rely on you to be praying for them?
One of the greatest blessings you can experience is for someone to tell you “I am praying for you” and you know they mean it
I have a friend that I know is praying for me
That is a great comfort
If you are praying for someone, let them know
Let them know where they can turn in their time of trouble
Let them know they are not alone
Someone is praying
But the saddest moment of this story is the initial response of the church
V13-17
This hired servant girl, Rhoda, a part of the church, had great faith
She knew Peter had been rescued and was so excited that their prayers had been answered
She forgot to let him in
She ran to the praying group announcing the miracle of answered prayer
But they said, you’re out of your mind
The prayers of that group were answered, even as they prayed
But when the answer arrived at the door, they didn’t believe it
We should be people of faith who believe that God answers the prayers of those who seek His will
When you pray, believe you will get an answer
Pray expectantly
And when the answer comes don’t be surprised
Be thankful
When you come through a terrible trial in your life
And God brings you out of it
Others may not believe as readily as you
They may be willing to think you are still in jail
Once they truly see you have been rescued
They may be astonished like these people were
This is why we must fully rely on God alone
People will let you down
Your family will let you down
Your fellow Christians will let you down
Even the preacher will let you down
But God will never let you down (Don’t let us down Lord)
Won’t happen
Don’t allow others to say, “Nope, sorry, you’re still in jail”
Show them God has set you free
They may be astonished, but it will lead to a great revival
V17 Peter had to calm them down
He motioned with his hand for them to be quiet
And proceeded to tell them his story
Peter got his get out of jail free card
And then went on to win the game
The other players lost
Herod and his guards were beside themselves on how Peter escaped
V18 says there was no small stir among the soldiers
And losing this game didn’t simply mean you lost all your money and properties like in Monopoly
These 16 soldiers lost their lives
Herod had them executed
God wasn’t through with Peter yet
That was the difference between him and James
James’ mission here on earth was complete
So God called him home
You are immortal until God calls you home
You may be riding a spiritual high right now
Enjoy it, because soon you may go directly to jail
A trial may be on the way, right around the corner
Prepare yourself now so that your faith will remain strong
God will be with you in that jail cell
His angel is on stand-by ready to come rescue you
And cause those chains to fall off
Maybe you are in jail right now
Take comfort because God is still with you
He will one day say, Quick get up, put on your coat and shoes and follow me
And He will lead you right out the front gate
You will get out of jail
And then have an amazing story to tell others in order to encourage your fellow Christians
And our job as a church is to be gathered together in prayer for others
We need to be consistently praying for our fellow Christians that are in their jail of trials and pain
And when our prayers are answered praise God for them
Do not be surprised and astonished
But excited and amazed
We should shout for joy when our prayers are answered and standing at our front door
We serve an amazing God that does answer prayer in amazing ways
Because as Christians, when the game is over we all win.
