Acts 12:1-11
Down through history there have been some remarkable prison breaks, but here is the most extraordinary. It took place without the prisoner’s help. He was broken out by someone being on the inside and the outside at the same time. Peter didn’t realize it until it was all over, but he made it his testimony.
We can find ourselves bound, surrounded, and imprisoned in life, in the home, in our health, in our finances, or even at work. The same God who broke Peter out of his impossible prison can break us out too. Because we trust the Lord, we can be free.
It was a dark night for Peter. Herod wanted to help the Jews get rid of the early church. James was the oldest and boldest. Herod had him captured and killed with a sword. His next target was Peter. Herod’s strategy was to get the inner circle and break down the church. King as he was, in command as he was, Herod failed to realize there was a King higher than he would ever be. Our hope doesn’t lie in our political leaders. It’s in the Lord.
Peter didn’t fight them off. He had no trial. He was found guilty on the spot of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. If there is anything in life I want to be found guilty of, it is of being in Christ. The Passover was coming. Herod decided to wait until it was over and have a public execution. Peter was delivered by 16 personal armed guards to maximum security of the inner prison. He was on death row. It was so crowded he could barely get in his own cell. What did he do? He went to sleep! No matter how secure the devil thinks he has you, nothing can keep the Lord out. There is always reason to pray. God doesn’t operate like we do.
It looked like a hopeless situation, but the Lord was doing more for Peter than was being done to him. There was a lot going on behind the scenes. Someone was planning his escape. The Bible says “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” His church family kept praying. We can formulate our own plans, but why not just go to the Lord. He has a plan.
The Lord sent an angel. He didn’t knock the soldiers in the head. He simply appeared in the cell with Peter. The world can’t see what we see. The angel gouged Peter and told him to get his clothes on. His chains fell off so he could do just that. Peter didn’t think about it at the time, but as he got to each door, it opened. The Bible says “when they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.”
God does it for all of us. If we’re imprisoned, the same Lord who broke Peter out of prison can break us out. This left Peter with a testimony. “And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.” Peter was free. He was free from prison and free from what everyone expected to happen to him. It was his sworn statement. “I know I am free!”
So many people expected the church to just go away. The expectations of the world don’t dictate our outcome. God does! Let’s trust him. Let’s believe him.
How confined are you? Be confirmed. Trust in the Lord. He is your refuge.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 