matter again from the beginning (chapter 11: 4) and explains how God had made this new

Gentile ministry clear to him.

Now we come on to chapter 12: where is recorded the miraculous deliverance of

Peter from prison. This particular type of miracle goes right through this book. If it is

ever our lot to be thrown into prison for our faith, and no-one can say that will never

happen to us, can we expect an angel to come and open the door and let us out? Hardly!

Which only shows that some of the conditions of the Acts period are not true today. The

local church had been praying for Peter's release, but they forgot to watch for the answer!

Fancy praying to God for the release of their leader, and when God answered the prayer

they were astonished; they would not believe it when at last he knocked at the door! But

then you and I have no stones to throw, because doubtless that has been true of us as well.

We have prayed but have not watched, and when the answer came we have been

surprised. May God keep us, not only praying along the lines of His will, but watching as

well. The Lord has enjoined us to "watch and pray".

Now you will notice at the end of chapter 12:, the record of what happened to Herod

sitting upon his throne; and it makes one wonder why this is inserted. "And upon a set

day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.

And the people gave a shout saying, It is the voice of a god (or, it is the voice of God)

and not of a man. And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, and he gave up the

ghost" (12: 21-23). So here is another direct judgment, like we have seen occurred to

Ananias and Sapphira. God is still judging directly for sin in the Acts. But there is

another reason for this insertion about Herod taking divine honours. If we know the

Word of God we shall remember that the Apostle Paul told the Thessalonian believers

there would arise someone called `the man of sin' who would sit in the temple of God,

showing himself and claiming that he is God (II Thess. 2: 3, 4). And so the stage, as it

were, was already being set for this to happen and had the people of Israel repented, the

wonderful prophecies of the Book of the Revelation concerning the end time could have

run their course. A time that could produce a Herod, who could take divine honours; a

time that could produce a monster like Nero, could certainly produce those represented

by the wild beasts of the Book of the Revelation (chapter 13:). And while Herod and

Nero did not fulfil the prophecy, there it was, all shadowed forth at the time, only waiting

for Israel to repent and turn to God and His prophetic Word would have been fulfilled to

the letter. That is why Peter did not hesitate in Acts 2: to link Pentecost with the great

time of judgment at the end, the Day of the Lord (Acts 2: 19-21).

We come now to the second section of the Acts of the Apostles which deals with the

commission and ministry of the Apostle Paul.  Chapter 13: records his first public

speech at Antioch. First we have Saul and Barnabas being separated by the Holy Spirit

for service (verse 2 and onwards) and then comes the record of Paul commencing his

ministry with a miracle, just as Peter did, but with a difference! Peter heals a Jew; Paul

does the opposite and blinds a Jew. "And when they had gone through the isle unto

Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew" (13: 6). In the Acts we

have pictorially two sides of God's truth for Israel. He was willing to heal them if they

repented and forgive their sins, and send Christ back to them.  But if they were