you Welcome to An Orderly Account with Pastor John Stewes, where, from the book of Acts, we're learning how the Holy Spirit of God is filling the earth with the Kingdom of Jesus. All are welcome to join us for worship at Church of the King each Lord's Day at Kingdom Builder Books in Roseville. We celebrate family-integrated worship with the hearty singing of psalms and hymns, the proclamation of God's Word, and weekly communion. Go online to WaterlooAccount.com to learn more about us. Now, here's Pastor John Stoos. We'll remain standing this morning for the reading of God's Word. Our reading this morning will bring us to the end of chapter 12 in the book of Acts. Hear now the word of the Lord. Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, Peter declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, tell these things to James and the brethren. And he departed and went to another place. Then as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. 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. Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, but they came to him with one accord. And having made Blastus, the king's personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. So on a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, the voice of a God and not of a man. And then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God. And King Herod was eaten by worms and died. But the Word of God grew and was multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry. And they also took with them John. whose surname was Mark. This is the Word of the Lord. But this is sort of an appropriate place to take a short break as Luke in today's text gives us an important final picture of the Jewish nation. And then in chapter 13, he will begin to present the great missionary journeys of Paul as the Spirit continues to fill the earth with the Kingdom of Jesus. These two, I believe, go hand in hand. And that's what I'm going to attempt to show us this morning. Before Luke takes on the journeys of Paul, here in chapter 12, he has given us the final history of the other apostles that we see in the Bible. Their lives and ministries were filled with great blessings and great persecutions, just like the saints that we are given information about in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11 that we reviewed last week. There is more that we can gather from church history about the apostles and about their work and about their martyrdom. But we must remember that this is what the Holy Spirit of God chose to give us in the Scriptures. So Luke now turns also to the king of Israel at that time, the last king of Israel, King Herod Agrippa, the wicked king who had killed James with the sword and had arrested Peter. As we saw last week, Peter was miraculously delivered and Luke now turns to what happened in the aftermath of his escape. In verse 18, we read, Then as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. And there truly was no small stir because no one had any idea what had happened. But we also need to understand that there was a big stir because they all understood that under Roman law, the penalty for letting a prisoner escape was death. We'll see this again a little later in the book of Acts when the Philippian jailer almost takes his own life after what he thought was a great jailbreak. In verse 19 we read, But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. Now you can imagine the frustration of King Herod. He had gone to so much trouble to make sure that Peter was secure. He had planned such a great execution for Peter right after the Passover. Now, before we think that the execution of these soldiers was somehow unfair, we need to remember that these same soldiers had been guarding Peter all week. Do you think that they might have heard the Gospel? I suspect they had. In fact, some of them may have come to faith and even witnessed to King Herod in this time of examination, but we're simply not told. But you see, whether we will see these soldiers in heaven or whether they are now in hell depends fully on what they did with Jesus. How did they react to the gospel? Now, King Herod decides after this embarrassment, I suspect, that it was time to leave town. And King Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. Now, King Herod had been very angry, we're told, with the people of Tyre and Sidon. And when they came to him with one accord, having made Blastus the king's personal aide his friend, they asked for peace because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. We're not told why the king was upset with these people from Tyre and Sidon, but it created a big problem for them because their nations depended on Judea for much of their food supply. So these nations did what negotiators in most wicked countries figure out to do. They found the right man to bribe. In the King James, Lastus is referred to as the bedchamber. Man, he was the guy who guarded the king's bedroom, guarded the king while he slept. So you can imagine that this had to be a very trusted man. So the leaders of Tyre and Sidon went to Blastus because they knew that he would have the king's ear. He could talk to the king directly. And it appears that Blastus convinced the king that it would be in his best interest to make peace and then to make a big deal out of it at the upcoming games that were going to be honoring Caesar. King Herod had wanted to kill Peter after Easter, sometime in the spring. And these games were likely held in early August, so it would have appeared that King Herod had quite a period of peace and prosperity even after his great sins in Jerusalem. Any saints who would have wondered about this, thinking, wow, he killed James, he arrested Peter, and now he gets to go scot-free and celebrate being a king. Well, they could have taken comfort from the meditations of Asaph in Psalm 73, which was on our reading list if you follow our Psalms and Proverbs. Aesop had almost despaired when he considered and saw the wicked prospering. But when he entered the temple, when he saw things from God's perspective, he knew that there would be justice in the end. Such was the case with Herod as well. So on a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on the throne and gave an oration to them. The king was going to put on Quite a show. He wanted it to be a big show if he had to humble himself and make peace with those who had upset him. Josephus gives an account of this day and he describes the cloak that the king chose to wear as being made out of pure silver. And how the king arranged so that he would make his entrance right as the morning sun would be gleaming against that robe. You see, this was not a man who got caught up in the moment during this speech. This was one who had planned for this moment. These types of celebrations were common. They often worshipped men in the time of the Roman Empire. We're going to see that as we move on in the book of Acts with several different people trying to worship various of the apostles. And the contrast that we need to understand is that Peter or Paul or Barnabas, when they have people attempt to worship them, they put it to a stop immediately and insist that people worship only the one true God. Here we see that King Herod has been completely caught up in the sin of the surrounding culture of worshiping men and Caesars. instead of being the salt and light that He had been called to be. Instead of being a blessing to the nations, which a Jewish king should have been, to all the nations of the earth, He is ready and willing to accept the worship of these people and encourage them in their idolatry. I think it's important that we step back and think about how often we fall prey to similar temptations. How often do we allow the prevailing culture around us to determine our actions? We just had the blessing this morning of baptizing another covenant child. And we understand here at Church of the King the tremendous responsibility that we have in raising these children. But it doesn't come without a whole lot of pressure from the world. You see, as parents, have to decide whether we're going to faithfully raise our covenant children according to the Scriptures, or are we going to go along with the latest fads, the timeouts, or whatever else the psychologists of our day tell us we should be doing with our children. We're facing, in this world right now, some pretty tough economic times. And the question we have to keep asking ourselves is, do we follow the simple biblical advice regarding economics to work hard and to spend less than we make? Or do we look more often to the world's ways of trying to get rich by getting ourselves involved in excessive debt? Or having the mindset, especially when we're younger, that we have to have everything right now Just can't make do with that old washer. It's got to be a new one. And we get that mindset. Guys, just so I don't pick on the ladies, your cars will probably get you by the next year as well. We fall into the world's way of always wanting the latest and newest toy so that we can be content instead of biblically being content with what God has blessed us with. And finally, do we base our fashions in this world that surrounds us with television shows and all sorts of cultural information. Do we look to the beautiful and yet modest guidance that the Bible gives us for how we should dress? Or do we go with the latest examples and reviews and comments that we see in the magazines or in the Internet? Now, all of these examples that I've picked, and there could be many more, probably seem a little trivial when compared to what King Herod had done here. You say, well, John, we're not going out and encouraging people to worship us or murdering people or doing any of the great sins. I mean, we might slip up a few times, but come on. Give me a break. Well, we need to remember the warning that James gives us about sin. He says this in chapter 1. He says, let no one say when he is tempted that I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted by evil, and nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away, away from the Scriptures and from Jesus, when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. And then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. King Herod has committed murder with the unjust execution of James and now allows himself to be worshipped as a god. And he is about to receive his just reward for those actions. But we must remember that this man, as do all others, made small steps in the beginning of this road to hell. And James gives us all fair warning about traveling on the same path. It's been weeks, maybe months, as I pointed out, since James was slain and Peter was arrested. The saints may have wondered how King Herod could prosper after such sins, and now he is becoming even more famous. But, it's not going to last. We read in verse 22, And the people kept shouting, The voice of a God and not of a man. And then immediately, The angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God. And King Herod was eaten of worms and died. Now, I know that we've all had those times, especially in our modern age, where we wonder why God does not take such swift action more often. But we are comforted in knowing that He does at times, and in the end, all sin whether small or great, will be judged justly. The penalty for sin was propitiated by the work of Jesus for those who were saved, and borne by the sinners who refused to accept so great a salvation for all eternity. So we have judgment against King Herod. And then Luke turns again and speaks of the blessing being poured out on the young church, saying simply, but the Word of God grew and multiplied. The seed of the serpent has been crushed by the head of the seed of the woman. Here King Herod represents the end of the nation of Israel, just as Jesus had foretold. There is no more mention of Israel as a nation in the Scriptures. And even when Paul makes his last journey to Jerusalem, we see the Jewish council being called by the Roman authorities and a lot of what is just plain mob action. The story of Acts is the story of the Spirit bringing glory to Jesus by filling the earth with His kingdom. It begins the story of the glorious reign of Jesus over His kingdom. What we call today the church age is not a plan B or a parenthetical time out until God gets around to finishing His work with the nation of Israel. This truth was known and understood by the church for almost 1800 years. until error about the end times crept in and diverted our attention from the real work that needs to be done. What has rightly been called end times madness has given us charts and graphs about the church age coming to an end with the triumph of the Antichrist and Jesus having to rapture His saints out of harm's way before the great tribulation. We have best-selling novels. We have movies and lots of sermons to back all of this up. But there's one small problem. It does not follow the story of salvation outlined in the Scriptures. And it does great violence to many passages that they try to use in its defense. Let me give you just a simple test that I trust all of us here will pass with flying colors, but could cause real problems in many churches here in America today. How many times does the Apostle John mention the Antichrist in the book of Revelation? Great. Zero. Go to the head of the class. Now, that would be shocking to many congregations. shocking because they think the book of Revelation is all about the Antichrist. But you see, it's in John's letters that he speaks not of the Antichrist, but of Antichrist's false teachers. Now, obviously, I'm not going to have time this morning to review all of this. And depending on how much you've studied or where you're coming from, you may want to read a little bit more on this. I would certainly recommend David Chilton's book, Paradise Lost. as a good beginning. I think David does a great job of reviewing the whole subject and kind of putting things straight. But what I want to do this morning is to stress the point about why the Lord is giving us the details about the death of Herod. Why is this in the book of Acts? It is about as horrible a death as one could imagine for an individual. In the same way that Jesus said the destruction of Jerusalem would be for a city. King Herod was literally eaten alive by worms. I don't even want to think about how that happens. And apparently from Josephus' accounts, this has happened to several proud leaders down through history. And he tells us that Herod actually lived for five days in the agony and torment of this lion. Herod would be the last Jewish leader to rule in Judea. And the end would come for Jerusalem and the temple in just a few short years. And the end would come for both of them for the very same reason. They rejected Jesus. They rejected the Messiah. King Herod knew the gospel and likely it had been preached to him very recently by both James and Peter. King Herod not only rejected the truth of the gospel, but he lashed out at the saints with great violence, just as the Jewish leaders had done before him with Jesus. With Matthew's gospel, he gives us probably the fullest picture of how Jesus pronounced judgment on the nation of Israel after his triumphal entry. And there's a lot of controversy over chapter 24 and what it means or doesn't mean, but we often forget all of the context that leads up to that. And you can see almost the singular focus of Matthew if you follow what he puts in his account from the time of the triumphal entry up to that time of judgment. After the entry, Jesus goes, according to Matthew, and cleanses the temple. Now, this is something that he had done once before in his ministry, very early on, according to John. And that should bring to mind the Old Testament image of leprosy returning to a house, which would have meant that it had to be destroyed. Jesus then curses the fig tree that had no fruit, but only leaves, just as the people of this city could proclaim Hosanna on Sunday and crucify Him on Thursday. The Pharisees then question the authority of Jesus as He comes back the next day. And Jesus uses that to expose them as the leaders who refuse to acknowledge the authority of John the Baptist. Jesus then tells them a series of very convicting parables. The first was of the two sons who were told to go and work in the vineyard. And with Israel obviously being the one who said, Sure, Father, I'll go. And then not setting foot or doing a lick of work in the vineyard. Next came the parable of the tenants, the ones who refused to give the owner his harvest, abuse his servants and finally kill his own son. The Jewish leaders at this point are without excuse. Because Matthew tells us that they perceived that He was speaking about them. If you want a little homework this week, you can take a look at Isaiah chapter 5 or Psalm 80 and see why this vineyard image would have bothered these Pharisees. But rather than repent, rather than turn from their sin and turn to the Messiah for salvation, They harden their hearts and seek to kill Jesus. Jesus then lets them know that they can't ruin God's plan by telling them the parable of the wedding feast where the invited guest refused to come and again abused and killed the master's servants who were sent. And so the master this time sends his troops and destroys those murderers and burned their city. The beginning of the picture of the destruction of Jerusalem. The master then sends his servants out into the highways and the byways to invite one and all to the wedding feast. The good news was going to go to the Gentiles. Next, they try to trick Jesus with a question about taxes. And Jesus warns them about entanglements with Caesar and the world, which in the end is what destroyed their last king. And of course, the Romans themselves will destroy Jerusalem. Finally, Jesus silences the Sadducees with the truth about the resurrection. And the Pharisees try one last trick question about the law. Jesus tells them there are two great commandments. And then He challenges them with a question from Psalm 110. The question being simply, who is David's son? He predicts the coming of his kingdom by quoting this very psalm. The Lord said to My Lord, sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet. Matthew then tells us that no one was able to answer him a word. Thank you for listening to an orderly account from Church of the King in Roseville. Pastor John Stewes will continue to encourage you in this series next week at the same time. Church of the King welcomes any interested individuals, couples, or families to join us Sunday mornings at 11 for worship at Kingdom Builder Books in Roseville. We're a pro-life, pro-family church, preaching the word and celebrating communion each week. To learn more about us, visit us at orderlyaccount.com or call 916-451-5660. Mighty Lord, extend your kingdom. Be the truth with triumph crowned. Let the lands that sit in darkness hear the glorious gospel sound.