In Death and Deliverance, Jesus Is in Charge

This is what we’ve seen throughout the book of Acts. Do you remember, in the space of one chapter—Acts chapter 12—we have Herod attacking the church, James the brother of John being killed with the sword, Peter being arrested, Peter in prison, chained between two soldiers, guards watching at the entrance?

And yet the church keeps on praying. The church doesn’t just accept that there is going to be no change in these circumstances. They cry out to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s in charge.

And sure enough, those prayers are answered. During the night, the Lord sends an angel. Peter’s chains fall off. He walks past the guards. The iron gate opens for him, and he’s standing outside and free. He’s free! Peter can’t believe it. He assumes it’s a vision, but it’s real.

And when he knocks on the door, the girl doesn’t believe it either, because she’s surely understood that Jesus is in charge and that good can come out of James being killed, and Peter being imprisoned, and the church being persecuted. But she cannot believe that, in the midst of this suffering, even in the short term, good can come out of it.

Now, the same is true of both circumstances: of James being killed and of Peter being released from prison. In both circumstances, the Lord Jesus was in charge and was working all things for the good of his gathered people. And the same is true for every Christian.