Be Still And Know

Acts 12:11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” At this time the early Church was growing fast and this was making King Herod increasingly nervous. He was determined to tighten the screws and so he arranged for the killing of James, the brother of John. This went down very well with the Jews and so he decided to arrest Peter, the leader of the Church, and kept him under the closest possible surveillance. He was guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, and chained as he slept between two guards. King Herod must have assumed that nothing could possibly go wrong, but he hadn’t taken God into account! That night, an angel woke Peter up and led him out of the prison (vv6-10). Not unreasonably, Peter first assumes that his dramatic rescue is a wonderful dream. But, as our text reveals, he suddenly realises that he really has been set free! Now he has to reckon with th