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Acts 12 - Peter In Prison | Episode #330 | Encore Episode #001 · Reflections On The Word With Richard Kay

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to today's edition of Reflection on the Word with
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  Speaker 1: Richard K. I'm Chuck Christie, and today we are asking
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  Speaker 1: you to spend a few moments of your time with
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  Speaker 1: us each day as Richard shares from God's Word with notes, quotes,
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  Speaker 1: and stories, along with some of his own personal experiences,
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  Speaker 1: to confirm for you God's great love for us, that
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  Speaker 1: his compassion for us never fails, and that he has
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  Speaker 1: a great faithfulness toward us in every regard. In Lamentations
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  Speaker 1: chapter three, verses twenty two and twenty three, we read,
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  Speaker 1: because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed,
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  Speaker 1: for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning.
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  Speaker 1: Great is your faithfulness. Now, if you miss a portion
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  Speaker 1: of today's broadcast or would like to recommend it to
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  Speaker 1: a friend, you can hear this program anytime online at
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  Speaker 1: Talknetwork Radio dot com. Well, now here's Richard with today's reflection.
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  Speaker 2: We read in the Book of Acts chapter twelve, about
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  Speaker 2: that time King Herod cruely attacked some who belonged to
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  Speaker 2: the Church, and he killed James John's brother with the sword.
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  Speaker 2: When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded
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  Speaker 2: to arrest Peter two during the days of unloven bread.
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  Speaker 2: After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned
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  Speaker 2: four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending
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  Speaker 2: to bring him out to the people after the passover.
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  Speaker 2: So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being
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  Speaker 2: made earnestly to God for him by the church. On
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  Speaker 2: the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution,
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  Speaker 2: Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,
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  Speaker 2: while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. Suddenly,
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  Speaker 2: an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone
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  Speaker 2: in the cell, striking Peter on the side. He woke
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  Speaker 2: him up and said, quick, get up. Then the chains
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  Speaker 2: fell off his wrists. Get dressed, the angel told him,
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  Speaker 2: and put on your sandals, and he did so. Wrap
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  Speaker 2: your cloak around you, he told him, and follow me.
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  Speaker 2: He went out and followed, and he did not know
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  Speaker 2: that what took place through the angel was real, but
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  Speaker 2: thought he was seeing a vision. After they passed the
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  Speaker 2: first and second guard post, they came to the iron
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  Speaker 2: gate that leads into the city, which opened to them
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  Speaker 2: by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and
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  Speaker 2: immediately the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself
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  Speaker 2: and said, now I know for certain that the Lord
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  Speaker 2: has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's grass
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  Speaker 2: and from all that the Jewish people expected. When he
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  Speaker 2: realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the
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  Speaker 2: mother of John Mark, where many had assembled and were praying.
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  Speaker 2: He knocked at the door in the gateway, and a
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  Speaker 2: servant named Rhoda came to answer. She recognized Peter's voice,
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  Speaker 2: and because of her she did not open the gate,
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  Speaker 2: but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at
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  Speaker 2: the gateway. You're crazy, they told her, but she kept
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  Speaker 2: insisting that it was true. Then they said it's his angel. Peter, however,
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  Speaker 2: kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and
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  Speaker 2: saw him, they were astounded. Motioning to them with his
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  Speaker 2: hand to be silent, he explained to them how the
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  Speaker 2: Lord had brought him out of the prison. Report these
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  Speaker 2: things to James and the brothers, he said. Then he
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  Speaker 2: departed and went to a different place. At daylight, there
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  Speaker 2: was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what
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  Speaker 2: could have become of Peter. After Herod had searched and
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  Speaker 2: did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered
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  Speaker 2: their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Cessarea
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  Speaker 2: and stayed there Acts Chapter twelve Versus one through nineteen.
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  Speaker 2: You know, as we read in that particular scripture, there
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  Speaker 2: are several things that are important to be able to
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  Speaker 2: understand what was taking place. You see, the early Church
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  Speaker 2: was being persecuted by not only Herod as well as
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  Speaker 2: the Romans, and they were being imprisoned and put to
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  Speaker 2: death because of their faith. In many ways, they were
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  Speaker 2: facing the penalty of a crime they did not commit.
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  Speaker 2: They only preached what they already had witnessed to be true.
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  Speaker 2: And so, being locked in prison, Peter was actually under
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  Speaker 2: a very strong armed guard, four squads of four men each.
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  Speaker 2: These four squads meant that Peter was guarded by sixteen men.
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  Speaker 2: He was actually chained to two of the guards. Obviously
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  Speaker 2: they did not want Peter to be released. And yet
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  Speaker 2: in the night Peter is sleeping, and from all of
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  Speaker 2: the appearances, the guards were sleeping as well. And here
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  Speaker 2: the miraculous answer for the prayers of the saints is
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  Speaker 2: illustrated by God. What does he do? He sends an
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  Speaker 2: angel to come into the prison and free Peter? How
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  Speaker 2: does he do it? The first thing. The Angel wakes Peter.
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  Speaker 2: The scripture says that he strikes him, but basically he
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  Speaker 2: is nudging him away. Peter is not so much startled
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  Speaker 2: as he is in somewhat of a fog. He doesn't
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  Speaker 2: realize that the angel is actually releasing him. The angel
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  Speaker 2: gives him specific instructions. He tells him to find his
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  Speaker 2: clothing and put the arm. He tells him to put
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  Speaker 2: his sandals on, and he also tells him to take
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  Speaker 2: his cloak or his coat and follow him. Now, he
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  Speaker 2: does exactly what the angel says. They walk past the
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  Speaker 2: first and second sentry guardposts, and the doors of the
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  Speaker 2: prison open before them. They walk out of the prison
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  Speaker 2: and into the street. Then the angel leaves Peter. Peter
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  Speaker 2: then walks on his own. The scripture says he came
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  Speaker 2: to himself, so apparently at that point he realized he
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  Speaker 2: was not just seeing a vision, he was actually living
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  Speaker 2: that example of the deliverance that God provided. When Peter
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  Speaker 2: approaches the door where the church is gathered praying, he
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  Speaker 2: is known there by Rhoda, who is the actual servant
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  Speaker 2: that recognizes his voice. She doesn't open the door because
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  Speaker 2: she hears Peter as he's knocking and he's calling out.
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  Speaker 2: She insists that Peter is there, and yet the people inside,
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  Speaker 2: who were earnestly praying for Peter, did not believe that
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  Speaker 2: it was him. They thought, perhaps his angel, maybe this
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  Speaker 2: is a spirit. But Peter continued to knock, and so
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  Speaker 2: they opened the door, and upon seeing him, they were astounded.
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  Speaker 1: Richard will be right back in a moment to wrap up.
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  Speaker 1: But if you've just joined us, you've been listening to
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  Speaker 1: Reflections on the Word with Richard Ka, you can hear
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  Speaker 1: this message in its entirety again online as well as
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  Speaker 1: Richard's entire archive at Talknetwork Radio dot com. We would
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  Speaker 1: like to acknowledge our theme song, how Great Is Thy Faithfulness,
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  Speaker 1: from the America's twenty five Favorite Hymns album, unless otherwise.
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  Speaker 1: Express scriptures are read from the Holman Christian Standard Bible,
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  Speaker 1: which is published by Homan Bible Publishers in Nashville, Tennessee.
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  Speaker 1: Additional resources used for Reflections on the Word with Richard
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  Speaker 1: Kay include Great Is Thy Faithfulness by Our Daily Bread
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  Speaker 1: and printed by Discovery House Publishers. Again, here is Richard
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  Speaker 1: to wrap up today's message.
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  Speaker 2: And what took place during this process is somewhat amazing.
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  Speaker 2: And that is the church was praying for Peter, and
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  Speaker 2: it says they were earnestly praying, and yet they didn't
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  Speaker 2: believe the answer to their prayer. Peter was standing in
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  Speaker 2: front of them, flesh and blood. He had not been executed.
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  Speaker 2: He was completely freed from prison, and they could then
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  Speaker 2: rejoice together. The following portion illustrates what the penalty was
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  Speaker 2: for the guards. Those guards who were assigned the task
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  Speaker 2: not to allow Peter freedom. They were executed according to
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  Speaker 2: Herod's order. Well, we see here that this particular passage
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  Speaker 2: proves that in some ways God will answer prayer even
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  Speaker 2: beyond what we ask or think. That is today's Reflection
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  Speaker 2: on the Word.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Richard. Join us again tomorrow when we continue
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  Speaker 1: with the next edition of Reflections on the Word with
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  Speaker 1: Richard k Or Richard and the entire team. This is
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  Speaker 1: Chuck Christie saying thanks for listening to this edition of
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  Speaker 1: Reflections on the Word.