He proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread. When he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. When Herod would have brought him forth the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison. And he spoke Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Rise up quickly! And his chain fell off from his hands. The angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, And follow me. He went out and followed him, And wished not that it was true which was done by the angel, But thought he saw risen. When they were past the first and second ward, They came and threw unto the iron gate, that leadeth unto the city which opened to them on his own accord. And they went out and passed on through one street and forfeit. The angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. When he had considered a thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was marked where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken named Brutus. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art man. but she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then they said, It is an angel. But Peter continued knocking, and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But he beckoned unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go show these things unto James and to the brethren. And he departed away into another place. Now as soon as it was day, there was no small spur among the soldiers what was become a keeper. When Herod had sought for him and found him not, he examined the keepers and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Idemir, but down from Judah to Cicero, and there abode. and Herod was highly discreet with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord to him, and having made blasphemous the King Shabelin, their friend desired peace because their country was nourished by the King's country. And upon a set day Herod arrayed in royal apparel fell upon his throne and made an ovation unto them, and the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a God and not a man, and immediately the angel of the Lord spoke him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. But the word of God grew and multiplied, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John whose surname is Mark. One at the night we were speaking to the Christians on the subject of prayer from this passage, and it was a delightful passage relative to the responsibility of Christians to pray. But I want to apply it this morning in the Gospel to those who are not Christians especially, for it will be something for the child of God also. One could entitle this in various ways, Beside the one we had in the paper, you have the soul's danger here, Peter in prison, and destined to die by heaven. Then the soul's deliverance, how God came in and delivered him, and the soul's delight, how wonderful it was when Peter was delivered. Then you have the power of Satan. and the power of prayer and the power of God. That also could summarize this chapter. You have man's intention, herit intended to kill Peter and the church's intercession. The church prayed, and then the church into God's intervention, how God came in and delivered Peter. Then you might say you have the Christian's peril here, Peter's peril. But you have the Christian's preservation or protection, and then the blasphemer's punishment at the end of the chapter. So we have four outlines of this amazing incident. So I want this morning to get into this subject and apply Peter as a type of the unseen. I might mention relative to James here, who her killed, he killed James. Now, James had a brother by the name of John, the son of Boniger, James of John. Then you have another James, and James is the son of Alphaeus. That's another James in the New Testament. Then you have James, the Lord's brother. He's the one that wrote the book of James, and they call them camel knees because a man of deep piety and likely spent much of his time on his knees. Now out of these three, the first one, the brother of John, is the James that Herod killed. And so you have in this incident the power of Satan. Herod was determined he was going to exterminate the early church, put to death anyone, everyone he could find who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and he deliberately, intentionally put James to death in cold blood. And he saw it pleased the Jews. So they said, I'm going to get Peter too. He's their real leader. I'll get him. But I'll wait seven days, laugh or Easter, and then I'll kill him. But Peter in prison. What a type he is of an unsaved person. In other words, man is a prisoner, and if you're not a Christian this morning, you are a prisoner. I believe we can convince you of that. You have a ball and chain, something that's holding you back, and how helpless you seem to be to come to Christ. Some of you, I believe, would like to be saved, but you just can't seem to get up your mind, make up your mind to come to Christ. There's something holding you back with a ball and chain. Yes, you try to come to Christ and see how something or some person will hold you back. A lot of people think they're free. They're the old masters. You can do what they like. No, you're not. If you're not a Christian, something is holding you back. You're a prisoner. Remember one time of the man, he was out on patrol. And he had his area to cover, and he caught a man who was trying to get into the area for sabotage. And he caught the man. And so he sent word in over there to calm. He sent word in to the head office. He said, I've got a prisoner. What's your name? What's his name? He said, where's your location? He gave the location. He said, bring him in. He said, he won't come. He'll come yourself. He won't let me. So instead of him having a prisoner, the prisoner had his. You see that? And that's the way it is. You think that you're in command and you can get saved or do what you like, go where you like, and all the rest of it. You try to come to Christ and you will find out that you're a prisoner. The devil's got you and you can't do what really you'd like to do. because the devil will try and prevent you. There's something holding every man, every woman back from coming to Jesus Christ. God says, come unto me, all ye that neighbor, a heavy laden, and I will give you every. You try. And see how there's a force working that keeps you from taking that step coming to Jesus Christ. I wonder if you realize that this morning. You're a prisoner to watch sin. My, the whole sin has upon them really. Sarah, something inside of you. You just don't want to just say again. You don't want to come to Christ yet. Something is holding you back. Satan, of course. is holding you back. He doesn't want you to get saved. Your family can hold you back. In my life, I know many a person who wanted to get saved, but the family held them back. The Lord says, unless you forsake mother, father, wife, and husband, children, brothers and sisters, he cannot be my disciple. And it is the danger of the friend holding a man or one back from coming to Jesus Christ. What about your friends? They can hold you back too. And what about pleasures? They can hold you back. You're a slave to these things. Often times tradition. People hear the clear gospel of the grace of God, and then their tradition background, background or religious background. They remember the church, the same church that parents remember all in a way, goes back to grandmother, great grandmother, and that's their tradition. And you try to get them to count that Jesus Christ to be saved, and their tradition will come up. and hold them back, hold them back. And also many things that hold men and women from coming to Christ. Unbelief. He says, the Lord says, you will not come to me that you might have liked. Why wouldn't they come unbelief? And it's unbelief like a fallen chain that's holding you back from coming to Jesus like you are a prisoner. Also, Peter was guarded. Sixteen soldiers outside the cell and two inside the cell, and he was chained to them. Yes, and the devil got his guard, watching you every moment of every day. A guard. Guarding you, lest you come to Jesus Christ. What were these guards? Five. When the Spirit of God starts to be with you, and so you're a lost sinner, you're better humble yourself, pride rises up with him. Now you're a man, you don't want to do that. And the guard cried into thee. And also there are other guards on duty. progastination. When a person is just about ready to make the step and come to Jesus Christ, a guard speaks up, put it off. Don't settle it now. Wait till tomorrow. There's another guard. Oh, yes. And what about your pals? Your pals find out you're interested in becoming a Christian. You'd like to become a Christian, a real Christian, not just going to church, but a real Christian. Your pals say, don't do it now. Oh, have a good time. Don't do it now. That's another God. What about possession? The rich young ruler. He won the eternal life, but he was rich. And the God speaks up. Now listen. You've got a lot of money. Spend it and enjoy it. Don't get saved now. Wait. Yes. And pleasures. The God. What's your pleasure? He comes in. Anything to keep you from making this decision. Peter was a prisoner. He was gone. And he was under the sentence of death. Oh, that's you. You're a prisoner this morning and you're well guarded. The devil doesn't want you to get there. And under the sentence of death, yes, the Bible tells me over in John three, eighteen, he that believeth is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned always. You don't have to wait the judgment day to be condemned. You're condemned now. If you're not a believer, God said you're condemned now. All it means is to carry the sentence out. He that believes is not is condemned already. Peter was under the sentence of death and believed. Solomon knew. Peter was in Dibnizot. Yes, it was dark in the prison. And you're in the dark. Man is born in the dark as the spiritual thing. Born in the dark, that's natural darkness. He comes to the time in his life when he is awakened to the fact that he's a sinner needs a favor. Here's the gospel. And he's faced with a decision. If he says no... then Jesus is in willful darkness from natural darkness to willful darkness and the more he rejects that light and is a willful rejector of Jesus Christ if he does it enough then there can be judicial darkness God will find your mind. God will make it possible that you will believe. The Bible teaches that. He has given them the spirit of compromise, that they will see and believe. You can reject Jesus Christ so often and reject the light so often that God will say, all right, stay in the dark. My spirit shall not always find with man. That's the scripture that troubled me night and day when I was in my peace. I knew God spoke to me. He spoke to me very young in life. I didn't want to go to Sunday because I'd get under conviction. I hated to go to the Gospel meeting, especially if a man came along like Sam McCune of Virginia used to come to Canada. These men laid it on the line, and I used to tremble. I couldn't get out of that place quick enough. God was convicting me of my sin. That text often came to me. My spirit shall not always fly with me. I come home some night, midnight, and afternoon. I told it before. My mother used to stand down about two blocks where the Nelson Street turned. When I grew up the gang, I'd see my mother standing under that tree, looking for her wandering more. If the weather was bad, she'd be inside the side door. When I put my hand on that side door to open, I heard someone crying on the inside and sobbing. I opened that door to step into the arms of my mother. She threw her arms around my neck. Son, remember, God's spirit shall not always try your hands. She'd give me a kiss and I'd go up to my bedroom and I'd see tears on a lapel of my throat. I was fighting. Yes, willful recess. But thanks on to time came when I accepted Jesus Christ of my being. And the fourth darkness is eternal darkness. Natural darkness. Yes, that natural darkness, it was brought into this world, the signal of God, then that willful darkness, then that judicial darkness, you crossed the line. That means eternal darkness, the blackness of darkness forever. Jesus, that thing, so Peter was in the dark. And also he was bound with chains. My how secure he was. He was bound with chains. And you're bound too. The wicked is holding a bound with a cord of his sins. And the longer you put this off, the more you're going to be bound and the harder it's going to be to break those sins. You know, you see very few old people get saved. A little fella and his buddy were playing around one day and trying to prove who was the strongest. And so they had to have a spool of ordinary thread. And one fella told him, well, you can wrap some around on this. I'll tell you, I'll break it. Well, he wrapped around a couple of threads. He thought it was Sunday. Then a boy said, I'll wrap around some more. And he did. He had a struggle that time. Finally he wrapped around about twenty threads. He couldn't break. He tried, he tried, and then he gave up there were some marks around his wrist. He tried so hard. That's just what sin's doing every day. Another strand, another strand, another strand. It's going to be just that much harder. man is treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and the righteous judgment of God. Just keep putting it off. That's why it's so hard to see elderly people come to Christ. I've been in this nursing home and many others in my life trying to point some dear old soul to the Savior. They listen to the truth, but they don't make it the truth. They've lived in sin too long. It may not be granted. They just have been doomed to accept Jesus Christ for no longer than which and the heart of the heart against people who bound with shame. With a man one time, he manufactured handcuffs. He got in a ball in a nightclub and was arrested. When the police came, handcuffed them, I had them in the patrol car, taken the day. He began to sober up, looked at these handcuffs. They had his name on. He was a manufacturer. He said, I can't break the idea. Friend, the reason you can't come to Christ this morning is because you're handcuffed. And you've made it. You are responsible for your condition, your shame, as only God can break that old shame. Only God can set you free. This case was hopeless. He couldn't. Peter there, old sixteen soldiers around the and then to inside he was chained to them and then there were walls walls and gates and gates Peter couldn't begin to get out of there he was helpless and then you were helpless this morning you can't save yourself God has got to save only God can let you keep you only God can let you do It was one of the points that used to keep me awake at night. And I think the night or two before I got saved, this awfulness dawned on my soul. If God doesn't save me, I do. God's got to save me. I can't save myself. I could pray for the rest of my life. That wouldn't save me. I could give everything I've gotten. That wouldn't save me. I could give up whatever I'd like to do here and make myself a monk. That wouldn't save me. If God doesn't save me, I'm done. Salvation to the Lord. God doesn't save you, your Lord. eternally lost. Your good works, your church membership, your audiences won't save you. God has got to save you. Peter was happy. But there's a bright side here. He was being prayed for. In that home of Mary was a group of Christians and they were praying for you. And you better thank God All you and audience are getting saved from other people who are interested in you getting saved and they're praying for you. And you better thank God. Yes, Christians are praying. Maybe members of your family are praying for you. They see your danger. You don't see it. These Christians knew Peter's danger, especially when he was asleep. He didn't realize it's danger. Friend, there were those who did see Peter's danger. They knew it, and they will pray. And friend, we who are saved in this chapel know your dangers. We see your dangers. You don't seem to see it. We do. And if you don't get saved, it means the blackness, the darkness forever. And the sooner you're awakened to that fact, the better. They prayed for it. Why do we preach the gospel? Why do I study all week in praise, come here on Sunday mornings, or preach? To make money, God forbid. For fame, God forbid. I'm no sin to you. Why should I preach to you? I want to see you saved, no matter who you are. As you were walking down the road some night you saw a house on fire, you wouldn't inquire in there whether it's a friend you knew or someone you didn't know or an enemy. You'd jeopardize your life to try and rescue out of the fire. Kinship didn't mean a thing. You weren't seeking money or fame when you tried to help burning people out of a burning building. And that's what I'm trying to do. I don't want your money. I don't want your praise. You're no king to mine, but I love your soul, and I want to see you delivered from going down to hell. And if you go to hell, you'll go up. not only by God, not only by loved ones, but by the Christians too. For there were in that prayer meeting that made quite a few friends of Peter, and there were some relatives of Peter too. There were mothers in that meeting that might pray for Peter. Don't forget there are people praying for you. You know this, what happened? You see the power of God at this moment. There's Peter asleep. The Christians are praying. The moments are ticking by. Peter's going to be put to death in the morning, for this is the seventh day. And Peter's fast asleep. Now it's time for God to work. God heard those prayers. And an angel. came into the cell. It says a light is all in the prison. And the angels smote Peter on the side. Peter, wake up! Rise up! Yes. And that's what the Spirit of God does. This is the work of the Holy Spirit to wake them up, sleeping sinners. He comes in with the light, the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. Satan had blinded the mind of them that believed not, that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them and they should be saved. Here is the Spirit of God and he finds a smite youth. He's bringing the light, the angel and the light, and he swore to people, he did it. He woke them up. And he says, Peter, rise up! This thing was urgent. The Spirit of God, lightly, has come with a gospel. You're hearing it this morning. He wants to awaken you up. He wants you to see. But when Peter was awakened, he looked around about, ah, yes, the fact dawned on. He was chained to two soldiers. Sixteen soldiers outside the cell. He was in that big prison. He couldn't get out. And Peter was going to die this morning. That's what Herod said. Peter, you better get out. Rise up! And he did. Preach the didache back there. There are four things in that verse, verse seven. The light shone in the Christmas. Their messenger came in, Satan, or rather the angel, the Spirit of God. And the light gives the gospel. And conviction, the angel smoked Peter. He must have been in a sound sleep. And the messenger says, Peter, rise up quickly. Peter, they haven't much time. Rise up quickly. Those four things do not wonder. You know, God took care of those soldiers. What kind of spell came over them? I don't know. But they were unconscious of the fact. The soldiers couldn't do a thing. Although Jane the Peter, that strange how whatever was holding Peter, whether it was handcuffed or whatever it was, God disengaged him from those two soldiers. God opened that prison gate and he put a spell on those sixteen soldiers around there. They came to another gate and he opened it, the angel did, came to another, he opened it, he went to, and they came to the big iron gate that leads out into the city. and it opened to them of its own accord. Talk about God having what you might call today the electric eye. I remember the first time I went in one of these supermarkets, but I put my foot down, I wasn't aware. The thing opened. What's happened? Electric eye. God had an electric eye back here. That great door opened of its own accord. And the angel took Peter through that gate, and he went down one street. Now he says, Peter, you're on your own. You're on your own. This is Peter's deliverance. And friend, the angel of God, or the spirit of God this morning, is showing you the light. See your condition. It's dangerous. And Peter, I want Peter, hurry to smoke Peter. Is the Spirit of God smiting you, speaking to you, troubling you? Is he saying you better do something, do it quick? Rise up Peter! And what did Peter do? He did that. He obeyed. He ruled that. Now remember, it was God who took care. of the soldiers. It was God who took care of the chain. It was God who took care of the gate from the boat. And the Christians were praying, Peter, it's all up to you. God has held the enemy at bay. He kept Herod from killing you. And now he's put all these soldiers to sleep. He'd broken those chains. You're free. And the gates are already open. Peter, what are you going to do? It's all up to Peter. And then let me tell you this. In spite of God's mighty power. In spite of the prayers of all Christians. It's all up to you. You have got to make the final decision. If Peter had said then that the angel smote him and woke him up, he said, Ah, listen. Let me go back and see. Peter, don't you know that there's a die in a few hours from now? Maybe a couple of hours? And those who know that Christians are praying, ah, but let me go back to you. All right, Peter, you'll be a corpse. It's just that you are. It was all up to Peter. And friend, it's all up to you, in spite of the power of God, the Savior. fight of all the prayers of God's people and the preacher, of God's word. If your decision to make, if I could make it for you, I would but I can't. If your wife could make it for you, she would. If your mother could make it for you, she would. She can. Every man shall give an account for his own gift. This is something you've got to do. The decision is your moment. I wonder if you're going to do what Peter did. He said he rose up and he followed the angel. I wonder if you're ready this morning to rise up. The Lord is in this case. And you think when Peter was awakened, he could have looked and seen the marks of those handcuffs on him. Maybe the chains were on his ankles. Yeah, the chains, the marks of the chains are still there, but Peter, a free man, he'd say, I've met a lot of people in my life, but after they got saved, they still had the marks that still. I've met men who were drunk and shocked, and their house has gone from their years of debauchery and sin. God saved them and they're happy. But whatsoever the man saw it, that shall he also eat. God's not going to give you a new body, a healthy body, after you spent many years in sin. When you're just saved, he's not going to give you a healthy body. There'll still be the marks of sin in your life until the day of your death, but your soul can be saved. That's it. blood of blood out all in your sins, and you'll have the assurance he'll give you a body like unto his own, unto resurrection morning. How wonderful those four things are in verses seven and eight. He says, Peter, guide thyself. You'll notice what he's talking about. Gird thyself. Put on thy sandals, cast thy garment about thee, follow me. Four things. The first thing, Peter, got up. Peter now, gird thyself. What does the Bible say about girdles? He's talking now in the spiritual sense. Peter says, gird up the loins of your mind. This is knowledge. That very moment, Peter had the knowledge. He was a free man. A saved man. Yes, do you have that knowledge? A new knowledge, Gerdaica, the knowledge of the might. He said, put on your sand, little Peter. Give a new walk. When you're saved, a new walk. And he said, pass by a garment about thee on the garment streets of Catechist, a new Catechist, Peter. For Peter had that garment among them. And when you just say there's something that the people can see on the outside, and the angel says, follow me. And now you've got a new obedience. Four things. Peter got a new knowledge, a new walk, and a new character, and a new obedience. He's now following the Lord instead of the world and pity and sin. And you'll notice in one of these verses, verse nine, when he got out on the main street, for a while he thought it was a vision. Can't you that? As though he saw a vision, it says in verse nine. And he went out and followed him, the angel, and wished not that it was true, but thought he saw the vision. He was kind of in a day. It's just the truth. May I'm dreaming. Some people think that when they get saved. Isn't it true, really true, that all my sins are forgiven, that I have everlasting life and never perish? I know some people have a few little doubts in there. Is it really true that I'm saved forever? You'll notice what happened when he went through the first, second, third ward and the big gate opened. Then he says, Now I know the next verse. Now I know, he says, in verse ten, when they were past the first and second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leads us unto the city which opened to them of his own accord, and they went out and passed on through one street and forth with the aim to be parted from him. And when Peter now comes to himself, he says, Now I know of a surety that the Lord has sent his angels and have delivered me. He now knows. He has a surety, and he has a good testimony. No doubt now. Paul says over in First Corinthians, I declare unto you the gospel. how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Three things. He died, he was buried, he rose again. And here are the first and second wars and then the big gates have opened. Those three points. As you get a grip of that, Christ died for you. He rose again. He's alive, and he lives with God's right hand. Peter says, if no doubt I am saved. I know that I'm born again. I know I'm going to heaven. My sins are all forgiven. Just to say for sure. How wonderful to have this absolute assurance. I know I'm saved. I'll never, never thirst. I wonder if you're going to make that decision this morning. You know, this is a very solemn chapter. I want to go on and speak about when Peter found out he was a free man. He went to a prayer meeting. He went to Mary's house where they were all prayerful. He wanted a new fellowship. Yeah, a new fellowship. I'll tell you, if you get really saved or born again, you'll seek the fellowship of God's people, even at the point of coming out on a Wednesday night prayer meeting. That's a good test, these days, no other person got saved enough. They want to go to a prayer meeting. They want new fellowship. But this chapter of Solomon, it opens with a death, and I close it with a death. There was no small stir among the soldiers what had become of Peter. Friend, if you get saved, there will be no small stir among your old buddies. And friend, what becomes you? That there was something wrong with him. And when I got saved, up in Canada, And it wasn't long. I worked in a big railroad shop where a thousand men worked in a familiar natural railroad shop. You know, it was only a week. I was circling it all around that I was teaching Sunday school over in Newark, and I was only being saved a week. And it got all around me. Mr. Wilson got saved. And he was going to play hockey more? No. That's all. Well, I just can't. Well, I can't. Because I know what goes along with that. I know what seems to travel that time by train is what happened at the station when the train pulled in and girls waiting and go to the hotel and the bottles waiting. As a Christian, I can't say. No small stir among the soldiers. What happened to people? Then there will be no small stir among your friends and buddies and women. Then will you come to know Jesus like there will be a chain. There's a death at the beginning of the chapter. Herod smote Peter. But there's a death at the end. God smote herod. And he smote Herod with an awful deed. Worms aiden. Rotten flesh. He can't win. Herod thought he could win at the beginning of the chapter. He killed James. Oh, blood. He was going to exterminate these Christians. At the end of the chapter, God smote him. You'll turn it with. There are two smites in this chapter. The angels smote Peter in the prisoner, set them free. The same angels smote Herod and he died with an awful disease. I'd sooner be the one filled at the opening of this chapter, James, than he went to heaven. I don't want to be and never will be the one dead in the end of the chapter whom God gave. He went to hell. How about you? How are you going to die? God wants to sing. He wants to sing. It'll either be the smiting of conviction and conversion or the legal smiting of death and of judgment. Herod signed his own death warrant when he killed him. And you can sign your own death warrant by rejecting Jesus Christ. What will it be? We'd love to see you saved. We'd love to see you saved this morning. If you value your soul, you're precise. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He wants to see. You're so helpless in your sight. But is one who has all power to take care of those barriers this morning, this process. And have joy of being a Christian and knowing the prayers of so many.