"And in these
days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there
stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the
Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all
the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius
Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his
ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren
which dwelt in Judea: which also they did, and sent it to
the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." (Acts
11:27-30).
"Now about that
time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex
certain of the church... Peter therefore was kept in
prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him." (Acts 12:1,5).
"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 was Mark." (Acts
12:24-25).
We may get great help
from the incident recorded in Acts 12 if we realize the
vast implications of it. When verse 24 speaks of the Word
of God growing and multiplying it is dealing not merely
with what happened at Jerusalem after the release of
Peter, but with the spread of the Gospel into all the
earth. Here was a notable turning-point in the affairs of
the people of God - "But the word of God
grew and multiplied." The explanation of it,
however, is surely in the earlier statement which
discloses the secret crisis which brought about this
turning of the tide - "But prayer..."
(Acts 12: 5).
Everybody knows, of
course, that chapter 13 marks a new division of the Book
of the Acts, and that it introduces a very important
development in the life of the Church. From that point
there was an amazing and altogether new sending forth
into all the earth of the testimony of Jesus Christ; the
Word of God was indeed multiplied. But the narrative runs
straight on from chapter 12, and is closely connected
with it. We must not imagine that this new development
was unrelated to what had gone before, but rather take
note of how closely related were the events at Jerusalem
with what was initiated from Antioch.
Significance
of the Time
(1)
Spiritual Triumph at Antioch
"Now about that
time..." What time? The time of great spiritual
victory and blessing at Antioch. The Spirit of God was
mightily at work in the city, and for a year Saul and
Barnabas had been ministering there among the new
converts who were notable for the great grace of God
which could be seen in them. Then, in the midst of this
happy time of fellowship and instruction, a practical
matter arose. By means of a prophet who came down from
Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit presented them all with a
practical challenge. He always does this. And very much
depends on how we react at such a time of challenge. The
saints at Antioch were told of an impending famine in
Judea, and thus, in a very practical way, they were
tested as to how much they had really profited from what
they had learned. It was a critical moment. By means of
the Prophet Agabus they were being proved as to whether
the grace of God was really working effectively in them.
They stood the test. Their response was immediate and
whole-hearted. They set aside any feelings which they
might have had as to their remoteness from Jerusalem or
their independence of it. Their brethren were in need.
That was enough. Love triumphed, as they determined to
send help, every man according to his ability.
"Now about THAT
time, Herod the king put forth his hands." Is
not that just like the devil? Just when there is a new
movement of the Lord among His people and a fuller
expression of the triumph of His grace in their hearts,
Satan reacts with increased hatred and opposition. This
is all so true in our own experience.
(2) The
Beginning of an Apostolic Partnership
Another significant
feature in the timing of this evil attack was that it
also marked the beginning of a very important association
of two men - Barnabas and Saul. They had known each other
before, indeed it was Barnabas who first brought Saul to
Antioch. Now, however, there was coming into being a most
vital and significant movement of God, which demanded the
joint ministry of the two men. In the providence of God
they were found together at Jerusalem at this very time;
it may be that they were present at the special time of
prayer for Peter. We must not surmise too much about
those movements of the apostles which are not recorded in
the Word, but surely the Holy Spirit has a purpose in
recording their presence in Jerusalem immediately before
and after the story of Peter's deliverance from Herod.
Chapter 11 ends with the arrival of Barnabas and Saul in
Jerusalem. They had come with their gifts for the needy
saints of that city. It is true that no further mention
of them is made up to chapter 12:24, but when the
narrative is resumed at verse 25 we are told of the
fulfilment of their ministration and their return from
Jerusalem. This seems to show clearly that the chronicler
wishes us to understand that Barnabas and Saul were still
in Jerusalem during the intervening period. A further
confirmation seems to be found in that the prayer took
place in the house of the mother of John Mark (Acts
12:12), who was the very same young man who
accompanied Saul and Barnabas back to Antioch. This
Jerusalem prayer meeting seems to be taking on an
altogether new significance. It is related to issues much
larger even than the ministry of Peter and of the local
church. It first checks and then reverses the rising tide
of spiritual opposition, opening the way for a mighty
release of the Spirit's energy through the whole Church.
(3)
The Time of the Passover
There is one more point
which should be noted with regard to the time element,
and this is that it was the time of the Passover. "Those
were the days of unleavened bread." It seems
that in some general way the saints still kept the Jewish
feasts; indeed in Jerusalem it was impossible for them
not to do so. Even if they did not strictly observe the
Jewish festivals, at least they would keep the Passover.
We cannot fail to take some note of them. There is no
doubt that as the Passover was being celebrated they
would be vividly reminded of that other Passover, not so
many years before, when the Lamb of God was offered up
for their redemption. But there is always a danger that
our commemoration of spiritual things should become
formal and lifeless, instead of expressing up-to-date and
living values. The Lord has to take precautions to
deliver us from this peril. He may have seen that at
Jerusalem they were inclined to celebrate the victory of
Calvary as a matter of past history, a deliverance that
belonged to a former day, and so permitted Herod to
stretch forth his hands in a new attack, in order that
the people of God, being forced into fresh conflict,
might prove anew in a personal way the present power of
Christ's glorious victory. So this was not so much
Satan's timing as the timing of God. There was no
question as to the ferocity of the assault upon them. "But
prayer...." And we may truly add, "But
God...."
Do not let us be
discouraged when the enemy renews his attacks, nor fall
into the mistake of imagining that the Lord is against
us, just because life is difficult and full of problems.
There is a timeliness about what is happening. Great
things are afoot. It was precisely when the church at
Antioch was responding whole-heartedly to the Lord, when
a new day was dawning for the world-wide testimony of
Christ, and when God was about to give His people fresh
proof of the completeness of Calvary's triumph. "Now
about THAT time Herod the king put forth his hands
to vex certain of the church."
This will help us to
appreciate an important fact, namely that our personal
difficulties and trials, our local, corporate experiences
of spiritual conflict, have a vital relationship with far
bigger activities of God than we can imagine. "But
prayer was made earnestly of the church...";
"But the word of God grew and was multiplied."
These two things are very closely connected.
God's
Use of the Famine
It was the famine which
occasioned the presence of Barnabas and Saul in
Jerusalem. We know that there was such a famine, and that
it was very extensive. Not only are there other authentic
accounts of the great dearth in Jerusalem itself, but
there are also records of famine conditions in Greece and
Rome. It was one of those times when the whole world was
in straitness and suffering. While it may be exaggeration
to suggest that the world situation happened in order
that God's purposes might be realized among His people in
Jerusalem and Antioch, there is no question but that
world-conditions are used both by the devil and by the
Lord for specific activities and interests among God's
people.
Now, suppose that the
saints at Antioch, who apparently were not themselves
affected by the famine, had been unconcerned and unmoved
concerning the needs of their Jewish brethren. Barnabas
and Saul would not then have gone to Jerusalem at this
time; they might have missed some Divine purpose, and
there might have been no missionary developments at
Antioch, as described in chapter 13. A great deal may
have come out of the sending of relief to Jerusalem. None
of us knows how closely interrelated are spiritual
issues.
An ordinary Christian,
one of those who met for prayer at the house of John
Mark's mother, might have thought that he had nothing to
do with the great apostolic mission, and the triumphs of
the Gospel through Barnabas and Saul. He himself might
have thought that he had nothing to do with it. God alone
knows what spiritual energy is released to the ends of
the earth when even a simple group of saints meet for
prayer, and not only meet for prayer, but win through in
prayer. The conflict may seem to relate to some purely
local situation or personal need, but if those who are so
beset rise up in the Name of the Lord, claiming the
fullness of His victory, the local and personal victory
will become the occasion for the release of spiritual
forces in a widespread way.
The
Test of Persecution
We find that the famine
was followed by persecution, by Peter's imprisonment, and
by severe testing for all the believers. What was the
devil's purpose in this persecution? Was it not to
scatter the saints, to divide them, to make them lose
heart, and perhaps to compromise, or even to give up
altogether? We, too, are affected by world-conditions, as
they were by the famine. It may be that some of us are
not involved in actual persecution, but we also suffer
from Satan's attempts to discourage and divide us. Peter,
it is true, was the one actually in prison, but the whole
church was on trial; they were all being tested as to
whether they would stand firm in the evil day and win
through to victory. It is so easy to enjoy meetings, to
appreciate Bible teaching and to be loud in our praise to
the Lord, and then, when the conflict comes, to go all to
pieces. It would not have been difficult for them to lose
heart. James had been taken violently from them; Peter
was in prison and apparently finished; everything seemed
to deny the reality of their faith. What would be the use
of going to a prayer meeting?
And, of course, the
human element usually cornes in. We may be quite sure
that Peter was not a perfect man, and that under such a
stress it would be very easy to remember his faults. It
might possibly have been argued that if he had behaved
differently he might have avoided arrest. Satan's effort
was to break into the midst of that flock, to destroy
their close fellowship, to get them doubting, questioning
and arguing - anything but standing firmly together in
faith. They might have felt that this imprisonment was
Peter's business and not theirs. They might have let him
find his own way out, perhaps putting up a little
perfunctory prayer for him, but feeling in general that
it was his own personal concern. And we, too, are exposed
to these same perils and temptations. We do not have to
wait for active persecution, for Satan is always seeking
to make us divided in spirit, suspicious and critical of
one another, or at best rather coldly independent. The
devil focuses his attention on making the church lose
faith, lose hope and weaken in love. We are not now
treating of whether one should go to a prayer meeting -
some of the most important elders could not be present at
this one - but remarking on the spiritual principle of
resisting every attempt at scattering.
The church in Jerusalem
did not succumb to this temptation, but rallied together
in earnest prayer and love, not for Peter only but for
the will and glory of their Lord.
The
Victory in Jerusalem
"But prayer..."
Here is the spiritual answer to a spiritual challenge,
and very much depended on the outcome. If the victory had
not been won at Jerusalem, if the saints had been
scattered, disheartened and defeated, what would have
happened to the Word of God? The real battle was
concerning the release of that Word. The supreme concern
was not what should happen to the church in Jerusalem,
nor even what should happen to Peter; what really
mattered was what should happen to the Word of God. When
the saints gathered for prayer at Mary's home, though
they probably did not realize it, they were fighting out
the battle of world-evangelization, of the growth and
multiplication of the Word of Christ. There are two
'buts' in this chapter. The first of them was the
responsibility of the church: they refused to be moved.
Satan was attempting to overthrow, to scatter, to destroy
love and to turn faith into despair, when he was suddenly
checked by a mighty spiritual resistance - "But prayer..."
It was a turning point. The whole course of events
was arrested, and there followed a blessed sequence of
Divine acts of deliverance. It was straightforward after
this, for God had taken matters in hand, and was sweeping
aside all opposition, that His people might be led out
and onward to new triumphs. In verse 24 we have the great
Divine 'but', "BUT the word of God grew and
multiplied." This was the answer to their
praying; the first responsibility lay with them, then God
took things up in a mighty way, and said 'but' by
releasing His Word far and wide.
Like the church at
Jerusalem, we too, shall be confronted with attacks upon
our faith, our patience and our love. If we do not
resolutely face up to these personal and local conflicts,
pressing through to victory in the Lord's Name, what hope
is there of increase and multiplication? On the other
hand, if we do take up the challenge as they did, by
stemming the onrush of spiritual disaster with our "But
prayer..." God will surely respond with His
'but', and clear the way for increase and new fullness.
The
Far-reaching Effects
So it appears that there
was a very large background or setting to the prayer
battle in Mary's house. The Christians at Jerusalem
thought that they were being assaulted on a purely local
and personal issue. They felt, and rightly so, that by
prayer they could win an immediate and local victory.
Thank God they did. But what they did not know, what they
could hardly have imagined, was that this was a turning
point in Divine strategy, a victory which would produce a
great release of the Lord's servants and of His Word. An
ordinary rank and file believer in Jerusalem might have
questioned whether it really mattered so much whether he
was triumphant or defeated, whether after all very much
depended on his loyalty and faith. It mattered far more
than he could realize. It always does. It matters
tremendously. There are far-reaching issues involved in
the spiritual victories or reverses of the people of God.
And so when Peter was
released, something else was released, the whole
situation was released. For a time it seemed as though
everything was shut up. The one man, Peter, seemed to be
an embodiment of the whole state of affairs. He was shut
up, he was in chains, and it seemed as if an end were
coming to all the activities of the Spirit through the
church. Everything then depended on whether the Lord's
people would accept what appeared inevitable, whether
they would give way to the opposition and be defeated by
it. Had they done so, there is no guarantee as to what
might have happened. But instead of giving way, they rose
up in faith to assert that the Passover was no mere
commemoration of a past victory, but the celebration of
the ever-present power of Calvary's universal triumph.
God responded by releasing Peter, but more than that, He
gave new and mighty increase to the whole testimony of
the church.
We now move on into Acts
13, to find that Barnabas and Saul are on the eve of
being thrust out by the Holy Spirit into the uttermost
parts of the earth. We must remember that they had just
come down from Jerusalem in the spiritual good of a great
victory, they had come down on a tide of glorious life
and power, released in answer to believing prayer. From
many points of view, Jerusalem and Antioch may have been
different, but there can be no question as to their
spiritual relatedness. The organic nature of the church
means that we depend very much on one another. It is
never the Lord's way to confine His working to limited
and localized matters. He takes hold of our trials and
conflicts, making them the occasion for the registration
of important spiritual victories which will bring great
and widespread increase. In actual experience the people
of God are bound up together in vital association for the
interests and glory of the Lord.
A Word
of Warning
There remains just a
word of warning concerning the young man who came down
with Barnabas and Saul. Mark, of course, had every
encouragement to be a missionary. He had been through all
these thrilling events. With others he had been plunged
into the darkness of battle, he had felt the sorrow of
seeming defeat, he had heard the prayer and he had
witnessed the wonderful answer. When Barnabas and Saul
returned to Antioch, full of the story of God's marvelous
deliverance, Mark went down with them, thrilled with a
sense of the overwhelming power of God. So enthused and
inspired was he that he had no difficulty in offering
himself to go to the ends of the earth for Christ. We are
therefore informed that when Barnabas and Saul set out "they
had also John as their attendant" (Acts
13:5). But it did not last long. "John
departed from them and returned to Jerusalem"
(Acts 13:13). It seems that he was not
prepared to travel quietly on into dark and forbidding
territory, steadfastly believing that the God Who
answered prayer at Jerusalem was still with them. Just
the outward experience of things does not carry us very
far. Saul and Barnabas had something more than that; they
had a deep inward knowledge of the triumph of Calvary,
and of the ever-present reality of the conquering Lord.
This is a note of
warning, lest we should be among those who take up the
matter of prayer warfare in a superficial way. We cannot
live on thrills and wonders. We shall not always get
quick results. The increasing spiritual conflict will
call for an ever deeper and inward knowledge of the Lord.
Mark's enthusiasm did not carry him very far. Perhaps he
did the best thing in returning to Jerusalem. It may be
that for the time being it would have been far better for
him never to have left it. After all it was there that he
had learned something of the power of God. We do not
know. But we do know that in a simple home in that city,
a gathering of ordinary and unnamed Christians fought a
mighty spiritual battle, and won through to a victory
which had repercussions in the lands and nations far
beyond. And this may be true of us all.
Harry Foster