Acts 12 Round Two: The Gospel Reaches New Places

A sword, a cell, and a shout that sounds like worship—Acts 12 moves from tragedy to triumph with a pace that steals your breath. We walk through James’s martyrdom, Peter’s late-night rescue, Rhoda’s unforgettable joy, and Herod’s public collapse, drawing out what these scenes say about suffering, prayer, pride, and God’s steady rule. The contrast is stark and instructive: one apostle dies with honor, another wakes to an angel nudging him out of chains, and a king discovers that borrowed glory comes with a bill.

We open by naming the tension many of us feel: growth invites resistance. As the church expands from Jerusalem to Antioch, persecution escalates and political power joins the pressure. Pastor Brandon unpacks how Peter’s sleep in chains signals deep trust, why the church’s earnest prayer changes the texture of the night, and how ordinary obedience—put on your sandals, follow me—meets extraordinary grace—iron gates swing open on their own. Rhoda brings the human heartbeat to the miracle: she hears Peter, forgets to open the door, and proves that joy can outrun protocol. Their disbelief at answered prayer becomes a mirror for our own second-guessing and an invitation to receive the miracle at the threshold.

Herod’s finale underscores a sober truth: authority without humility corrodes the soul. When applause declares him a god, judgment lands and the curtain drops. Yet the story refuses to end in fear. The word of God keeps spreading, Barnabas and Saul complete their relief mission, and the movement pushes forward with fresh courage. Expect honest encouragement, clear takeaways, and a centered reminder that if God isn’t finished with you, no prison—of fear, circumstance, or opposition—gets the last word. Listen, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a quick review to help others find the message. What door is God asking you to open today?

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's Wordtogether.
Well, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
Today, Acts chapter 12.

(00:22):
And I just I get tickled bythis.
This is not a this is not a funone necessarily, but I love it.
I love it at the same time.
I would call this jailbreakbecause there it's just it's
just gonna be really funny.
And there's a lady in this thatI identify with so much, like
her actions, it's just amazing.
I love it so much.
I can't wait for you to see it.

(00:42):
Before we do that, as always, ifyou like what we're doing here,
make sure you like, share, andsubscribe our YouTube videos.
Make sure if you're listening tothis as a podcast, leave us a
five-star review.
Also, go to the Bible breakdowndiscussion.
And I just want to hear how youprocess the middle part of this
chapter because there's it's sadat the at the beginning, there's
judgment at the end, but rightin the middle, it's just

(01:03):
amazing.
So we're gonna dive into thistogether.
But to bring you up to speed, itthis is the doctor-turned
investigative journalist Luke,who is inspired by the Holy
Spirit to write and chroniclewhat has been going on with the
early church.
The first time we heard of himwas in the Gospel of Luke, and
he was writing an orderlyaccount of the life of Jesus.

(01:25):
Now he's writing an orderlyaccount of the goings on of the
early church.
And he chronicles the first 30,35 years, but he's also a fellow
participant and he tells themabout, tells this guy Theopolis
about what all is going on.
Acts two, the Holy Spirit comesand infills all the believers,
and he still infills all of ustoday.
He fills us with power to do thework of ministry.

(01:46):
And then you have in three,four, and five, you have
persecution that is starting togrow and starting to grow.
And then you finally haveeventually the first martyr,
Stephen, a guy named Saul,decides he's gonna make his
personal mission to completelyeradicate Christianity.
But then eventually Jesus justslaps him to the ground with
this great light and he says,Stop that, you know, and he ends

(02:07):
up becoming a Christian.
And they don't know what to dowith him because he's causing so
much of a ruckus now as aChristian that people are trying
to kill this joker left andright.
So they finally just send himhome to Tarshish.
Well, while he is going, whilehe is home, man, Peter gets a
vision from God and the gospelspreads now to the Gentiles.
So I mean, the gospel is justgoing global as they're just

(02:29):
taking next steps offaithfulness, and God is doing
amazing things.
Well, one of the things that hadhappened is in this city called
Antioch, you've now got theseJewish believers, you've got
just a slew of Gentiles, man,that they don't hardly know
anything.
They don't know much aboutYahweh, the God of God of
Israel, but they've heard aboutthis man, Jesus, and they
realize now he's God and theyreceive the Holy Spirit.

(02:51):
They they need some training.
And so what Barnabas does is hegoes and finds Saul, who's still
back at home in Tarsus, Tarsus,and he brings him because Saul
was a Pharisee.
So he knows all about uh theIsrael, Israeli covenant and all
these things.
And so he takes him back, and sojust things are spreading.
But now, because the gospel isspreading even more, now what's

(03:15):
going to start to happen ispersecution is gonna ramp up
even more.
Have you ever heard this phrasebefore?
New levels, new devils.
You know, so so the the more yougrow in God, opposition is going
to grow as well.
Well, that is definitely true.
I've seen it in my life, and yousee it in chapter 12.
Because now it's not just local,you know, religious leaders who

(03:38):
are giving you a hard time, butnow authorities, now
governmental authorities get inon the act to try to stamp out
this thing called Christianity.
So we see something horriblehappen at the beginning, but
then we see God do somethingamazing.
So let's read this together.
Acts chapter 12, New LivingTranslation.
Let's read and see what happens.
Verse 1.

(03:58):
About that time, King HerodAgrippa began to persecute some
of the believers in the church.
He had the apostle John, orexcuse me, the apostle James,
John's brother, killed with asword.
When Herod saw how much thispleased the Jewish people, he
also arrested Peter.
This took place during thePassover celebration.

(04:19):
So that means at least about oneyear has passed at this point.
But maybe more so, but at leastone year, because Jesus' death,
burial, and resurrection hadhappened around the time of
Passover.
Well, Pentecost would have beenabout 40 or so days later.
Now, maybe it's just been aroundone calendar year, so we're back
at Passover again.

(04:40):
It might have been longer, butat least one year.
Verse 4.
Then he imprisoned him, Paul,placing him under guard with
four squads of four soldierseach.
Herod intended to bring Peterout for public trial after the
Passover.
But while Peter was in prison,the church prayed very earnestly
for him.

(05:00):
Now watch what happens.
That night, before Peter was tobe placed on trial, he was
asleep, fastened in two chainsbetween two soldiers.
Now pause for a moment.
Think about the level of faithin God you got to have.
When you find out that not onlyhave you been arrested, but
they're about to kill you.

(05:21):
They're gonna kill you to pleasethe mob, and you're like, man,
that sounds horrible.
Well, we'll see you guys in themorning.
I'm gonna get some sleep.
That just impresses me so muchthat he just had such faith in
God that whatever God wants todo, I'm down.
So I'm gonna go ahead and go tosleep.
So I'm gonna be ready for it.
So here we go.
Other guards at the uh he wait aminute.
Let me just read that verseagain.

(05:41):
Verse 6, that night before Peterwas to be placed on trial, he
was asleep, fastened with twochains between two soldiers.
There we go.
Others stood guard at the prisongate.
Suddenly there was a brightlight in the cell, and an angel
of the Lord stood before Peter.
The angel struck him on the sideto wake him up, said, and
saying, Quick, get up.

(06:03):
And the chains fell off hiswrist.
That's the other thing.
Peter must have been a prettyheavy sleeper.
That an angel shows up, thislight shines, and Peter's still
sleeping, to the point that theangel has to kick him in the
side and say, Peter, get up,man.
I'm breaking you out of here.
Here we go.
Verse 8.
Then the angel told him, Getdressed and put on your sandals.

(06:26):
And he did.
Now put on your coat and followme.
So the angel ordered.
So it makes me think again.
I just I just love seeing thisin my head that Peter's out of
it, man.
He's been sleeping.
He's in a deep sleep.
He's like, okay, what are wedoing?
All right, look, Peter, put onyour shoes.
Okay, put them on the rightfeet.
Okay, get your coat.
No, no, no, no.
Your coat.
All right, put it on, Peter,because he's still waking up,
right?
Verse 9.

(06:47):
So Peter left the cell followingthe angel.
But all the time he thought itwas just a vision.
He's so asleep.
He's still waking up.
He didn't realize this wasactually happening.
Verse 10.
They passed the first and thesecond guard post and came to
the iron gate leading to thecity.
This opened for them all byitself.

(07:08):
So they passed through andstarted walking down the street.
Then the angel suddenly lefthim.
Peter finally came to a senses.
Other words, he finally woke upfully and said, It's really
true.
The Lord sent his angel andsaved me from Herod and from the
Jewish leaders and what they hadplanned to do to me.
When he realized this, he wentto the home of Mary, the mother

(07:30):
of John Mark, where they weregathered for prayer.
This is what I love this somuch.
This I identify with this ladyso much.
Verse 13, he knocked at the doorof the gate, and a servant girl
named Rhoda came to open it.
When she recognized it wasPeter's voice, she was so
overjoyed that instead ofopening the door, she ran back

(07:51):
inside and told everybody, Peteris standing at the door.
You must be out of your mind,they said.
When she insisted, they decided,ah, it must just be his angel,
whatever that even means.
Verse 16.
Meanwhile, Peter was stillknocking.
Hey, idiots, let me in.
Finally, they went and openedthe door and saw him, and they

(08:13):
were amazed.
And in my mind, it's like,Rhoda, you left him out here the
whole time?
But I love this so much.
She was so excited that she lefthim at the door.
I'm not even going to tell youhow many times I've done
something like that.
All right, verse 17.
He motioned for them to quietdown and told them that the Lord
had led him out of prison.

(08:34):
Tell James and the otherbrothers what happened, he said,
and then he went to anotherplace.
Verse 18.
At dawn there was greatcommotion among the soldiers for
what had happened to Peter.
Herod agrippa Grippa ordered athorough search of him.
And when he couldn't theycouldn't be found, Herod
interrogated the guards and thensentenced them to death.
Afterward, Herod left Judea andstayed in Caesarea for a while.

(08:58):
So I love this idea that God'snot finished with Peter yet.
So it doesn't matter what theywanted to do to him, if God's
not done with you yet, it's notgoing to succeed.
Now watch the judgment of Godfall right here at the end.
Verse 20.
Now Herod was very angry withthe people of Tyre and Sidon.
They sent delegations to makepeace with him, because their

(09:18):
cities were dependent uponHerod's county, a country, for
food.
The delegates won the support ofBlastus, Herod's personal
ascendant assistant, and heappointed them, Herod, or
appointment with Herod wasgranted.
When the day arrived, Herod puton his royal robes, sat on his
throne, and made a speech tothem.
When the people gave him a greatovation, they shouted, It's the

(09:40):
voice of a God, not a man.
Instantly the Lord struck Herodwith a sickness because he
accepted the people's worshipinstead of giving glory to God.
So he was consumed with wormsand died.
That's disgusting and a horribleway to go.
Verse 24.
Meanwhile, the word of Godcontinued to spread, and there

(10:02):
were many new believers.
When Barnabas and Saul hadfinished their mission to
Jerusalem, they returned, takingJohn Mark with them.
Remember, the reason whyBarnabas and Saul were there was
to bring relief to Jerusalem.
Now, what can we get out of thisscripture?
A whole lot of things.
First of all, at the verybeginning, just because you
serve God doesn't mean badthings aren't going to happen.

(10:25):
John had a brother named James.
James didn't do anything wrong.
James was serving the Lord.
James was doing the very bestthat he could, but the
persecution came and James waskilled.
Just because you serve Goddoesn't mean bad times aren't
going to come.
But as we see in the middlesection, if God's not finished

(10:45):
with you yet, then it doesn'tmatter what they do, it's not
going to succeed.
James was able to go to heaven.
He was able to see his Saviorand His Lord Jesus face to face.
He's okay.
We don't have to worry about himanymore.
We don't see that as a loss inour eyes.
We see that as a victory.
But God was not finished withPeter yet.
So it didn't matter.

(11:05):
It wasn't going to stop God fromrescuing him.
And then poor Rhoda got soexcited.
And then we see at the bottom,God is still faithful and he's
still just.
And he brings justice upon allin his due season.
So how can that encourage youtoday?
If God's not finished with you,whatever you're going through
will not defeat you.

(11:26):
I don't know what it is.
Maybe it's huge, maybe it'shorrible, maybe it seems
life-threatening, and I don'tdownplay it at all.
It may be the worst thing in theworld.
But here's the thing the worsethe trouble, the bigger the
enemy, the greater the testimonyof God's faithfulness.
That He's not done with you yet,and nothing is going to be able
to overcome you or overwhelmyou.

(11:47):
But if God's even got to rescueyou out of a dark prison, you're
going to overcome in Jesus'name.
Let me pray for us.
Father, thank you so much thatyou're for us and not against
us, that you're with us morethan we can understand.
My prayer today, God, is thatyou will encourage everybody who
is listening or watching this,that they will remember that
because you are with us andbecause Holy Spirit, you walk

(12:09):
with us and you live with us,that no matter what we go
through, it will not overwhelmus.
But even if you've got to rescueus from a dark, cold place,
Lord, you are the God ofmiracles.
And we celebrate that today.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Don't forget, Jesus said in Acts1, verse 8.
Say it with me.
You will receive power when theHoly Spirit comes upon you, and

(12:33):
you will be my witnesses to theends of the earth.
My prayer today is that you'llreceive the power of the Holy
Spirit, and you will be hiswitness in your world today.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for Actschapter 13.