Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-04-08

sLEss0N ICON.
MENTS FOR. APRIL IL.

.s@.-
INTERNATIoNALs LESSON coM.
MENTs FOR: APRIL II.
Subject: Peter Delivered Fromsa<Pri-
son, Acts 12:1-I1-Golden Text,
Psalm 34:7-Expositionof the
Lesson and Lesson Comments.
T1ME.-A.s D.. A. PLAOEs-Je.
rusalem.
EXPOSITION Peter in: Prison
and the Church Praying Unto God
For Him, 10. The lull in the perse-
cutie was but temporary. s It began
again with great ferceness. James
was killed and Peter arrested, put in |
prison and about to be killed. Peter |
/ seemed to be in a very peri1ous posi- |
ton - securely locked in a Roman |
prison, bound with two chains be- |
tween two soldiers, guarded by six |
teen soldiers, keepers before the door
guarding the prison. Peters enemies
seemed to lave taken every precau-
ton, but thsy made one fatal mis-
take, they lett God out of their calcu-
lat1ons. There is nothing too hard
Tor the Lord" nor for the church
that links itself,o on to God by prayer.
God often Withholds His deliverance
n answers prayer at the last mo-
ment. What should the church do?
There is but one thing to do-pray.
They appealed the case from 'Herod
the king" to God, the King of kings.
I Peter seemed to have faith that he
would be delivered, for he was calm
~ and very. soundly sleeping. Just
as soon as he was thoroughly awake.
he said: Nov T know Of a truth that
the Lord did send forth His angel
(just-as 4 have.been -askiHg-Him td)
and delivered me- Verse 5 teaches
us just how to pray. (1J Unto
God" Much so-called prayer is not
unto God. There is no real coming
into the presence of God and actually
presenting our petition to Him. There
are volumes in these two short words,
unto God" CD without ceas-.
Ing" The R. v. gives the thought,
but not the full thought. The Greek
word means, literally, "stretched-out-
eddy" 1t is a vivid pictorial word
that represents the soul on a stretch
with intensity of desire (cf. Jer. 29:.
~13). It is the word used of Christ's
prayer in the garden, when in the in
tensity of His prayer His sweat was
as it were great drops of blood fall
ing down to the ground (Luke 20:
r. W. 60 "Of the church." There
is power in the p~rayer,of the individ-
ual. but there is added power, yes,
multiplied power, in united prayer
Matt. 1919, 20; Acts lila; 4:24.
81. Cd For him" They did not
wander all over the world in their
prayers that night; they concentrated
their prayer on Peter and on getting
him out of prison.
II. Prayer Answered and Peter
Free ell. Gods angels are most
likely to appear in times of greatest
need. A heavenly light shined in the
gloomy cell. A prison cell is a dark
and dismal place, but~.no place lis
more luminous than a prison cell
when the angel of the Lord stands
there Gods angels are very uncere-
monious. HE smote, Peter on the
side and awoke him" Sharp blows
are often more loving than gentle
lullabys. 1t is frequently necessary
to rudely awaken a man before he
can be delivered from his peril. Gods
orders demand prompt obedience "
y. Peter could not take his chain.
off from himself, but he could giro
himself and bind on his sandals
when the chains were off ". 81
What Peter could do for himself hi
must himself do. Peter had gotte1
so much into the habit of obeyins
. God that he did it even in his sleep
or at least when he was only hal
awake and thought he was asleep
If Peter had been like many of us h.
would have stopped long before the.
got to the iron gate and debated will
the angel how they were to ge
through it. But he had more sens
and did just as he was told and lef
Q the chow" with God. When he go
t to the gate it Opened of it's own &C
cord" but not until they got to it
IF we just obey God difficulties will
. disappear when we get to them.
. III. Believing Rhoda and the I'm
believing Church, 12-17. The com
: pany had come together to pray TO
= Peters deliverance. God, as Nigh
be expected, heard their prayer an,
sent the answer around to the meet
ing (cf. Is. 65:24). But they wer
I completely bewildered by the answe
when it came. They were sure tina
: it could not be Peter. Rhoda must b
crazy. If Rhoda is not crazy, then /
d must be his ghost and not Pete
ululSCll- w. 10Y. Aopo C4AO
thought he I'D besu executed in tn
night. But khoda had faith, sh
, seems to have been expecting Peter
I AS soon as there was a rap at tn
door she was on her feet and at tn
door listening. The moment" sh
s heard Peters. voice she knew it wa
e he,. it was just what she expected
Even though they told ner. she wa
crazy, she stuck to 1t still. She wa
only a maid" Or. w, but she is tn
. only one in that praying compan
whose name the Holy Spirit ha
thought worthy to put on record
t There were presumably church dign:
taries there, but none OF them ar
mentioned. Rhoda alone is named
q She had faith and she alone counted
That "Rose' (Rhoda) had sweet fra
b GRANGE with God. The unbelief c
II the rest seems all the more unat
countable when we remember ho'
= Peter had once before this been mil