Acts: 12:7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. " Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
When people are in trouble with the law and arrested, they are handcuffed. In the United States, people who are in prison who are in transport to courtrooms or other public places, are often put in chains to safeguard against escape. These chains are called restraints. The restraints are normally handcuffs which go around the wrists and a belly chain, which the prisoner's hands are shackled to the waist. The book of Acts tells us a story of the time one of Jesus's disciples, Peter, was arrested retrained by way of chains by King Herod. This happened after Jesus's death and resurrection, when Peter and other disciples were going around to continue spreading the Gospel. King Herod arrested those who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. In the story of the scripture mentioned above, King already had one of the disciples, James, the brother of John killed with the sword and wanted to have the same thing done to Peter. Acts:12:4 tells us After arresting him, he put him over to be guarded by four squads of soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
The night before Peter was to go to trial, an angel of the Lord came to Peter, struck him on his side and woke him up. The angel told Peter to get up quickly and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. The angel then told Peter to put on his clothes, sandals, and cloak and to follow him. Peter followed the angel but while all of this was happening, he thought that it was a dream. Verse 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of the one street, suddenly the angel left him. Though Peter thought that he was dreaming, Verse 11 tells us he finally came to himself and realized that this was not a dream. God had delivered him from his chains and brought him out of prison. Just as God brought Peter out of prison, he can do the same thing for you and I.
Many people in the world are in physical chains, but what I want to speak to you today about is spiritual chains. In the world of Christianity, the term is known as Spiritual Bondage. According to Webster's dictionary "Bondage is a state of being bound usually by compulsion (as of law or mastery): such as a:CAPTIVITY, SERFDOM . Spiritual Bondage is anything that keeps us bound from serving God and submitting to his power and authority. Something that keeps us bound from doing good, from living a fulfilling and prosperous life. It can come in all different forms such as addiction, negative mindsets, bad habits; sin.
In the book of Romans chapter 6, Paul the apostle encourages the people of the Roman church who have made a decision to give their life to Christ and be baptized, to die to sin and be made alive in Christ. Verse says 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When Paul talks about slavery, he does not mean physical slavery but uses the term as an example of how we can become entangled and in chains by bad things and habits. God does not want us to be slaves to sin and things that do us no good, but rather us be set free from the chains and live a fruitful life that leads to eternal life. It may not be easy, but he took the chains off of Peter and He will also do it for us. My prayer today is that God will set us free from chains that lead us into bondage and keep us from attaining the life he wants us to live. May His will be done in our lives and may we live a life that is fruitful and worthy of the calling We have received. For the full chapter on "Peter's Miraculous Escape from Prison" see here.
Be Encouraged,
Noelani
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