The Book of Acts is filled with stories of all kinds, from miraculous, never-before-seen events that boggle the mind and stretch the limits of our beliefs, to extremely dark and sinister scenes where the darkness of man's heart becomes too readily apparent. We have seen Stephen martyred and the disciples flogged. We have heard of Saul's pre-conversion efforts to eradicate the church by arresting and executing Christians. And now, in Acts 12:1-11, we read of Herod's beheading of the apostle John, the brother of James. Too say that things were heating up would be a gross understatement. The church was coming under increasing attack as the enemy intensified his efforts to eradicate the followers of Jesus and put to an end any hopes of the gospel of ever reaching the ends of the earth. This was war, spiritual war, but the casualties were more than spiritual in nature. There were people dying for their faith. Peter would end up, once again, imprisoned for being a follower of Jesus and a messenger of the gospel. But as poorly as things seemed to be going for the church, Luke's account provides us with a vivid and much-needed reminder that our God is always in control. In these verses, we will see Him thwart the plans of King Herod and restore to His church, not only their leader, but their confidence in their God. He was far from done. And the same could be said for Peter.
