Notes from the Morning Sermon: Acts 12:18-25

Herod Agrippa & the Word of God

“And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. But the word of God grew and multiplied” Acts 12:23-24, KJV.

• Scripture describes his death as a result of the sin of pride in that he received worship from his subjects rather than giving glory to God.
• History
  • Childhood friend of Caligula and Claudius, future Roman Emperors.
    • He ascended in power as a result of favours from these friends.
  • Josephus mentions Herod Agrippa’s death after a manner descibed here by Luke.
    • Herod’s death was the sovereign appointment of God in judgement for blasphemous pride, but it would appear that the means God used for this judgement was a ruptured appendix and a severe affliction of roundworms.

• Application

  1. God hates pride!

     • Historical examples
       • Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4)
       • Sennacherib (2 Kings 18-19; 2 Chronicles 32)
       • King of Tyre (Ezekiel 28)

     • We must remember that all our abilities and successes have been granted by God, so there is no room for pride.

       “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7, KJV.

  2. God will always be the victor.

     • In history whether we see the demise of the wicked in our time or not.
     • In the final judgement.

  3. The centrality of the Word of God

     • “The Word of God grew and multiplied.”
       • The Word of God is not bound, cannot be restrained.
       • By this Word, the Church grew and multiplied.
     • See how central the Word of God is to the growth of the Church; so much so that her growth is described as the growth of the Word of God.

Posted: 09|28|08 at 4:43 pm. Filed under: Worship.
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