The Folly of Fighting God

Published by Stanley Pouw in 2016 · 4 September 2016

We are certainly becoming aware of the animosity toward God and toward the Christian faith. We see the continued hostility all over the world. There is even a document put out by the Russian Orthodox Church which warns all Russian Orthodox people throughout the nation of Russia to watch out for the wolves who are coming in sheep's clothing and teaching a perverse doctrine that salvation is by grace alone.

We know that the hostility of our own nation toward Christianity is now escalating. And as the wicked people of our culture find there are no Christian influences in the culture itself, they will continue to become more aggressive in their evil, and they will want to destroy anybody who stands in the way. And because of that there will be an escalating hostility against Christians.

This may well be a sign of what is to come in worldwide hostility in the time of the tribulation. One thing is for sure, there is a long war against God. It's been going on ever since Lucifer decided to be like the Most High and was thrown out of heaven. His name became Satan. He took with him one third of the angels; they became the demons, and they have orchestrated evil ever since that event in the war against God.

They employ all the human beings they can to engage in this war against God and his purposes and his kingdom and, of course, the reign of his own Son, Jesus Christ. Now, we have learned in Revelation 12 that there is going to come, in the time of the tribulation, a final great effort against God lead by Satan through anti-Christ and the false prophet who is introduced to us in Revelation 13.

This is the culmination of this long war against God. And because of this we need to realize tonight how stupid it is to fight God. Whether you are a terrorist anywhere, or anti-Christian in whatever country, or you are anti-God from a Muslim perspective, or whether you are just a homosexual or a lesbian or an adulterer and you are hostile to the law of God in general, it is foolish to fight God.

Go back into the history of the Old Testament, and we see this long war against God. For example, God had a standard for sacrifice: Abel obeyed it; Cain fought it and wound up cursed. God made a standard for morality: Noah kept it and the rest of the world fought it and were drowned and damned. God had a standard for sexual purity: Abraham kept it and Lot fought it, and his wife died and his seed was cursed.

God had a standard for spiritual priorities, not earthly ones, Jacob kept that standard; Esau fought it and lost the blessing. And there, just in the book of Genesis alone, we see the stupidity of fighting God, God's purposes, God's plans, and God's word. The history of the world is full of the shattered shells of men and women who threw themselves against God like eggs thrown against granite cliffs.

From the book of Exodus on, the history of Scripture reveals a certain type of person who leads the fight against God. And that person is the king or the ruler. The first such ruler to fight God is Pharaoh. It cost him his honor, it cost him his throne, it cost him his people, it cost him his son, and it cost him his life. On the other hand if you pray and believe, this might happen.

Look at 2 Kings 19:20-22, “Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.’ 21 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:

‘The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head behind your back! 22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.”

Look at verses 35-37, “And it came to pass on a certain night that the Angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword.”

Even so Satan is always engaged in fighting against God and God's people and God's purposes. One of these rulers who fought against God we see in Acts 12. Here we start to know the family of Herod, the first of this family known as Herod the Great. He appears on the scene in 41 BC, and from that time to the birth of Christ, Herod the Great is in power. He was a wicked man, and he was married 10 times with a lot of children.

One of his children was Herod Agrippa the First who was educated in Rome but obtained the good graces of the Jews. He was the ruling power in Acts 12. He is the tragic figure who becomes our example in this chapter of the folly of fighting against God. Look at Acts 12:1, “Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.”

What does that mean, “about that time”, what time? Well, this is the time in Acts 11:27-30 when there was a great famine during the reign of Claudius. It was 44 years after the birth of Christ. After the ascension of Jesus Christ, for the next few years, there was a moment of respite following the persecution and the death of Stephen. But here persecution comes again, and it is led by Herod.

The Jerusalem congregation by now has grown to be many thousands of people. They are already beginning to feel the hurt from the famine. And on top of that they are now persecuted by Herod. Now the irony of it was that it was really a political move by Herod, and not an anti-Christian one. The best we can tell by reading about Agrippa was that he was like all the rest of the Herods, where the only thing that they really cared about was their own power.

Herod set out to persecute Christians because he knew the Jews hated them, and he thought this was one way he could get on their good side. Verse 2 says, “Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” Here, one of the two sons of Zebedee became the first martyr among the apostles. The Jewish Talmud informs us that execution by the sword was used when someone lead the people to worship other gods.

Herod was really trying to gain a position with the Jewish leaders. Verse 3, “And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also.” This worked once, it will work better twice. If he could gain political advantage by killing one of them, think of the advantage he could get by killing their leader. Verse 3 continues, “Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread.” That is the Passover.

Jerusalem was full of crowds, jammed with pilgrims. He wanted to wait till the Passover was over and the pilgrims were still waiting for the next event. So he arrested Peter. Verse 4 says, “So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.” Herod was afraid that some group of Christians might find a way to release Peter.

So verse 5 says, "Peter was therefore kept in prison.” Herod is going to fight against God by destroying the leader of Christianity. But there are consequences because God fights back. Jeremiah 21:5 says, “I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and fury and great wrath.” Revelation 2:16, “Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth”

Next we have proof by the account of Peter's imprisonment that you cannot defeat God. Herod put him in jail; but God let him out. Verse 5 continues, “but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” James 5:16 says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Prayer is the key to opening the storehouse of God's power in situations like this.

And while they were praying, God in his power acted to fulfill His purpose. Verse 6, “And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.” Look it says that Peter was sleeping, he was not afraid. When he said in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your care on him for he cares for you," it was something he had practiced.

Verse 7, “Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.” Peter was sound asleep, so the angel hit him to wake him up. And says, "Get up quickly." Chains fall off his hands. And the angel said to him in verse 8, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”

Verse 9, “So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.” Peter is still in a total fog. Verse 10, “When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.” Wow!

No prison can hold the servant of God whom God wants to free. Angels are ministering sprits sent to minister to the saints. Well, now Peter is all alone. Verse 11, “When Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

Verse 12 says, “So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.” So Peter makes his way through the narrow streets to one of the chief meeting places for the Christians in Jerusalem, namely the home of Mary, the mother of John and Mark because he knows the believers will be there praying.

Then verse 13, “And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer.” Rhoda is a name that means rose. The believers were praying for Peter. These prayers were going on all night. Now, Peter wants to get inside where he cannot be seen. Verse 14, “When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.”

She was so excited, she forgot to open the door. God answered our prayers; he's at the door! Now, to show you the shallowness of their faith, verse 15, “But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” They invent a theology here to accommodate their unbelief. That's a Jewish belief that everybody has his own angel. But that's not taught in the New Testament.

Verse 16-17, “Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.” That is not James the son of Zebedee but the head of the church, another James, the Lord’s brother.

James, our Lord's brother, also was martyred in 62 AD, being thrown down from the pinnacle of the temple. And Peter went to another place to hide. He faded away. And when you come to Acts 13, we are introduced to Paul. Peter was the main player in God's story from Acts 1-12, but from Acts 13 on it is Paul.

Verse 18, “Then, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.” These soldiers were very much aware of the penalty for losing a prisoner. And panic set in. Verse 19, “But when Herod had searched for him and not found him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.”

Verse 20, “Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country.” Now, these two Phoenician cities were very dependent on Herod for their food during this time of famine. Herod had cut them off, and they were hurting.

Verse 21-22, “So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” Now instead of refusing such worship and praise, instead of giving glory to God alone, he accepts it. And by doing that, he is glorifying himself instead of God and thus declaring war on God.

Verse 23, “Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.” Herod collapsed according to Josephus; he was carried away and eaten up by worms. And Josephus says he was dead in five days.

Verse 24-25, “But the word of the Lord grew and multiplied. 25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry, and also took with them John, who was also called Mark." The work of God went on. Persecution didn't stop it. It's reminiscent of the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Let us pray.