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I. DANGER. Peter might say, "There is peril for me."

1. Intimated in the sayings of our Lord (John 16:2.; 21:18, 19). Has the dark day at last come?

2. In the race now on the throne. The race of Edom. In the Old Testament always hostile to the Church. Well did the Herods sustain the traditions of their race. Herod the Great sought to kill Christ; his son slew the Baptist; and his son had just put James to the sword. In this connection note a striking providence. The family was at this time numerous; in a century scarcely a descendant remained; and like many a petty Asiatic dynasty, might have passed into oblivion. But God set them on a hill, brought them into contact with the Divine kingdom and the King. So brought under this central light, all their dark deeds become illuminated for the warning of all time. They knew not the part they played. Our relation to the kingdom of God should be our chief concern. We may then leave fame and all other results to Him.

3. In the man's motives. Everything depended on his pleasing the Jews. He had imperilled the favour of Caligula by resisting the contemplated outrage of erecting the emperor's image in the temple. Claudius was now emperor, and to stand well with him it was necessary to secure the favour of the people. The opportunity now was to strike a fatal blow at Christianity.

4. In the deeds of Herod already done. The persecution of the Church, the murder of James, one of the inmost three. Distinguished service no exemption from suffering.

5. In the respite given. For some unknown reason it was intended to make Peter's trial solemn and public. Strict regard, therefore, was paid to the traditional law that no feast day could be a day of judicial trial. Sentence was therefore deferred till after the Passover. In the motive and deliberateness of the respite read certain doom.

6. In the character of the imprisonment. No chance of escape. Peter had been delivered before; now extra precaution.

7. The last night had come.Lessons:

1. In direst extremity the Lord's people may be at peace. Note —

(1) Peter's conscience is at rest. A step between him and death; but asleep.

(2) He expects no deliverance. No watching! Delivered, he will believe his deliverance to be a dream (Psalm 126:1).

2. Man's extremity is often God's opportunity. For the highest illustration, see Romans 5:6.

II. HOPE. Observe the "but." The might of prayer is set against the power of Herod.

1. Time was given for prayer. Contrast with the case of James.

2. The prayer was special. They wanted one thing. No vague generalities.

3. Earnest — stretched out, strained — prayer at white heat. Same word is used of Christ's prayer in the garden, and in James 5:16.

4. Ceaseless. One prayer would not suffice. As the imprisonment went on prayer went on. For the style of the prayer, read Acts 4:24-28.

5. Rose with the terror of the exigency. In the dead of the night, as the last hope was dying away, "many were gathered."

6. Courageous. Nothing could have been more obnoxious to the government than this act, if discovered.

7. On a large scale. Perhaps as many were gathered as the house could hold; some in one room, some in another.

8. Grounded on the words of the Lord Jesus. One disciple would remind of one promise, another of another, e.g., "Ask, and it shall be given," "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name," "If two of you shall agree." We know some who were present. None so notable as Saul (cf. Acts 11:30, with Acts 12:25). The late persecutor now praying for the persecuted! Knocking! Perhaps this emissaries of Herod! Away Rhoda! See!

III. DELIVERANCE. Supernatural, yet how simply told.

IV. SURPRISE. Perhaps Peter knew of this prayer meeting, and so wended his way thither. Note here —

1. The genuineness of the history. An impostor would have made the disciples welcome the answer to their prayer. The history makes them astounded. Which is truest to the deepest things of life?

2. Truth oft mingles with superstition in the best minds. "His angel." It is true that for everyone there is an angel guardian (Matthew 18:10). It is not true that he can assume the form and voice of the person guarded.

3. The grace of expectation does not always accompany the spirit of prayer. It does sometimes (1 Kings 18:42-44).

4. Deliverance came at the very last moment (ver. 18).

(H. T. Robjohns, B. A.)

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KJV: Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

WEB: Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.