“Could our eyes catch a glimpse of the bliss that thrills John’s heart in heaven to-day, we would no longer wonder why the Lord left him lie in Herod’s castle.”

Sermon by Elder John Kline.

Preached at Forrer’s, in Page County, Virginia, Sunday, February 15, 1835.

    TEXT.—­And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy
    sandals:  and so he did.  And he saith unto him:  Cast thy garment
    about thee, and follow me.—­Acts 12:8.

Peter’s hands were chained, and he was lying in a cold and gloomy prison in Jerusalem.  Herod, who was at that time viceroy of Jerusalem and Judea, had imprisoned Peter just to please the Jews.  These were the bitter enemies of Christ.

It looks to us as if it would hardly be worth while to pray for the recovery of a sheep already dragged into a den of wolves, and lying there only waiting to be devoured.  But the saints at Jerusalem did pray for Peter, and they had to pray secretly too.  You may be sure they did not pray to be heard of men.  They were only afraid that men might hear.  But there was one that did hear.  For “the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison:  and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly.  And his chains fell off from his hands.”

You know something about Peter’s disposition.  He often spoke without thinking very well what it might be best to say; and sometimes he acted without thinking what it might be best to do.  On this occasion I do believe that he would have followed the angel through the streets of Jerusalem, bare-footed and in his night clothes, if he had not kindly ordered him to gird himself and bind on his sandals and cast his garment about him.

I, for one, do believe that all the miracles and providences wrought by the Lord and recorded in his Word are for the instruction and ultimate good of all who read or hear them.

THE LESSONS OF INSTRUCTION.

I. Sometimes men who have been subject to very bad habits are, by the Gospel and the Holy Spirit, led to forsake them.  They form new loves.  They find joy in a new life.  Old things with them have passed away.  They come from the baptismal wave clad, as it were, in a new garment, even the beautiful garment of salvation; and the new song in their mouth is praise to our God.  I can name some of this class in our church who have run well; some who have fought the good fight of faith with unflinching courage and resolution to victory complete.  But others have been made to weep and lament from the fearful truth that this same beloved Brother Peter tells us, that “our adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” for they have been devoured by him.