一个被斩头，一个获营救
使徒行传十二章1至7节
1那时，希律王下手苦害教会中几个人，
2用刀杀了约翰的哥哥雅各。
3他见犹太人喜欢这事，又去捉拿彼得。那时正是除酵的日子。
4希律拿了彼得，收在监里，交付四班兵丁看守，每班四个人，意思要在逾越节后，把他提出来，当着百姓办他。
5于是彼得被囚在监里；教会却为他切切地祷告神。
6希律将要提他出来的前一夜，彼得被两条铁链锁着，睡在两个兵丁当中。看守的人也在门外看守。
7忽然有主的一个使者站在旁边，屋里有光照耀。天使拍彼得的肋旁，拍醒了他，说：“快快起来！”那铁链就从他手上脱落下来。
信息分享
耶路撒冷教会能做甚么呢？他们就同心合意地祷告；结果，彼得在被杀前的晚上，奇迹般获救。但你有没有留意第2节？使徒雅各被斩头，彼得却获得天使营救。神容让祂的一位使徒被杀，而另一位使徒获救。
你会怎么解释这样的情形呢？我们只能谦卑在神面前承认：「尽管如此，父啊，我们相信这是出于你的美意。」要接受这个事实并不容易，但这却是信心之道，相信我们的神绝不会出错。
这并非宿命，也不是盲目顺服。我们的神不单满有慈爱，还满有能力。我们大可以信靠祂，接受祂的主权，深信万事由祂掌管。祂仍有工作在地上需要彼得完成，却接雅各回天家与祂同在。
世界总是质疑神的这类作为，远甚其他事情：「这么好的一个人，神为甚么让他死？」他们实质上是在质问：「好人为甚么没有好报？」有时候，向神的儿女也很难解释神的作为，更何况对未信之人。但终有一天，我们必会明白神做每件事的因由。
我们在这一章看见，耶路撒冷教会似乎接受了这个事实，神就继续祝福他们。对雅各的兄弟约翰来说可能尤为困难；但他只能凭着信心说：「神的道路完全，绝对无可指摘。」
牢记：惟有接受神的道路，内心才得平安。
ONE APOSTLE KILLED, ONE DELIVERED
Acts 12: 1-7
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.
2 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
4 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.
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant[a] prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
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.
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.
Message
What could the church do? They turned to united prayer. The result was a miraculous deliverance for Peter the night before he was to be killed. But did you notice the second verse in our reading? The apostle James was beheaded, while Peter was released. God allowed one man to die and the other to live.
How do you explain that? We can only bow before God and say, “Even so Father, for so it seems good in your sight.” That is not always easy but it is the way of faith, believing that our God never makes a mistake.
This is not fatalism. This is not a blind submission to one greater than us. Our God is a God of love as well as a God of power. We can trust Him and accept His sovereignty, His ultimate control. He had more work on earth for Peter but He wanted James Home with Himself.
The world always questions this type of action by God more than anything else. “If he was such a good man why did God let him die?” is their question. Why do bad things happen to good people? It is hard sometimes to explain God's actions even to His children, let alone the world. Someday we'll know the reasons behind what He does.
Here in this chapter, the church seemed to have accepted it all and God blessed them for it. It must have been particularly hard for James' brother John. But he could only say, “As for God His way is perfect or blameless.”
REMEMBER: In accepting God's ways lies the way of peace always.