The Angel's Actions

Light has come into the prison cell and all in the cell are blind to that light. However, the angel of the Lord must make himself seen and he does what is necessary to carry out the will of God, for His servant Peter. He smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. Acts 12: 7b. 

To the sleeping servant, the angel of the Lord does four crucial and important actions. If you accept that you are in a state of sleep at the moment, spiritual slumber, bound by the enemy called self, will you, by faith, accept these for you also? As long as you know that self is your enemy and has you fully bound, the Holy Spirit Himself, will make this a freeing word for you and in you. 

Fact 1

The angel uses physical force on Peter. He smites Peter on his side to awaken him. We know that to smite someone is no little, mild, tap or hit. To smite someone is to strike that person sharply or forcefully. This is what the soldiers did to Jesus when, they spat on him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. Matthew 27: 30. This was no love tap, I can assure you. Does this not remind you of Saul, as he was on his way to persecute Christians in Damascus? The Lord wanted Saul, and to bring him to his right mind, He had to make Saul feel the ‘smite’ of His light, if you will. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Acts 9: 3 – 4.

There are times when we are sleeping and the Lord wishes us to pay full attention to Him, that He has to smite us. He smites us so that we can feel some pain, some discomfort, some jolt, and return to our waking senses.

Fact 2

The angel does not allow Peter to wake up and wait. Peter has been awakened and straightway he is told to arise. This is not a case when you have been awakened from sleep and left to ‘catch’ yourself, or sit for a few seconds before getting off the bed. Indeed not! Peter was told to get up quickly. Of importance is the fact that Peter was still in a prison cell, but the light from the Lord was now in there also. Peter has to arise.

There are times when we are awakened from our sleep and we get up but we have to have a few minutes to ourselves and suchlike. This is not such a case. This is literally a case of arising from sleep and being on the move. It’s like the man who was an invalid for thirty-eight years. Jesus healed him and told him to get up and walk. Get up! Pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. John 5: 8b – 9. There was no healing and remaining on his bed, or mat. When we have been awakened from our sleep, our slumber, our ‘dead’ states, we too are being told to arise up quickly. There’s no time for hesitation, procrastination or wondering.

We pause for a moment, before we go on to receive the other two crucial and important actions done by the angel. We must remember that Peter was sleeping, dead asleep, when the angel woke him up, by smiting him on his side. Will you honestly and sincerely receive this truth that you too need the smiting of the Lord, to awaken you out of your sleep, whatever that sleep is? Our Lord wants you to be on the move for Him. He does not want you to be brought to an awakened state, just to sit around, doing nothing.      

We will continue with the other two actions, tomorrow.