Eaten by Worms

 

Read Acts 10-12

In the second service, we will examine Acts 10, Peter’s vision, and his follow-up visit to Cornelius, the Roman centurion. This will bring to the forefront of your thinking some basic things you should consider as you live out your faith.

 For now, let’s follow Peter to a unique verse in the New Testament. Peter drew Herod’s attention. Herod had already put to death the apostle James, brother of John. The ruling Jews seemed to like it so he set his sights on Peter.

Peter was taken into custody and guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. That’s a hefty guard for one man. During the night Peter is rescued by an angel of the Lord. It’s quite the act of stealth, walking out right past the guards.

Unlike other prison accounts in the New Testament, these guards get what they all feared—a death sentence for letting their prisoner escape.

Herod didn’t find Peter in Judea so he went on to Caesarea and made a speech. During this speech, people hailed Herod as God. He didn’t deny it. God was watching.

The scripture says that an angel of the Lord struck down Herod. It doesn’t say that the Lord killed him. He struck him down, and then Herod was eaten by worms, then he died.

On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

Eaten by worms. There’s a Bible study that I could probably get some third and fourth-grade boys to attend. The men’s group might go for that one.

Eaten by worms. Really? How graphic was that? Was it all in 30 seconds, like in an Indiana Jones movie, or did he just lie where he was for a week, and the worms did their damage at their own pace?

Eaten by worms.  Did the janitor say, “I’m not cleaning that up.?”

Eaten by worms. Really, Tom, this is today’s scripture?

Think about it. I don’t preach scare the hell out of you sermons. I want you to come to know God through his Son by the message of love that we carry with us. They will know that we follow Jesus by our love.

But we should know that tomorrow is not promised.

We should know that all will stand before God, but only the believers have the blood of Jesus to protect them from God’s wrath on the wicked.

We should know that there is a consequence for rebelling against God.

This whole thing doesn’t work out well for those who cling to their wickedness.

We should know that heaven and hell are all real.

We should know this with absolute certainty. Your mission and commission are not only important but urgent.

God desires none to perish. He desires all to come to repentance and eternal life. Our part is to help others come to know this God of love.

The fact that tomorrow is not promised will not affect our eternal destination, but it should get us in gear for our present mission. It should create a sense of urgency.

So, do we anticipate being eaten by worms? Probably not, but at any given time, your heart may not go to the next beat. For you, only your geography changes.

At any given time, your neighbor’s heart may not go to the next beat. Have you done all that you need to do to share life in Christ Jesus with them?

We see people that we say we care about all the time. We see them at ball games and at Walmart. We see them at work and at school. We comment on their posts. We cross paths more times than we count.

Our destination is secured. But can we say, “Mission Accomplished!” when we get there? Did we share the gospel with everyone that we should have? Did we complete our mission?

Mark this on your calendars. Tom took the words eaten by worms and prompted you to share the good news. Yes, you get a discipleship challenge even out of eaten by worms.

Amen.