Acts 12

v1-4: To take a bold step on the path of sin is to give Satan an advantage over us and puts us in a place where we will be tempted to take another.  It is to provoke God to leave us to our own devices so we go from bad to worse.  "We would be wise... to be on our guard against the beginnings of sin."

v5-19: "Prayers and tears are the church's weapons; she fights with them not only against her enemies but also for her friends." Times of distress and danger "should be times of prayer with the church; we must always pray, but especially then."

v20-25: For persecuting the church of Christ, killing James, imprisoning Peter, and all the other trouble he had caused, Herod was struck down by the angel of the Lord on the order of Christ, because all judgment is committed to Him.  "God is jealous for his own honour, and he will glorify himself upon those he is not glorified by."  Angels, as ministering spirits, are "ministers of either divine justice or divine mercy, employed however God wishes to employ them," they "are jealous for God's honour, and as soon as they have received their commission, they are ready to strike those who usurp his prerogatives and rob God of his honour."