In the opening verses of Acts 12, the first of the 12 Apostles, James, is martyred for their faithful witness to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. We have already read in the Book of Acts of Judas Iscariot, a member of the original 12 disciples, kill himself (Acts 1:15-19). We have also seen Stephen, a Spirit-filled deacon, martyred (Acts 7:54-59). But James, the brother of John, is the first Apostle who pays the ultimate price for faithfully following Jesus.
In God’s Hands
After putting James to the sword, King Herod arrested Peter, and intended to put him to death as well. But the LORD miraculously intervened, as “the church was earnestly praying to God for him” (Acts 12:5). It is a mystery of God’s providence that He delivered Peter but allowed James to be martyred. Our lives are truly in God’s hands. In Acts 14, we are going to see the Apostle Paul almost stoned to death. Some of the Christian disciples thought that Paul was dead before he got up and went back preaching the Gospel (Acts 14:19-20). It wasn’t yet Paul’s time to go be with Jesus.
It is ironic that both Paul and Peter almost die at the same time here in the Book of Acts. They go on spreading the Gospel for at least another 25 years, before they are both martyred in Rome, at the hands of the Roman Emperor, Nero, around the same time (AD 65). In the meantime, both Peter and Paul plant many churches and write Letters, which become part of the New Testament. The LORD is still using those Letters to build and bless His Church.
God’s Purposes Will Stand
At the end of Acts 12, we read of King Herod’s sudden demise, when He refused to give glory to God, after the crowd he was addressing called him a god and not a man (Acts 12:21-23). Historical writings outside of the New Testament report the sudden death of this King, Agrippa I. “But the word of God continued to increase and spread” (Acts 12:24). Because man is mere flesh, he will never be able to stop God’s Spirit and the spread of the Gospel.
We are to take solace in that truth. Sometimes, God’s work seems to experience a temporary defeat, but in the end, the Lord will accomplish His purposes for this world and for you and I. God’s word will not return to Him empty (Isaiah 55:10,11), especially in the lives of those who learn to trust God’s word and put it into practice.
By the end of our reading today in Acts 16, the Gospel has reached Macedonian soil, as Paul and Silas respond to a dream from a man in Macedonia to bring the Gospel to them (Acts 16:9,10). Macedonia is on European soil. It is interesting to note that just before this dream, the biblical text explicitly states that the Holy Spirit prevented Paul and Silas from going to Asia and to Bithynia to proclaim the Gospel. World history and civilization would have developed a lot differently if Paul went to China and India, instead of Europe, to preach the Gospel. We see God’s providence powerfully at work right through the history of the early Church, as reported in the Book of Acts.
QOTD: How have you seen God’s invisible hand at work in your life in recent months?
4 Comments
The Book of Acts reads like an adventure story, action packed with Godly men, heroes of the faith and those who greatly opposed their preaching the gospel that salvation is totally by grace through faith in Christ alone. Enjoying it. Thank you for this journey and for the blogs Pastor John.
Your welcome Louise. I am glad you are enjoying the journey and that the Lord is blessing you.
Ah no. I just typed my comment and lost it all. Lol
Oh well. Guess it was too long anyway.
I just want to say that we are inspired by Acts. The way the church was built up. The fearlessness of Paul. After the brutal persecution of Christians he executed before his salvation it is just so inspiring to see a conversion such as his. Proving that with God all things are possible
John and I discussed his tendency to think that our personal life cycle is more or less done and the next step is death. I don’t look at it that way at all. I think that every day we are given by God is for a purpose. There is someone we can witness to someone we can love. All the time. My John is seeing the light on that. We are being blessed all the time by God’s word. So many good points in your blog Pastor John. The time we die being up to God. That gives us such freedom to learn to accept whatever comes our way in faith that it is God who has the master plan.
And wow. Your last paragraph. Very interesting to think how Christianity would have built so differently had they gone to Asia instead of Europe. Thank you for keeping us alive in fellowship during this time.
Hi Gale. It;s a blessing to me to see how you and John are letting the Lord’s Spirit give you insight and application for your lives. May the lord continue to bless you. Pastor John
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