The Word Grew and Multiplied

One of the major themes of the Book of Acts is to show how the inherently Jewish church had become Gentile. Luke does this by showing that Israel repeatedly confirmed their rejection of the Messiah. The date surrounding the events in Acts Chapter 12, the final major discussion about the church in Jerusalem, is A.D. 44. So 11 years after Pentecost, we still see the church being persecuted when King Herod (Agrippa I), wanting to please the Jews, killed James, the first apostle to be martyred, and imprisoned the Apostle Peter awaiting execution.

Although Peter miraculously escaped and Herod was killed by God, the church lost two of its leaders in a very short time because Peter had to flee Jerusalem. Yet, we see that "the word of the Lord continued to grow and be multiplied" (Acts 12:24, also cf. Acts 6:7, 19:20). Why? Because the word of God will not return void; it will accomplish what He desired (Isaiah 55:11). The Lord Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away" (Matt 24:35).

Acts 12:24 is the fourth progress report we see in the Book of Acts so far (cf. Acts 2:47, 6:7, 9:31). What we see is that regardless of opposition, the Holy Spirit was accomplishing His purposes in the church of Jerusalem. God installs rulers and removes rulers; He allowed one apostle to be executed but miraculously provided a way for another apostle to escape; He allowed righteous Stephen to be killed at the hands of wicked men but killed Ananias and Sapphira for their wickedness; He allowed a disciple to betray the incarnate Messiah but appeared as the resurrected Messiah in a supernatural way to a violent persecutor of the church to make him just as zealous for the Gospel that he tried to destroy. In all and every situation, He accomplishes His purposes through His word and His Spirit. God spoke the World into existence. So if His word can bring Creation, out of nothing, into existence, will not His word accomplish His purposes in and through creation now? Jesus said:

So may the word of God continue to grow and multiply in our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, in our churches, in our communities, in our nation, and in the World as we seek to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh to bring life and many souls to repentance.