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Acts 12:24  THE UNSTOPPABLE WORD OF GOD

Introduction:

	In our study of the Book of Acts we have seen that there was much 
opposition to the preaching and teaching of God’s word.  But in our text today 
we learn that the word of God grew and multiplied in spite of its opposition.  
The word of God was unstoppable in that day.  It has always been unstoppable.  
It is still unstoppable today.  

I.  The background of our text

	In order for us to see the background of our text we need to look back to 
the life and ministry of Jesus.  The Jewish leaders rose up in opposition to the 
ministry of Jesus from the beginning of His ministry.  The opposition to Him and 
the things which He taught and stood for grew until finally Jesus was crucified.  
	After the crucifixion of Jesus the Jewish leaders  seemed to be content to 
leave His followers alone until the day of Pentecost when about 3000 Jews got 
saved and were added to the church which Jesus had left at Jerusalem.  Soon 
thereafter another 5000 Jews got saved and were also added to the church.  This 
does not count the goodly number who were saved daily and added to the church.  
	Immediately after the 5000 were saved, the Jewish leaders arrested the 
Apostles Peter and John.  They were released, but not until they were threatened 
and forbidden not to preach or teach or even speak any more in the name of 
Jesus.   When the Jewish leaders  say that their threats did not stop the 
apostles from preaching, teaching and performing miracles in the name of Jesus, 
they arrested all twelve of the apostles.  This time they would have killed them 
but for the influence of Gamaliel who persuaded the leaders not to kill them.  
So the apostles were released, but this time,  they were beaten in addition to 
being warned again not to speak any more in the name of Jesus, they were beaten.    
	When Herod Agrippa I came to the throne in Israel, he sought to please the 
Jewish leaders by arresting and killing the Apostle James.  Then he arrested and 
intended to kill the Apostle Peter.  This was very pleasing to the Jewish 
leaders because they thought it would stop the Christians from preaching and 
teaching in the name of Jesus.  
	In am convinced that even if Herod Agrippa had succeeded in killing the 
Apostle Peter this still would not have stopped the Christians from preaching 
and teaching the word of God.  But I do acknowledge that it might have slowed 
them down somewhat.  
	But the way things worked out it did not hinder the Christians one little 
bit.  Instead, it just seemed to set them on fire with a greater zeal to preach 
and teaching the word of Jesus.  You see, Herod was not able to put Simon Peter 
to death as he had intended.  Simon Peter was set free from prison by and angel 
of God and God sent an angel to kill Herod Agrippa instead.  
	Instead of striking fear into the Christians and stopping the preaching 
and teaching of God’s word, it inspired them.  It set them on fire.  It stirred 
their zeal.  It caused them speak the word of God more boldly than ever.  
Instead of striking fear in the Christians when Herod Agrippa suddenly died, it 
must have struck fear in those who sought to stop the Christians.  It would 
surely strike fear in Herod’s successor.  He would not be quite so anxious to 
please the Jewish leaders that he would start out his rule by arresting and 
killing Christians.  It may have struck fear into the hearts of the Jewish 
leaders themselves and slowed them down a little bit in their effort to stop the 
Christians.  But we can be sure that it did not stop the enemies  from 
persecuting the Christians.  Their hatred for Christians was too deep to let the 
death of Herod Agrippa stop them. 
	But the release of the Apostle Peter and the death of Herod Agrippa had an 
effect on the general public.  Our text says, “But the word of God grew and 
multiplied.”  This means that the people out in the public, not only in 
Jerusalem, but in all the cities and villages where new churches had sprung up, 
the Lord’s churches had a much greater impact on their communities than they had 
before.  The whole event caused the citizens of those cities to pay much greater 
heed to the gospel message preached by the Christians than they had paid before.  
Herod’s sudden death convinced them that God was with the Christians and that 
they had better listen to what they had to say.  
	Neither the opposition by the Jewish leaders nor the opposition from Herod 
Agrippa was successful in stopping the word of God.  It only increased the 
success which the word of God had among the general public.  

II.  Opposition to the word of God no new thing

	Listen, opposition to the word of God was no new thing.  The Jewish 
leaders who brought about the crucifixion were not the first to oppose God’s 
word.  That Old Serpent, the Devil, was the first to speak out in opposition to 
God’s word back in the Garden of Eden.  God had told Adam not to eat the fruit 
of Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  God said, “In the day that you eat 
thereof, you shall surely die.”  But the Devil told Eve, “Thou shalt not surely 
die.”  This was the Devil’s lie and with his lie he deceived Eve.  He did not 
deceive Adam, but Adam ate the fruit anyway.    
	Down through the years of Old Testament times the Devil had continued his 
opposition to the word of God.  In every generation the Devil had somebody to 
rise up in opposition to the word of God which God’s prophets proclaimed.  In 
Acts 7:52 when Stephen spoke to the Jewish leaders he asked, “Which of the 
prophets did not your fathers persecute?”  Just prior to His Triumphal Entry 
Into Jerusalem Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killeth the 
prophets and stonest them that are sent to thee, how oft would I have gathered 
you as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wing, but ye would not.”
  
III.  Opposition that would continue through the years
 	
	The opposition to the word of God would not end just because the word of 
God  increased after the death of Herod Agrippa.  Rather the opposition it has 
continued down through the years to this very day.  During the Dark Ages the 
there was a renewal of persecution against Christians.  They were killed by the 
thousands.  They were tortured in all manner of torturous ways.  They were 
impaled on stakes of wood.  They were burned at the stake.  They were tossed 
into pits with lions for the entertainment of those who watched them die.  They 
were thrown into dungeons and left to die and rot. 
	After the printing press was invented the Bible was the first book to be 
printed the printed Bible was placed in many homes.  But the opposition 
continued and many Bibles were gathered and burned.  
	Even today there is much opposition to the Bible and the truths of God 
which it teaches.  In modern times Communism has raised its ugly head in 
opposition to the word of God.  It sought to exterminate the Bible and Bible 
truth within the borders of all Communist countries.  It is still illegal to own 
a Bible in some Communist nations.  In order for the people to own a Bible they 
have to have it smuggled into the country and they have to read and study it in 
secret.  In some nations right now our missionaries report that they are 
forbidden to speak publicly about religion in any way because of Communist rule.    
	Yet Communism is not the greatest opposition to God’s word in the world.  
Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism, and Taoism are religions 
which have far more followers than all of Christianity combined and these 
religions are dead set against Christianity.  Even Judaism, which opposed the 
early Christianity in Biblical days is still around and very few Jews are 
tolerant in any way toward Christianity.  
	In addition to all this opposition to the word of God from outside the 
ranks of Christianity, there is a great deal of opposition to Bible truth right 
from within the ranks of so-called-Christianity.  Right from the pulpits of many 
so-called Christian churches throughout our nation there are all manner of 
heretical teachings which are in direct opposition to Bible truth.  This is in 
addition to all of the cult religions and occult religions.  
	Let me tell you that it is a marvel in deed that true Christianity has 
survived at all in the world.  It is a thousand wonders that the Bible is to be 
found in print today.  It is the wonder of wonders that Bible  truth is still 
alive and well in our world today.  But it is.  There are more Bibles sold today 
than any other book in the world.  There are more Bibles being read and studied 
than any other book in the world.  There are still thousands upon thousands of 
people who still hold to the basic Bible truths.  There are still many hundreds 
of true churches throughout the world which preach and teach the truths of God’s 
word.  The word of God has not only survived in this world, but it has grown and 
multiplied.  

IV.  Why the word of God has survived and why it has grown and multiplied

	There may be many reasons that this is so, but I want to cite you to just 
three.  The first reason that I mention to you is that there are still people 
who have the courage to preach it and teach it even in our day.  Just as the 
Apostles and other disciples of early Christianity had the courage to risk their 
lives by preaching and teaching the truth of God, there are still many of God’s 
people who have the courage to preach it and teach it today.  Their lives may 
not be threatened, but there is so much ridicule in the world toward Bible truth 
that it still takes courage to preach the truth and face the opposition.  
	I would say to you that not all of these people who have the courage to 
stand for Bible truth are preachers.  Many of them are Sunday School teachers, 
deacons, youth leaders and many are simply fathers and mothers who have the 
courage to buck the trends of our day and teach their children God’s truth and 
God’s moral principles.  
	Another thing that accounts for the continued existence and continued 
growth of God’s word today is man’s inward hunger for God and for the word of 
God.  Man has an inborn need for fellowship with God.  He has an inward hunger 
for peace with God.  In order for him to have peace with God.  He needs to get 
right with God.  He needs to be forgiven of his sin.  He need a good 
relationship with God.  Therefore, there is an inward hunger within the unsaved 
for them to hear God’s word and to heed God’s word in order to get right with 
God.  
	There is at least one more thing that helps to account for the presence 
and progress of God’s word in the world today.  In Matthew 24:35 Jesus said, 
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”  This is 
true not only the words that He spoke during His earthly ministry.  But it is 
also true of the words that He caused to be written by inspiration of the Holy 
Spirit.  In other words, it is true of the whole Bible.  Jesus has promised that 
His words will endure.  They will never pass away.  The enemies of His word can 
kill God’s prophets, but they cannot kill God.  They could arrest and kill His 
apostles.  They can persecute His pastors, His deacons, His Sunday school 
teachers, and church members.  They can shed the blood of His people, but they 
cannot destroy the word of God.  They can burn Bibles, they can scatter church 
congregations, and they can discourage many of God’s people, but they can never, 
never, never destroy God’s word.  
	Men can refuse to believe God’s word.  They can twist it to make it appear 
to mean something which it does not mean.  They can laugh at it and laugh at the 
people who believe it.  But they cannot destroy it. They cannot keep it from 
being preached and taught.  They cannot stop people from believing it.  They 
cannot stop lost souls from hungering for it.  They cannot stop people who do 
believe it from being saved.  They cannot prevent its predictions from coming to 
pass.  They cannot keep God from keeping the promises that He has made and 
recorded in it.  God’s word will still be around when this old world goes up in 
smoke.  God’s word will be open and will be read in the time of judgment.  Jesus 
said, “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not:  for I came 
not to judge the world, but to save the world.  He that rejecteth me, and 
receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him:  the word that I have spoken, 
the same shall judge him in the last day.”  In the end the word of God will be 
proven to be true and those who have rejected the Lord and rejected His word 
will be proven to be wrong.  
	Moses believed God’s word.  The prophets of old believed God’s word.  The 
apostles believed God’s word.  The people of God today believe God’s word.  I 
most certainly believe God’s word.  Do you believe God’s word?  
	Because I believe God’s gospel message I have trusted Jesus as my Savior.  
Have you?  Have you trusted Jesus Christ to save your soul?
	Because I believe God’s word and I a saved, I have followed Jesus in 
baptism.  Have you?  If you are saved you need to be aware that His word teaches 
that all who are saved should be baptized.  
	Because I believe God’s word and because I am saved I try to live for Him.  
Do you?  Are you an active member of one of His churches trying to live your 
life for God’s honor and glory?  His word teaches that those who are saved 
should be members of one of His churches trying to live their lives in keeping 
with His will.