The invincible word

Just after writing my last post, which looked at the fact that some people try to suppress evangelism, my thoughts turned to the events of Acts chapter 12. As a brief recap this is what happened:

King Herod murdered James and put Peter in prison, no doubt intending to do the same to him. Here was a man who clearly had every intention of crushing evangelism and the spread of the Christian faith. However, he was thwarted - Peter was miraculously released, and Herod was struck down by God. Just after reading about his demise these words appear "....but the word of God grew and multiplied".

As I reflected on this I was brought to a wonderful realisation that, no matter how much the servants of the devil seek to stop evangelism God always has a way of getting His word out. What is sobering, however, is that God will bring down those who attempt to stop the spreading of that word. I have read about so many situations where those who have sought to do the devil's work by hindering Christian witness have been removed and God's word has gone out. I will give just one example. Some Christians went to a hotel in order to ask permission to leave Bibles for guests to read, "over my dead body!" said the manager; no way was he allowing Bibles in his hotel. A short while later one of the Christians had a phone call from the deputy manager begging him to come to the hotel and leave Bibles as the manager had had a heart attack! One acknowledges that even devout and godly Christians may have heart attacks but this incident was surely not just a random event. Needless to say the Bibles were taken along and God's word got through!

To be fair most non-Christians are tolerant people and will not seek to persecute Christians or hinder Christian witness. However, there seems to be an increasing number of unbelievers who will attempt to do both; their militancy can be intimidating. Despite this we need not fear - God is sovereign. As Psalm 68 v 1 says "Let God arise......His enemies be scattered". We are on the victory side, God will ensure that His word is spread, obstacles removed and His enemies are dealt with. One hopes that God, in His mercy, will deal with opponents by granting them repentance unto life and saving them like, eg, Saul who became Paul. However, it is a sobering thought that those who dare to stand in the way of evangelism are putting themselves against the Almighty and "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God". Hebrews 10 v 31.