“The Outside Attack"
Acts 12:1-25
Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. [Acts 12:1-2]
There are two types of attack: internal from within and external from without. The one source, however, is spiritual. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the ruler of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” [Eph 6:12].
We therefore must remember that our greatest weapon is prayer!
Acts 11 records the internal attack: religious tradition. There is a vast difference between religious tradition and God’s revelation.
The Spirit fell upon the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, which went against all Jewish tradition. “And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him saying, ‘You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!’” And while this contention was dealt with peaceably [vv.11:15-18] it would not be the last.
The battle for Christendom, however, also comes from the outside. When you review history, you get a better understanding of just how much Christians have been persecuted by outside forces. The greatest persecution [percentagewise] occurred during the era of the Persecuted Church, 100-313 A.D. This time was coined “The Persecuted Church” because so many Christians were persecuted and killed for their faith. But it was also a time of great expansion.
The early theologian Tertullian once said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” It certainly was [and continues to be] a way that God expands His church. Spiritual seed, as is the record in Acts, is scattered through persecution.
Expanding the boundaries of Christendom is what the Christian is called to. Our mandate is to make disciples of all nations, to further God’s Kingdom in this precious time of mercy before our Lord’s return.
Persecution? We should expect it. Jesus warned us. There will be battles from inside and outside our walls. We must, however, decide to move forward, knowing that through it all our Lord is for us. “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us.” [Rom 8:31]
Most importantly, we must be people of prayer! Because the real battle [and let us never forget this] is spiritual and therefore won in prayer.
