Prose

Part I: Background - General Insights from Acts 9-12

A. Where the word of God is preached, the Holy Spirit moves with power.

- Jesus told us not to be anxious with what to say when we proclaim His testimony but just let the His Spirit give the right words to our mouth (Mark 13:11b)

- It is the Holy Spirit's work to convict men of their sins for them to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

- Faith will surely arise from those who hear the word of God (Acts 10:44, Romans 10:17).

- It is God who works miracles and adds growth to the church, not the church by itself. (9:3-18, 31, 33-34, 37-42, 10:44-46, 11:27, 12:7-11)

B. No distinction must be made made among the people in relation to the Gospel (Acts 10-11).

- God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). It is by His grace that we are saved, not by our status in life nor by the position on which everyone of us is standing.

- We are all descendants of one man - Adam - who fell into a life of sin and condemnation and thus, in need of Jesus' salvation.

- In Christ, there is 'no more' difference between a man and a woman, the free and the bound, the Jew and the Gentile, the literate and the literate, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the 'clean' and the 'unclean', etc. (Colossians 3:11)

- Jesus said that whoever comes to Him will never be rejected by Him (John 6:37b).

C. Persecutions are certain to take place where the Gospel is preached. (9:2, 12:1)

- Persecutions may vary from unbelievers maligning the work of the believers to authorities prosecuting the believers.

- Jesus said that if the world hated Him, it will definitely hate us His followers (John 15:18-20). Sometimes, the persecutors will even think that they are serving God ( (Acts 12:3, John 16:2).

- Following Jesus is an all-or-nothing decision.
> If you are to accept Christ as your Lord, you must face the consequence of it: living a life of struggle against Satan and his angels, which includes facing persecutions and troubles.
> Everyone who desires to follow Christ but isn't willing to face persecutions is not worthy of being a disciple of Christ (Luke 9:23).
> If this world hates you, it is probably because it's 'god' - Satan - hates you.
> And after all, you can't truly love a person if no sacrifice is involved in your part.

- The church shouldn't neglect it's responsibility to pray for its suffering members (Acts 12:2)

- Shim'onai

(8/6/13)