READING: Acts 27-28
They might be my favorite words in the entire book of Acts: “without hindrance” (Acts 28:31). These words end the book that began with Jesus' commanding His disciples to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) — and the rest of the book is about God’s using them to fulfill that mandate. From Jerusalem where the early believers gathered in Acts 1 to Rome where Paul preached and taught in Acts 28, the gospel spread.
What’s striking is that Paul was in prison at the end of the book, and yet he still preached and taught “with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28:31). That shouldn’t surprise us, though, since nothing had ultimately hindered the gospel to that point in the book. The Spirit of God that filled the believers in Acts 2 led the church the rest of the way. When persecution began in Acts 4 and 5, the believers preached anyway. Potential division arose in Acts 6, but the apostles solved the problem. Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 7 scattered the church as a witness around the empire. Saul, the persecutor who sought to kill believers, himself fell under the power of God in Acts 9. Jewish/Gentile dividing walls collapsed in Acts 10. Prison walls didn’t keep believers from preaching, disagreements didn’t divert the message, demons didn’t win the battles, crowds didn’t silence the proclaimers, kings didn’t halt God’s plan, storms didn’t kill the missionary, and captivity didn’t stop the witnesses. No, the gospel so transformed lives that leaders like Paul and Peter preached boldly, even if doing so would eventually cost them their lives.
The devil threw obstacle after obstacle in the way of the early church, but Satan was no match for God. He never is.
ACTION STEPS:
- Spend some time rejoicing that God overcomes hindrances to the gospel.
- Pray in faith for someone who seems to be hindered in believing the gospel.
PRAYER: “I praise You, Lord, for spreading the gospel around the world. Thank You for removing anything that hindered my believing.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Romans 1-3