Waverly Church of Christ

In Acts 4, following the healing of a man who had been lame since his birth and Peter’s preaching to those who were present in the temple, we are told that “the number of the men came to be about five thousand” (Acts 4:4). Our Lord’s church is growing at such a rapid rate that it is feasible for the entire world to be reached in just a few short years. However, Satan, the one of whom Peter would later write, “Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), is determined to destroy the church. Here in Acts 4, Luke lets us see what his attack looks like to the eyes of those who were observing it first hand. In the book of Revelation, John lets us see his attack from heaven’s perspective: a. Satan is an enormous red dragon, aided by two monstrous beasts. b. He is engaged in a battle with the Lamb, which is Christ, and His church.  He uses a variety of weapons against the church, the first of which we see in today’s text — it is persecution against God’s saints. The question for us this morning is “How are we to respond?”