Theological term
Health-Wealth-Prosperity Gospel
2 sermons · All terms
The Persecution of the Church and the Power of God
Acts 12:1–24 presents the early church under coordinated assault from the civil state: Herod Agrippa I executes James, imprisons Peter, and accepts divine honors from a crowd — yet the chapter closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God multiplied. The sermon traces three movements in the passage: the persecution of the church, the miraculous deliverance of Peter, and the judicial destruction of Herod, arguing throughout that no civil power can ultimately frustrate the advance of Christ's kingdom. Listeners are called to persistent intercessory prayer for the persecuted church, confident that the same sovereign God who struck down Herod continues to reign over every enemy of his people.
2 Kings 13
2 Kings 13 records the reigns of two northern kings, Jehoahaz and Jehoash, against the backdrop of Syrian oppression and the death of the prophet Elisha. The chapter exposes a recurring pattern: Israel's idolatry provokes divine judgment, yet God's covenant faithfulness to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob moves him to hear even the prayer of an apostatizing king and send deliverance. Elisha's death, the miraculous revival at his tomb, and the fulfillment of his prophetic word against Syria together press a single point upon the reader: the word of the living God is not extinguished by the death of its instruments. The study calls hearers to reject base ingratitude for God's mercies, to bring every burden boldly to the throne of grace, and to see in Elisha a typological anticipation of Christ's victory over the grave.