Nothing Can Stop The Gospel

Brenden Ashby
05/19/24 - Sun AM

If It Is of God

Brenden Ashby

The Book of Acts is many things. It is a book of conversions, a record of the early church, and, most importantly, a record of how nothing can stop the gospel. Every time a supposed death blow was dealt to the gospel, it actually resulted in its furtherance!

Government action could not stop the gospel. The earliest supposed roadblocks to the gospel came from the governing authorities of the Jews. They threatened, beat, and told the early Christians not to preach Jesus any longer (Acts 4-5). But despite these actions, the gospel continued to advance, and many came to the faith.

Persecution could not stop the gospel. Whether it was the Sanhedrin, Saul of Tarsus, or Herod Agrippa, no persecution successfully removed the gospel. Instead, each time persecution came against the gospel, it resulted in Christians scattering all over preaching the gospel (Acts 8).

Imprisonment could not stop the gospel. When Paul was imprisoned, many of the enemies of God’s people probably thought they had won a victory. The chief evangelist is now locked up and can no longer spread his teaching. But while Paul was imprisoned the message of the gospel was not. The years of Paul’s imprisonment were some of the most fruitful years he had for gospel preaching (Acts 28:30-31).

Throughout the Book of Acts, many obstacles and supposed death blows were dealt to the gospel, but none could stop the message. Why is that? The answer is found in the words of Gamaliel in Acts 5:38-39 NKJV, “Keep away from these men and let them alone: for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”