Acts Lesson 14: Evangelism Explosion

Satan's use of persecution in the arrest of Peter and James by the High Court of Israel had not worked to silence either the Apostles or the Church! The threats of the religious rulers only succeeded in empowering and emboldening all the early believers even more than before they were persecuted! Thus, the Evil One tried-on another disguise. He went from being the roaring lion to the deceiving serpent when he attempted to destroy the unity of purity of the Church from with (the sin of Ananias and Sapphira - see previous lesson). However, the persecution of the Church by Satan was mightily used by the Lord for her overall good; she was now in possession of great power, great grace, and great fear [of Him] (Acts 4:33, 5:5, 11). The great fear of the Lord, due to the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, caused the Early Church to be even more effective for Christ! The result was that multitudes both of men and women were being added to the Lord! In other words, there was an "Evangelism Explosion"! In this lesson, all the Apostles are arrested for disobeying the Council's threat not to preach Jesus! They are liberated from prison by an angel. What did they do upon being so miraculously released? Did they run for cover in the Upper Room? No! They went straight back to the Temple where they were arrested, and stood up and preached Jesus!