The persecution in Acts 12 was arguably the most intense. Before this, the persecution was by the Jewish authorities. Now religious and political forces tried to destroy the church. This isn’t that dissimilar from our times now, presenting challenges for the freedom of worship in Malaysia.

This was the case of Acts 12. When persecution comes, how do we stand and grow despite persecution?

The strength of a church is not the number of people in a church, the size of a church building or money.

So what is the strength of a church then? These are three seeds of strength we can get from Acts 12.

Three Seeds of Strength

1. Intercession
* The whole church prayed
* The church prayed with one aim, with focus and unity
* The church prayed very earnestly
* The church prayed continuously

2. Decentralisation
* They met in homes (Acts 2:46)
* They had succession plans and had leaders in place

3. Divine Intervention
* Peter had supernatural help from an angel for his escape from prison
* Nothing is impossible for God if the church prays
* The church needs to believe for divine intervention.
* Overnight persecution ceased, government changed and the Gospel exploded and spread to the rest of the world. The explosion of the church to the rest of the world.

It happened before in Acts 12. It can happen even in our present circumstances in Malaysia.