The Word of God Grew and Multiplied – Acts 12:24-25

I’m sure that you have all noticed that most of the hymns we sing have several verses and a chorus.

Usually, we sing the first verse and then before we sing the second there is that chorus or “refrain.”

The chorus us usually repeated between each verse.

The verses are all different but the refrain remains the same.

There are even several of the Psalms that have that same sort of structure.

There is a sense in which we sort of see the same thing in the Book of Acts.

If that were true, then the chorus would be something like: “The Word of God grew & was multiplied.”

For example after the Pentecost chapter,“The Word of God grew and was multiplied.”

And after the first round of Jewish persecution, ending in the conversion of Saul “the Word of God grew and was multiplied.”

Then after the dust settled following the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira “the Word of God grew and was multiplied.”

And now once again, after the end of the Herodian persecution “the Word of God grew and multiplied.”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if WE could sing that chorus once again?

Before we do, we should probably learn what it means.

How does the Word of God grow?

This refers to MORE doctrine, more evidence, more understanding, more reception and more mileage.

And the reasons in the case of Acts 12 were the passing of Herod, the persecution of the enemy, the persistence of the saints, the promise of God and the providence of the Lord.

WHAT IS IT that the Word of God grew and was multiplied?

If we didn’t know better we might think it was that the Bible grew some extra pages or put on a few pounds.

But we know that wasn’t the case.

When Paul and Barnabas set off on their first missionary journey, probably the only Bible that they had contained the Old Testament.

It is generally believed that the first Gospel to be written was Mark, and assuming that the Mark of verse 25 is that man, then that hasn’t been written yet.

And the first of the epistles is said to be I Thessalonians, so that is a few years down the road as well.

No, verse 24 isn’t talking about the addition of any of the New Testament to the Scriptures.

It is obviously talking about the RECEPTION of the new Christian doctrine.

Now, think this through:

What was in Luke’s mind when he used the phrase “the Word of God”?

Wasn’t he thinking about the Old Testament as it relates to the gospel of the Lord Jesus?

Since there were no new scriptures,

He was referring to the reception of the Christian perception of the Old Testament.

Or to put it another way, he was talking about the spreading of Christian doctrine.

This is a reference to the substance of the sermons that we have studied thus far in the Book of Acts.

This is a reference to those prophesies which spoke about the incarnation of the Divine Son of God.

He is talking about the Christian doctrines of the atonement and substitution;

Doctrines based upon Old Testament scriptures, but fulfilled in the person of the Lord Jesus.

He is talking about the resurrection of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of the Lord Jesus for us today.

So how did the Word of God grow and multiply?

It was becoming more and more EVIDENT.

The Holy Spirit was making the Word of God more manifest to the sin-blinded hearts of Jewish leaders.

By the grace of God, when those priests read their scriptures, they were able to see Christ instead of themselves, or David, or Moses, or their nation.

Some of the Sadducees, who were raised in the midst of very liberal interpretations, began to see the scriptures more literally.

Think of it this way: Were you raised in a church that believed in a universal church?

Do you remember how hard it was to read the Bible without constantly picturing that corrupt mind-set?

Similarly, there were Sadducees who were being freed from that mental enslavement,

And for the first time in a century the Word of God was spreading into that segment of the nation.

The Scriptures were becoming more manifest and evident as God opened up people’s hearts to the truth.

And similarly the Word of God was being UNDERSTOOD by more and more people.

When their leaders arose and started reading Isaiah, the Psalms or Genesis, scriptures which had been dark and mysterious were being illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

Prophesies were beginning to make sense, especially in regard to the Saviour.

When the Apostles addressed groups of inquisitive people in the temple or the markets in some of the outlying villages, people were more and more easily recognizing the Truth.

I’m sure that when Nicodemus and others first heard that they “needed to be born again,” they didn’t have a clue what was being said.

But more and more the Holy Spirit was giving people an understanding of such language and terms.

And the Spirit was also giving the Word of God growth and multiplication in its RECEPTION.

This was probably the primary intention of these words.

Not only was the truth becoming more evident and the Scriptures were being understood,

Those things were also being BELIEVED and completely RECEIVED.

Acts 6:7 – “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

After the deaths of Ananias and his wife “believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.”

That is what this verse is talking about.

But there is another sense of this growth and multiplication.

The gospel was not only being more and more received, it was being more and further SPREAD.

By God’s grace it was becoming more evident, and received, but it was also becoming more PERVASIVE.

It was spreading from Jerusalem into Samaria, onto the coast and even into Syria and beyond.

Not only was the Gospel going into “Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth,”

But it was also reaching people from the prisons to the palaces.

One of the people introduced to us in the next chapter will be Manaen, “who was brought up with Herod the Tetrarch.”

The gospel was spreading from the Herod’s temple in Jerusalem to the Grecians and even the Greeks.

It was going from Jews to Gentiles and to every level of society within those divisions.

And this is exactly what is supposed to be happening today.

We need to reach people on their death beds and the parents of kids in the day-cares.

Home schoolers need Christ as much as public schoolers.

Those raised in anglo-saxon Protestant homes need the gospel as much as Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholics, and so do atheists, Muslims and Hindus.

Oh, how I wish that this verse could be said of us as it was of the saints in the days of Peter and Paul.

Perhaps it could be if we thought about and applied the reasons for this growth.

WHY was the Word of God growing and multiplying?

The context seems to suggest that this spurt of evangelistic success was related to the PASSING of Herod.

Or is the position of this verse here just coincidental?

And that leads to the next thought: the PERSECUTION of the church.

Could the attention that Herod brought upon James and Peter, have actually contributed to the spreading of the gospel?

Can the Lord turn the wrath of man towards the blessing of the church?

When wicked men pour out their fury on someone or something, don’t warm hearted people often take sides with the underdog whether they actually agree with them?

I’m sure that these two things might have slightly contributed to the spreading of the Word.

But far more important was the PERSISTENCE of the saints.

The gospel cannot be spread through osmosis.

Standing next to a fire may make someone warm,

But standing next to a Christian can’t make that person a child of God.

God has ordained that where there isn’t repentance and faith, there is no new and eternal life.

And the only way that the lost man will know his need to repent is for him to be exhorted to repent and to be given the reasons why he must repent.

The only way that a man will believe on Christ is for that man to learn of the love and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.

This means that there must be some kind of actual evangelism; the presentation of an actual testimony about the Lord’s saving grace.

And since the verse is speaking of MULTIPLICATION rather than addition we might assume that this evangelistic work wasn’t confined to church services and to the elders of the church.

Nearly everyone was involved in the spreading of the Word.

That is why the Word of God grew and was multiplied.

What do you think was the Spirit’s intention in putting verse 25 here?

“And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.”

Obviously it was to prepare us for the announcement that Barnabas and Saul took John Mark as their minister when they left to evangelize Cyprus and Perga.

What the Holy Spirit doesn’t tell us is what was in the hearts of Barnabas and Saul in the first place, inviting Mark to join them when they returned to Antioch from Jerusalem.

Was it that the Holy Spirit had already been leading them toward foreign missions?

Was it that Barnabas felt that his young nephew needed to get out from under his mother’s influence in order to grow up and mature?

Did Mark ask to join his uncle in Antioch?

We have no idea.

But ultimately, it had something to do with evangelism and the growth of the Word of the Lord.

Why did the Word of God grow and multiply?

Because of the PROMISE of God.

Isaiah 55:10-11 is a wonderful passage of scripture:

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

God has promised to bless His Word.

But it’s important to notice that the Lord said, “but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

Isaiah 55 doesn’t say that every time the Word is preached souls will be saved.

It doesn’t say that the Word will always be received and believed.

But it does say that it will accomplish the Lord’s will.

And that means that we should constantly seek the face of the Lord in regard to ministering His Word.

“Lord, please bless the preaching of Your Word to the saving of souls this weekend.”

“Father, may the Word be heard and believed by those who have been rejecting it.”

“Lord, may it be Your will to make the Word of God a double-edged sword to cut apart the arguments, and the hearts, of the wicked.”

The prosperity of the preaching of the Word all boils down to the blessing of God.

So along with the preaching of the Word must go the praying of the Word.

And that brings us to our last point:

So it is the PROVIDENCE of God that makes His word grow and multiply.

The word “grow” in this passage is “auxano” ( owx-an’-o ) and it’s found 22 times in the Bible.

Its translated “increase” as well as “grow.”

And contains the idea of the growth of a stalk of wheat or some other grain.

And when we look at all the Biblical uses of “auxano” we see it so very often tied directly to the hand of the Lord.

Turn to I Corinthians 3:1 – “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”

When is the Word of God going to grow and multiply? When the Lord prospers it.

What I am trying to say tonight, is that God blessed His word in the days of Peter and Paul.

And I would like to see those same blessings today.

The growth of the Word is by the way of God’s blessings, not our wisdom, strength or zeal.

These blessings are totally dependent upon the Lord.

And that means that we must be totally dependent upon Him as well.